Page 8

8

A Midsummer Vigil

ZANE

Z ane Sable stood on the edge of the Eden Maria.

He commanded his HUD helmet to flick away the sweat forming on his brow from the intense mid-summer rays shining down on him.

Eden II was caught in solstice with the moonscape’s tilt toward Alphetraz at maximum.

Above him, the twin stars were at their highest elevation.

They burned down on the vast, tumultuous plane, which was filled with ghost craters, channels of flowing lava, and winding rilles surrounded by an odd collection of teardrop-shaped hills and lava formations.

Beyond the craters were large mountain ranges characterized by wrinkled ridges due to billions of years of low-viscosity lava floods, meteor impacts, and distant placement.

It was a breathtaking and moving sight.

Its incredible kinetic pull was an energy that Zane always sensed as he gazed out towards the wild lunar landscape, psionically tapping into its power and mystery.

‘How’s it looking up close, khali ?’

The husky voice spoke into his HUD’s speakers, and his heart warmed at the sound. ‘It’s impressive, my love. Your work, as always, is superb.’

Before him, rising out of the remains of Paladian temples, ancient towers, and spires hidden under the gleaming sands, were a series of solid pillars that held up two solid rings encircling the entire planetoid.

Each of the six massive columns had a circumference of half a million klicks, stretching from the lunar deserts of the rock toward both rings. Powerful gravity fields held them in place, which, in turn, drew their power from Alphetraz.

Both rings took the crown as the most significant structures created across Pegasi in terms of mass, size, and livable surface area.

The pillars also controlled the radiation from the skies and directed it through the poles to fuel a powerful shield around the construct.

The project was his brainchild and the boon that had brought his beloved to his side. Illanna was the engineer who’d led most of the build’s phased development.

‘What’s left to finalize?’

Illanna sounded wistful. Since giving birth to their daughter a year ago, she’d chosen to remain home of her own volition, even though Mirage was always at hand to offer babysitting help.

She was a hands-on mother who wanted to be present with their child until she was at least two years old.

Something had to give, so she’d handed the leadership of the build to Rafe, Zane’s 2IC. However, she insisted on Zane inspecting the project’s progress every so often and reporting it to her.

‘The terrascaping engineers are now finalizing the ring’s mountains, plains, oceans, vast deserts, steppes, and arctic regions. And in two days, the habitat sections will begin.’

‘Wish I was there, khali .’

As she spoke, he caught the cry of a child in the background.

‘I know, beautiful. I wish you were here too, but you’ve got our sweet girl to raise. How’s Malia?’

‘She’s being cheeky this morning. I’ve lost some jewelry in a hide-and-seek game. She’s also given me a headache playing drums on the pots and pans. Eden, save me.’

Zane chuckled as his wife gave a frustrated mini-scream.

Illanna and his daughter were now ensconced in their expansive penthouse suite perched on the highest level of the Sable HQ’s 517 building.

These days, its once neat and ordered veneer was in the past. Malia had stamped her presence on the place, adding toys, chaos, and mess to its hallowed corridors, quality furnishings, and fixtures.

Just this morning, Zane tripped over an abandoned doll and train set left on the polished marble floors.

He’d had to use a psionic burst to stop himself from careening into the far wall to his daughter’s thorough amusement and burst of giggles.

‘Coming home soon, khali ?’

Ilanna’s seductive voice broke through his thoughts.

‘I don’t see why not,’ he growled as he sent a sensual psionic tap her way. ‘Sounds like you need some tender, loving care.’

She moaned with need, and he grinned in self-satisfaction. ‘I’ll let you know when I leave so you can put Malia down, and we can -.’

His sultry suggestion was interrupted by a signal beeping through his node network.

‘One second, my love, I have a message coming in. I’ll call you back.’

He switched to his neural sensors. Mirage?

We have a problem, the Sable AI informed him.

He honed in on the concern lacing Mirage’s tone. Of which variety?

It’s Riv. We’ve lost all contact with him and his ship. I also can’t access my node on Glimmer.

Zane’s heart kicked. The Riders had never lost their neural connection in all their years together.

He put out a psionic feeler, and a tendril of icy terror snaked over him as he confirmed Mirage’s words. Fokk. When?

A few hours ago. When his signal and my node on his ship were transmitting loud and clear, then came a message you’ll need to hear along with the other Riders. After that, radio silence.

You’ve comm’d Kainan? he asked, swiveling on his feet.

Naam. He’s with Kage, and they’re headed to HQ.

I’ll meet you there.

He strode across the silver regolith towards a sleek pinnace parked on the lunar clifftop.

He used his mag boots to glide into the cockpit, where he slid his hands over the controls. His soul churned as dread rolled over him.

‘Riv, brother, you’d better be fokkin ’ alive,’ he whispered.

He shot a quick message to his woman, giving Illanna a quick update.

Moments later, he streaked skyward in his pinnace, his way lit by starlight, thundering towards Eden II in an adrenaline-fueled tear.

‘What the hell happened?’

The growl tore from the furious lips of the long-haired, broad-shouldered colossus seated at the head of the Sable HQ boardroom table.

‘I don’t have enough data to give you details.’

The darkly beautiful synthetic android beside him delivered the statement. The AI’s energy shimmered beneath its ebony skin.

The figure wore a two-piece xentium and gold-threaded suit. Its jade green eyes glittered, yet its face clouded with concern.

They sat at a huge, dark textured altiphyte wood table polished to a mirror sheen, surrounded by four other men.

‘Not good enough,’ Kainan Sable rasped, the flames in his eyes blazing.

Zane lifted a hand. ‘Let’s all calm down. Mirage, please play back the last message your Glimmer node sent.’

‘With no pleasure.’

Moments later, the expansive boardroom’s speakers lit up with the sound of the AI’s Glimmer node.

‘Riders, Riv has let himself be taken hostage in the badlands region, too far off for direct neural node contact. His kidnapper is piloting his ship and is about to enter a nebula that will mask our signal and hinder further communication. Riv is in their ship’s hold, which docked into Glimmer’s bay before lift-off. I am in contact with Riv. Rest assured, he’s alive and in full health. However, the situation is delicate, and we may need your assistance. I’ve launched a relay drone that will act as a beacon and point you to our last position and trajectory. It’ll also bounce this message to you and keep cycling the transmission until you get here.’

‘Riv let himself be snatched? By whom?’ This came from the rugged, handsome Rider with a scar down one side of his face, dark hair, and narrowed silver eyes.

‘Not sure,’ Mirage murmured.

Zane cursed under his breath. ‘But for what reason? He must believe this will aid in his mission to capture Ankis.’

Xion hissed. ‘He’s going into a super-heated nebula, though?’

Mirage piped up. ‘Glimmer will be fine, and so too shall Riv. Sometime back, Riv and I included a savvy upgrade to Glimmer’s cloaking layer, a cryo liquid material that turns it to black frost and bounces off even the largest boulders from its surface. This will boost the shields and keep them safe, even through a nebula storm.’

‘Riv’s a canny kinai , so this must be the only way he saw fit to advance his search.’ This time, the words came from a meta with dark ebony skin, long dreadlocks, and flashing green eyes.

‘Plausible, Xion. The thing is, what are we going to do about it?’ Kage growled.

‘We go after him. It’s our way. The only way.’ The quiet, firm words came from Ki’Remi, a tall, lean, hazel-eyed meta, as the Rider’s medic.

Kainan jerked his chin in agreement. ‘We first need to find him.’

‘I can try and search for him psionically,’ Zane offered.

The Sable Riders’ khosi nodded. ‘Do it. But before you, I think it’s time we shared what we know with our brothers. So they understand why finding Ankis is so imperative.’

Zane gave Kainan a sharp look, and there was a neural battle of words between them until Zane lifted his hands in surrender. ‘As you wish, khosi .’

‘It’s only fair.’

‘What the hell are you two going on about?’ Kage groused. ‘Out with it.’

Kainan extended a hand towards Zane. ‘Floor’s yours, kaka .’

Zane took a breath, bracing himself. ‘It’s better if I show and tell. I’ll need to connect to your nodes using a psionic link. I suggest you all lean back, relax, and close your eyes. Don’t try to yank out until I’ve pulled you out of the vision.’

‘One more thing, Kainan warned, ‘What you’re about to witness will be harrowing. Brace yourselves, brothers.’

Ki’Remi, Xion, and Kage exchanged worried glances.

Kage pushed for more in his customary stubbornness for digging for the truth. ‘Why was this kept a secret from the rest of us?’

Zane sucked his teeth. ‘Because it took me a long while to figure it all out. I’ll explain more when you’ve seen it all. Ready?’

The trio nodded.

‘You too, Mirage, although you may have an inkling of what I’m about to share.’

Zane waited as the gathered Riders pushed their heads to the back of their seats and closed their eyes.

Only then did he shut his own and, using a kick of psionic energy, thrust himself into a scene over a year ago at the Rings work site, with the silver sands of the regolith plain flowing around him.

It was an old memory.

One where a cloaked figure and twenty-four monks stood across from Illanna, Luka, and Duke, poised with their weapons behind him.

Zane raised a hand to stop their advance.

The fateful moment came. Ankis lifted his weapon to shoulder height and aimed for the Rider’s head.

Zane’s view shifted to the slimline rifle as it slowly spat out a dark, howling, needle-thin photon energy beam. The strobe of pure blackness came ever closer, ready to pierce his mind and extract the waiting payload.

Then came his mind probe that shot over the incoming beam and sliced through Ankis’ weapon’s battery. The resulting explosion jerked Ankis backward, where raging black flames consumed him.

His adversary’s robe burst into flames and fell apart, revealing a silhouette covered in a suit made of dull strings of black gems phasing in and out of different body shapes.

Zane switched his psionic vision closer as Ankis’ form flickered and distorted, cycling through multiple facades it had hidden.

Time slowed, and the faces underneath the malfunctioning mask paused their rapid interchange, stopping on one visage.

Zane paused and held the vision still.

There was silence as his fellow Riders registered the features.

Then came a wave of their emotions, ranging from disbelief, pain, anger, and doubt.

He heard them give guttural cries and sensed their tortured thoughts.

‘Enough,’ he growled, pulling them out of the vision.

Zane opened his eyes to see his brothers staring at him, mouths slack.

Seconds later, they reacted.

Ki’Remi’s face streamed with tears, Kage snarled, and Xion clutched his head, leaning against the table, unable to comprehend what he’d witnessed.

Zane met Kainan’s eyes with sadness. His khosi shook his head, also grieving at what had been shared.

When Zane had shown him the same vision a few days ago, he’d had to use his psions to keep his leader from tearing Eden II apart with his flames.

He’d since calmed down, but a raging fire still blazed in his eyes.

‘Is this true?’ Kage ground out, his voice hoarse and tortured.

‘’Tis.’

‘How?’ Kage rasped. ‘How in fokkin ’ hell?’

Zane leaned back, pursing his lips. ‘On the day itself, I didn’t register what I was seeing until way after Ankis fled. The mask was also moving too fast for me to get a proper read. However, something about one of the faces I saw haunted me, so I probed the Elysian Eye, which does not lie. What you see was as it was on that fateful day. The Shard guide helped slow down the vision. The result is the face you saw.’

‘So Ankis is, in fact, the resurrected body of -?’ Xion’s voice failed him.

Zane inclined his chin. ‘It would seem so.’

In anger, Kage rose to his feet and paced the room. ‘How is this even possible?’

‘I asked the Guide the same thing. He says it’s by virtue of entity absorption. Tis where immense psionic power renders a single biological structure into a vessel for other bodies and entities. From plain mortals or higher entities such as deities or dark lords. The process is facilitated by superior or cosmic psi priests who can restore souls to the upper sunlight, what we metas and our fellow humans call resurrected life. Caught in a psionic vice, each body can cycle between whatever the main entity desires. Gaining some form of advantage by enhancing themselves, with knowledge and skills, or using it as a power source.’

Xion flinched. ‘ Fokk . So he’s caught in this warp of souls?’

Zane gave Xion a nod. ‘Something like that.’

‘What’s the worst that will happen?’ Ki’Remi shot out.

‘The Shard believes Ankis wants freedom from the torment of the multiple entities inside him,’ Zane told him. ‘After much thought, I don’t think he wanted to harm Eden II. He desired access to my psionic power and that of the entity so it’d somehow heal him by breaking him free from all the sum of his parts.’

Kainan grunted. ‘While becoming the grand shaman of the Shard. The conduit to lifting away the disease, malfunction, and suffering of many.’

‘Isn’t that a good thing?’ Ki’Remi asked, his empathy stirring.

Zane shook his head. ‘In theory. However, the Shard Guide says it’s a savior complex that ends up in subjugation and control. Ankis wants to rid himself and others of suffering, which posits a utopia caught in the realms of fantasy. The problem is that if he goes about separating himself from the other entities inside him, but does it the wrong way, it might unleash untold horror on the galaxy. Some of those beings, the Shard told me, are not even from Pegasi. They’re from other unknown parts of the universe.’

Kainan grimaced. ‘So he doesn’t care about the possibility of more evil running amok across this galaxy. Given how malicious some of them are, they’d bring more chaos into Pegasi if he found a way of breaking those entities apart. We can’t allow it.’

Zane agreed with a quick nod. ‘ Naam . Ankis’ search for healing is a wild and twisted logic. Mind you, the priests he was with were amping and feeding him lies, manipulating him into war crimes, all in the name of searching for the Shard. Their hidden agenda was to elevate him to a leader among the true faithful.’

‘The Ordo Secondo?’

‘The same. Those fanatical kinais wanted to find the three separate Shards and unite them into a single entity to rule over Pegasi.’

Ki’Remi huffed. ‘So, having these entities encased in Ankis’ body keeps all the evil within contained.’

Zane nodded. ‘Which is why we sent Riv to try to locate Ankis. To try and help him, perhaps use my psionic abilities before he gets out of control.’

Kainan grunted. ‘So he can pay for the crimes he wrought across Pegasi.’

‘That too,’ Zane growled.

The Riders fell into silence.

‘What do we do now?’ Kage rasped.

Zane pushed a hand through his hair and sighed. ‘We need to go after Riv and, together, find Ankis. To be specific, I’ll go after them both. I have what it takes to cut through Ankis’ malaise and protect us from any attack he may lob our way.’

Kage sucked his teeth. ‘Alone? I’ll come with you.’

Zane tilted his head. ‘ Nada . Neither can Kainan. The khosi is running an interplanetary government with Selene, and your wife, Kage, is still nursing a young child.’

Kage and Harlow had been busy in recent years, adding a third lilac and black-haired bub to their brood. Their new baby was just four months old.

Xion lifted his chin. ‘I’ll join you.’

‘As will I,’ said Mirage. ‘At least two nodes of myself to give you sufficient power to punch through that nebula for comms.’

‘I, too, should come,’ Ki’Remi stated. ‘Sheba,’ he went on, speaking of Selene Sable’s sister, ‘is managing all our hospitals and clinics with such ease she doesn’t need me. Besides, I also want to see this Ankis phenomenon for myself.’

Kainan drummed the table. ‘Then it’s settled.’

Zane turned to Mirage. ‘You’ll stay with Illanna and Malia? Keep an eye on them for me, please?’

‘Of course.’

Kainan saluted Zane. ‘ Sante, brother. Seek the truth and bring them both back to us. Meanwhile, we’ll wait and keep vigil until you call for us or return home safe.’