The Forsaken Empire (The Endervar War Book 2) (33 page)

Julian! she shouted. His name was Julian Nverson.

Arendi’s voice rose as she began shaking. She walked over the trail of grass, realizing that she had unfinished business.

Farcia, meanwhile, straightened her back. This was her own unique offer a chance for the truth.

I’ll take you to the answer. I promise, she said. But decide now. Before it’s too late.

Farcia looked up at the sun in the sky and wondered how much longer they had. Arendi already knew. There was no time to hesitate.

Walking back to the structure, she passed Farcia.

If you lie, I will kill you, Arendi warned. Her hand then grazed past Farcia’s collared neck. I’ll make sure it hurts.

She wasn’t acting as a Sentinel anymore.

Chapter 33

The structure came online. The old relic was still functional and likely contained enough power for one final charge. That was the hope, anyway.

Farcia heard the hum come from the surrounding walls. The computing tower was in front of her, saturated in light. The virtual keys were at her fingers, ready to receive her commands. Farcia huffed, trying to remember the exact controls. Briefly, her hands froze. She hadn’t said a word about the history of this place. But everything around her was, in fact, all part of an experiment an experiment that had failed disastrously decades ago.

The structure itself had never been built for travel. The technologies inside were originally designed for something else entirely. Still, Farcia knew its potential. She had no choice but to try.

One minute, twenty-three seconds left, Arendi said, noticing that Farcia had paused. She grabbed the woman’s hands.

Do it, Arendi ordered. Do it now.

Farcia pulled her fingers away. Although the room was cold, she felt the sweat dripping from her face.

I know, Farcia muttered. Her kin, out in space, were already scattering away from the star system. A giant fireball, moving close to the speed of light, was about to crash into the habitat.

Farcia focused and began executing the commands. A holoscreen emerged in her sights. On the display were the intended coordinates.

Arendi read the data and secretly went to her internal comm.

Alysdeon, she said. Prepare to leave without me.

She had already lost contact with the Adamant. There was only static, along with gargled chunks of speech, entering through the channel now. To try to send out a message, Arendi had ordered the combat drones to take off. She was now relaying all information to the machines as they jettisoned from the habitat.

I’ll be at these coordinates, she added. I hope we’ll rendezvous soon.

The whole structure then began to shake. The sequence was about to launch. Arendi watched as the computing tower and the floor quaked. She held on to the wall, expecting another fiery portal to form. She wondered where. She tugged on Farcia’s robe, assuming they needed to leave.

It’s done, Farcia said.

With a final tap from her fingers, she initiated the charge. The hum around her turned into a roar.

Fifty-two seconds, Arendi said as she left the room.

Farcia followed her out to the open air. She smelled the sand and beach.

Where is it? Arendi asked.

It’s already happening, Farcia replied.

Arendi turned to the sea and back to the estate. At first she saw nothing different, but her machine vision was noticing the effect. It was nearly hidden and moving at a quantum level. Arendi watched, alert. Something was powering through the fabric of space. Across the area, a near-invisible field was taking shape. In seconds it would expand, not just to cover the isle, but to reach out and surround the entire habitat itself. She noticed the energy spike. It was surging from the mysterious structure behind her, rising off the charts.

Where are you taking us? she asked as the air began to howl.

To a place only I know, Farcia replied.

The intention was to do more than just create a portal. Farcia sought to scoop up the entire habitat and send it all away. But even if it worked, it would come with a severe cost.

Arendi planted her feet on the ground, bracing for the impact. The scans from her machine vision were reading anomalies everywhere. She looked up. In the sky was the sun. Then it was gone.

***

The outpost had a name. Once, the people here had called it the Promise. Originally it was simply a lump of asteroid rock, orbiting a violent world. But like any work of art, the Ehvine was inspired to sculpt it and create something more. The centuries-long effort had forged a canvas from which a habitat had quickly grown. Stellar ice had been melted to create the lakes and rivers; plants from the home world had been shipped to take root; even the Ehvines’ greatest artisans had come to build statues and museums across the land.

The glory of the Supremacy. The phrase had been enshrined in the dwellings. Many, both native and alien, had come here to see it. The habitat’s position at the frontier of Ehvine space had made it an ideal site for trade.

Traffic around the habitat had once been immense. Old light-drive ships from across the galaxy had ventured here, bringing diplomats and goods from sectors few had ever heard of. It had all culminated in the formation of a glistening city that stretched over the rock’s back. At one point, over three hundred thousand citizens had even made the habitat their home. Farcia remembered. In another a life she had been among them, living here as a child.

Of course, that was the old Farcia. Not her. Not the new entity that had assumed control. But despite her own resistance, this remote place was a part of her. It was a distant memory that not even Red knew. She felt both the burden and the comfort. Farcia recognized everything that she saw here. From the house on the hill, to the churches and shops nearby, she had known them. Sometimes intimately. The compulsion told her so: this was her home. A ruin of home. But a home nonetheless. It all made her wonder whether perhaps she could adapt. Whether she could have a normal life. She had flirted with the idea years ago, only to despise and condemn it. Farcia couldn’t abandon the past. Not the true past. All this time, she had been trying to revive it. To find some way to make it real.

Farcia dried her eyes, stomaching the grief. So far, she had done nothing but kill and destroy. Everything around her was dead. The habitat was no different. The glory of the Supremacy was gone. Only an empty husk remained. Now it, too, would be consumed.

Farcia’s white hair blew in the wind. There was a rumble under her feet. Her sights faced out to the estate where she had once lived. The mansion was there, peaceful and lacquered in gold. Then, in a flash, it all came apart. As the sunlight faded, the habitat exploded from within. A torrent of sand and sea shot up. The ground was breaking beneath her. There was no fire, but the outpost floor had ruptured.

The jump point had taken effect. A breach in space-time had devoured the habitat, tearing the city apart at its seams.

The entire area had just been flung to another part of the galaxy. The once-solid habitat shook with the impact. Tree, building, and monument broke from the floor. Farcia watched in horror as the ground convulsed. She herself fell back. Her eyes stung as she choked on rock.

Frantic, she groped for something. Anything. The home she once knew was being destroyed.

***

The whole transit was about to crash. The habitat overcame normal space, only to snap back into a wall of reality.

The quantum fields roiled with the sudden change, and the forces holding the habitat together sought to rebel. The countereffect generated a wave of antigravity that quickly intensified. The resulting power released across the entire outpost, collapsing rock, building, and pillar, before sending it all into the air.

Arendi moved fast to react. Her machine vision noticed the danger. The surrounding water and beach were about to rise. Jumping back, she ran toward Farcia. The sand was flying through the air. Farcia herself was close to drifting off like a piece of debris. The isle floor was spewing dirt into her face. Arendi caught her by the leg and pulled the woman out of the cloud of falling rock. Together they tumbled to a patch of stable ground.

Farcia coughed, dropping to the ground on her back. Arendi, meanwhile, shook off the sand. She crouched over the woman, seeking to shield her. The area was still shaking, and much of the isle was crumbling away. To deflect away the oncoming blast, Arendi activated the power in her armbands. The energy inside glistened black and began curving the surrounding space. The approaching rubble went upward as the spatial shielding briefly took hold.

Arendi then heard the alert. It was distant but loud. The quiet outpost was now shrieking in a system-wide warning. Main power was offline, and stability throughout the city was buckling. Apparently, the habitat’s dark matter collector had gone haywire, only to combust. Arendi could already detect the emerging effect. She deactivated the spatial shielding and noticed that the debris jetting through the air refused to drop. Even the dust from her jacket was starting to float. The change ran through her scans. The artificial gravity holding the outpost was breaking down and fluctuating.

Overhead ruptured rock continued to fly into the habitat sky. Layers of rubble, and then waves of water, all rose into the sudden gloom.

We need to leave, Arendi said. Now.

The whole habitat was about to die. The alarm continued to blare. Danger! All citizens evacuate!

Farcia tried to speak, but all she tasted was salted ash. She gagged on the sand in her gills and spat drool. The adrenaline in her body was burning. She was desperate to do something to survive. But to her shock, her body was almost weightless. Even with her eyes cleared, she saw nothing. The entire habitat was draped in darkness.

Arendi, however, saw through the shadow. It’s coming, she said.

Farcia could barely hear the words. The surrounding sea was blasting up in a geyser. She twisted, trying to regain her senses. She felt an arm across her waist. It hugged her tight.

Hang on, Arendi said.

With a hard push from Arendi’s foot, the two began to soar. The absence of gravity was propelling them through the air.

Farcia heard the crack of debris colliding. In the darkness, rock and old Ehvine architecture were being swept away. The rumble roared as the habitat issued its final alert over the chaos. It spoke in an echo. The words of the Supremacy resounded in her ear.

Danger! Hull breach imminent.

Farcia shuddered, afraid. Their very ascent climbed to the point of danger. It came from above, containing the sole source of new light. Farcia lifted her face and stared toward the stars. The habitat dome a giant force field more than a kilometer above was there, rapidly blinking in and out. Static was appearing in pockets against the depleted barrier. It wouldn’t be long before the whole atmosphere escaped.

Arendi clutched Farcia tight, well aware of the danger. Outer space was all too ready to barge in. They needed refuge and soon. With her other hand, Arendi pointed into the distance. Her finger was following an object.

There, Arendi said. It’s intact.

Something was moving in the darkness. It sped fast and flew against the flood of debris. Farcia eventually saw the streaks of gold. The engine nacelles began to glow.

The shuttle, she said.

Yes, Arendi replied. It’s almost here.

In fact, Arendi was already piloting the ship. Minutes ago she had contacted the craft remotely and begun syncing her mind with the systems. The destruction onboard the habitat had nearly catapulted the shuttle into the air. It now lunged toward their position, only to slow and hover directly above. The main door opened, and the two spiraled inside. Farcia dove to the floor. Gravity returned, and her body hit the surface with a thud. She breathed hard, feeling the warm air brush over her hair and face.

Outside, however, all life support was about to end. The dome of the force field over the habitat cracked before finally shattering. In an uproar, the habitat heaved. The debris was escaping, and the cold vacuum was breaking through. Strips of building and sea were lifting off. The ruins of a dead city were spinning into the void.

Arendi rose to her feet and quickly made the order. The craft resumed its ascent. With another jolt, the shuttle climbed and accelerated past the debris.

Farcia felt the movement. They were leaving this memory of a home.

She tried not to care. But already she could imagine it. The barriers holding the world had failed. With nothing to protect the habitat, the vacuum was there to inhale and devour. Farcia had witnessed something like this before. It reminded her of the past. Of a dead universe suddenly consumed. Now that world was all but forgotten. She was all that was left a refugee born from an abandoned realm.

Farcia slowly pulled herself from the floor and walked to the cockpit. Gripping the bulkhead wall, she gazed out the window. For a moment, she expected to see it: the outpost in all its glory. But there was nothing behind the glass. The darkness across the area was almost total. The silence outside was permanent. Behind them now was a mutilated corpse. It stretched across space, a field of rubble, maimed and disfigured. Farcia felt a chill come over her spine. The outpost was no more. Only she would remember what was once there.

Chapter 34

Arendi checked the scans. The flight computer was attempting to calculate. For now, the surrounding star field was all the shuttle had from which to judge its position. But very soon its position was tentatively confirmed.

Twelve hundred light-years, she said. We traveled that far.

She said the words, still in disbelief. All along, Arendi had known the intended coordinates. But even so, the journey had been almost instantaneous. From the cockpit window, she looked out into space. There was no blue sun or emerging nova. The field was practically absent of any system. According to the scans, the nearest star was over two light-years away. As for Ehvine space, it was nowhere near.

Unknown territory, she thought. Reached by almost impossible means.