The Forsaken Empire (The Endervar War Book 2) (10 page)

Arendi Soldanas, he said, carefully sounding out the long name. It is you, isn’t it? You’re the Savior.

He knew it to be true. This was she. The hero from the Great War. A day ago, the ensign had privately confirmed it with him. But even so, Arendi said nothing. She merely smoked the last of her cigarette, ignoring his question.

I didn’t realize it at first, he said. Much of the history I’ve read has talked more about the Sovereign and the Alliance. But it was you, wasn’t it? You and a human pilot. You were the ones who helped end the Endervar threat.

He was thin on details, but he tried to remember the man’s name. A captain Captain Nverson, if I’m not mistaken.

He couldn’t tell whether or not he was right. Still silent, Arendi let the smoke blow from her cheeks. She briefly tilted her head and looked out the window. The stars were there, hanging in view. Brushing the front of her hair back, she then smothered the cigarette in the tray of ash.

It’s an old story, she replied. If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk about the present.

She was polite but ever focused, and she turned directly toward Red, waving the fumes away.

Justice tells me you have a serum. A nonlethal way to incapacitate Farcia.

Yes. I’ve provided you with the specifications from my old files. Once injected into her bloodstream, it should take hold immediately and limit her powers.

I see. Now we just need to find her and hope she’s out in the open.

Both of them knew it wouldn’t be so simple. Farcia had her own mysterious machine Enforcer by her side. Making matters more complicated was the strange technology powering her transit.

No one could say when she might appear or how. Regardless, Red wasn’t afraid.

If necessary, let me try to stop her! he exclaimed.

Arendi was quick to frown. What do you mean? she asked, suspicious.

I’m a telepath. My mind, my abilities perhaps I can slow her down.

She rose to her feet, wiping the ash from her hands. I don’t know if that’s wise. We’ve both seen what she can do. You were lucky. She spared you.

I know, but I have to try. Perhaps she’ll listen to me.

Red was determined. He refused to stand on the sidelines, not while Farcia remained a dangerous threat. Although Arendi could see this, she was still cautious and skeptical.

From what you’ve said, Farcia your wife has changed.

Her words were delicate, but the question reflected her true concern.

The Endervars Arendi said, if they control her, if she is their proxy, then she’s dangerous to everyone, even you.

Red rigidly shook in protest. His voice was about to crack.

Then why did she come and find me? he asked. I saw her, I felt her. The old Farcia is still there somewhere. She didn’t have to find me, but she did.

He crossed his arms, cold but convinced. The smoke around them had cleared.

It’s true something did happen. When the Endervars invaded our world, she changed. Even after liberation, the things in her mind the chaos persisted. My people thought her insane.

So we left. It was exile or death for her, he admitted. I tried to help. But she she was both there and not. Doing things I couldn’t always comprehend. She was so furious. So distraught. So confused.

I know it’s hard to understand, he went on, clenching his hands. But she didn’t ask for this. The old Farcia. My Farcia. She’s a victim. Like everyone else.

He stamped his foot on the ground, angry. Red had run out of breath. It was all emotion talking now, the rush of thoughts stifling his words.

Just help me. Please! II lost her once before. I can’t lose her again I have to do something.

He could have said more. He was obviously desperate. So much of him wanted to believe that the Farcia of old was still alive. He could even hear her now. The memories were still fresh. But instead he fell silent. Although Arendi was there listening, he was talking more to himself now. Or, perhaps, to the memory in his mind.

Red, the voice said. You and I are over. Just forget me. Please.

He heard it again. The new Farcia, the imposter, was tainting everything he held dear. He closed his eyes and swallowed his anguish.

Please. I know you have to stop her. But you don’t have to hurt her, he said. She’s not well. She needs medical help.

He looked away from the Sentinel as he spoke. He was embarrassed by his rant. His words were crude, imprecise, and frenzied.

He wasn’t quite used to this. To speaking his mind. His telepathy had always made communication easier. In seconds he could summon images, colors, and emotions and send them into the minds of others. But this Sentinel was immune to all that. Immune to the instant transparency. He realized he was just a faceless man to her. He only had his words and his eyes to express his feelings. But maybe, after all Red had said, she would understand something now.

Cupping his face, he heard Arendi speak.

Don’t worry, she said. I have no intention of hurting her. Only if I have no choice.

It was a brief moment of relief, but it was followed by a long pause. Arendi had turned to the window and was gazing back at the stars.

She herself didn’t quite know what to say. Arendi also wanted Farcia captured alive, but for reasons devoid of sympathy or care. It was true: the Alliance had issued a kill-on-sight order. But there were simply too many questions involving the woman’s appearance and her destructive attacks. Mysterious powers were no doubt at play, and Arendi needed to know why.

She could have explained her reasoning, remaining detached and objective. But when Arendi saw the sad look in Red’s eyes, none of it seemed to matter. Instead, almost out of instinct, she couldn’t help but think of her own past. Speaking softly, she had to ask.

Tell me, she said sympathetically. Tell me about Farcia. What was she like, before all this?

At that, Red wet his gills.

She was beautiful. The most beautiful woman I ever knew. So kind, and warm nothing like she is now.

He soon found himself blushing. The skin in his face flashed with blooms of pink and white. He was smitten by other memories. The ones untouched by the war. He then remembered that once he had been young, and so had she.

We were just students. Adolescents, but in love, he recalled. People told me that I was stupid. That Farcia was too different. That her destiny was elsewhere.

But I didn’t care, he said with a laugh. She was truly special. And I don’t say that because I love her. She cared for everything because she could. She was our most powerful telepath. She was supposed to lead our people.

But know don’t know. The war, it’s changed everything.

He abruptly chuckled at the thought with a gasp that was both cynical and a plea for solace. His hands fell open, the palms empty.

But maybe it doesn’t matter, he added sadly. We need to stop her. I can’t even say for sure whether my Farcia is still alive or whether she is gone.

Arendi heard this and witnessed what she thought was a cringe. There was suffering in his black eyes. His stare was clear but bleak. His back slouched as he confronted the painful truth.

Yes, he said. Maybe the woman I knew is gone.

Tasting ash in his mind, Red closed his eyes and sighed.

I’m sorry. I wish things were different, Arendi replied. But this isn’t over. We’ll see this through.

It was all she could say at the moment. Although it was too early to reach any conclusions, Arendi didn’t want to lie and pretend that she knew the answers. Still, she did understand something. Like Red, she knew that feeling, that sense of loss. It was as real to her as it was to him. That desperate need for closure.

Maybe maybe there’s a way, she said, trying to comfort him.

Or maybe I’m delusional, Red countered, lashing himself.

He paced the hallway and nearly spun in his step, not sure where to go or what to say. His hands were damp with frustration.

This was all for nothing, wasn’t it? he said, wheezing. My quest to save her is a joke.

Red wiped his eye and flicked away the drops of black underneath. You must think I’m a raving fool, he added, trying to hide his embarrassment.

He cracked the joke, expecting a response. Hearing nothing, he blinked and turned to Arendi.

She was still there, standing next to the window. But oddly, she was looking away from him. Red came closer and saw that she was completely motionless and silent. The only object in her vision was the bare wall. In her hand was another cigarette unlit and inert.

Red waved his hand and asked, Arendi, is something wrong?

Just as he finished his sentence, the alert went off. Above him, the klaxon began beating. The pulse was echoing in the confines of the small space. At his feet, the emergency light flashed and glowed yellow. Red then felt a tap.

Come with me, Arendi said, solemnly placing her hand on his shoulder. We have a problem.

She was no longer in a trance and moved in haste. Crumpling the cigarette in her hand, Arendi threw it to the side, leaving behind the tray of ash.

What is it? he asked, hurrying behind her.

Warp signatures detected, she said. Sporadic, but over three hundred light-years away and growing across the region.

He followed her, and they entered the ship’s bridge. On the main screen was the data the very same information that Arendi had processed in her artificial mind.

He looked at the scans, lost in the locations and the various alerts. Is it an attack? Red asked.

I’m afraid so, she said. These are the latest reports from the various surveillance networks. It’s what you warned us of.

Very soon Red would understand. The alerts would grow, along with the locations, the attacks spreading. All of it was because of one force. The force that had mysteriously disappeared over two decades ago. It was the same force that had claimed his wife.

The Endervars, Arendi said. They’ve returned.

Chapter 12

The map was consumed by the color of his name. The vibrant red and magenta bled across the scans. The enemy signatures were multiplying and moving in force. By the minute, more data was coming in; the reports all indicated the approaching threat. The Alliance was under assault. Over a dozen systems had issued distress calls, but now almost half had fallen silent.

Red stood glaring at the screen, aghast. Relative to hyperspace travel, the attacks were not far away, along the border of Arcenian space.

Are we sure? he asked, his heart racing. Do we know how many?

Beside him, at the ship’s bridge was the ensign. She had just awakened and arrived in uniform, interfacing with the ship’s computer. Pressing the side of her temple, she heard the intel come from her neural implants.

We’re still trying to verify, the ensign said, flustered. Getting some contradictory reports.

Even so, the attacks were mounting, and they were interfering with interstellar communications. All data transmitted from the affected planets was so far sporadic and incomplete. But the danger was gradually becoming clear.

Red stepped back as the bridge’s screen began to shift. Across the horizontal display, a long collection of images formed. What he saw was pure destruction, the smoke billowing black. The different views showed a planet in orbit, cratered in flames. From what he could tell, there were no cities left or any sign of habitation. All that remained was the gaping wounds, all of them fresh and raging in fire. They bulged from its surface, glowing in hot light.

Standing in her combat jacket, Arendi approached the view screen, processing the associated data in her mind.

These have just come in over long-range band, she explained. The colony of Daxius Ten.

How many people were there? Red asked.

Over three million. The capital and neighboring cities have been wiped out.

Red closed his eyes in disbelief. This was just one world. What of the others? He imagined the devastation, and the aftermath an entire region charred black.

Still no visual of enemy ships, Arendi added. But the scans detected a flood of particle-beam fire hitting the surface. It has to be them.

But I don’t understand, the ensign said. The Endervars, they never attack populated worlds. Don’t they try to preserve them?

She pointed to the images as the planet continued to burn. The ensign was right. In the long history of the Endervar War, very rarely had the enemy so openly obliterated the innocent. For them, it had always been about subjugation, about conquering one world after another. They had done so for eons, moving throughout the galaxy in their effort to capture sentient life. This, however, was different; it seemingly contradicted the enemy’s every aim.

I know, Arendi replied. It doesn’t make sense.

She wasn’t sure what they were facing. As of yet, no one was. If it was the Endervars, then the enemy had drastically altered its strategy this time, they were killing their targets outright.

Arendi read the scans again, processing all the available data. According to the analysis, not just dozens but possibly hundreds of enemy contacts were invading the region.

This can’t just be a coincidence, she thought.

Red, Arendi said. Are you still sure Farcia will strike Vellanar?

She looked at him, wondering and fearing how this all might be connected.

Red hesitated. He looked up at the images, realizing that whatever attack this was, he had failed to foresee it.

I don’t know, he replied gravely. I saw Vellanar. But nothing like this.

Red stood there, almost wounded and wincing. Had he missed something? Was Farcia even capable of this? He couldn’t say. Regardless, the Alliance would have to act.

The fleet is on the move, the ensign said.

As the threat continued to expand, all Alliance craft in the sector had been ordered to intervene. Their own vessel was still in orbit around Vellanar, but the neighboring Alliance fleet over forty carriers and battleships was preparing to depart.

Together, they had originally arrived at the goal of defending the Arcenian home world. Now all that was coming to an end.

They’re splitting up and heading to the affected areas, the ensign reported. Shall we join them?