Truth of the Children Page 6

  “He did not. It was first discovered over one hundred years ago by a man named Va’Dahren Adeema.”

  “Who's that?”

  “You might know him better as The Hydra.”

  “The Hydra?!”

  “Yes. Over a century ago at the University Konkerda, Adeema discovered ethers with the power over gravity could create negative mass.”

  “Negative mass?"

  “It is a key component for travel beyond the speed of light and artificial gravity. The discovery was revolutionary. It distinguished him as one of the greatest scientific minds of his time. Of all time.”

  “You agreed to all of this so you could hide it from Raffa Calderon and Emperor Feera Sungarden? Why?”

  Haitrion swelled with pride and irritation.

  “It was I who found The Compass on Firoth. It was I who was the first to decipher angelic writing. I was there when humans first reached into the stars. I was there when we made first contact with the Nepheri. I am older than Feera Sungarden. These were the things I told myself. I thought this would be the vessel of my godhood. I wanted to be the next Athronin.”

  Taytha smiled.

  “I know the feeling.”

  “After we arrived I recognized the design as angelic immediately. It was a giant arch, over one hundred and fifty feet tall and one hundred feet wide, standing in the center of a diamond shaped platform.”

  “Sounds incredible.”

  “It is magnificent. We theorized the device warps space time using the same abilities an ether would use to create negative mass and requires four conscious beings to operate. We managed to open it. Only death was there to greet us.”

  “Those things.”

  Haitrion nodded.

  “They poured in like water through a broken damn. As if they were pressed up against the other side. Waiting.”

  Taytha’s face twisted in disgust.

  “Can’t you just blow it up?”

  “Its value as the only known object that can warp spacetime is incalculable. We also decided destroying an object that is actively warping spacetime was not the wisest decision. I am also certain the Nephiri would not appreciate us setting off large explosions in their backyard either. Or opening a gate tha—"

  “Scan complete. No human biorhythms detected,” reported a soft voice over the intercom.

  Haitrion looked out a viewport at the ground below. It’s soft golden glow rising up into the air. Millions of reflective particles mixing with the dust and dirt twinkled like stars.

  “The readings were the same when I found you.”

  He turned to Taytha.

  “Help me find survivors.”

  Taytha looked at her new, shimmering suit then back to Haitrion.

  “Alright.” she said with confidence. "Let’s go.”

  Haitrion's eyebrows perked.

  “Eager to meet the devils againso soon?”

  “If we’re going to die why shouldn’t it be on our terms?”

  “You are the spirit of the warrior made flesh, Taytha Sundive.”

  She smiled.

  “It’s going to take time to put this thing on. Normally, I have a team tha—“

  “Not this time sergeant."

  The arms grasping her armor danced around her body.

  “Just lift up your arms."

  Taytha lifted her arms to the side, shoulder height. Her chest and back plates were secured followed by her waist and legs. Next came her calves and arms in succession from the shoulder down to her finger tips. Finally, two arms wrapped Taytha’s hair into a bun and her glistening new helmet was placed on her head to the sound of vacuum seals. The suit booted up. The wild advancements were apparent from the first initialization. Taytha hopped back and forth on her toes and swung her arms. The sounds of electric motors and servos were gone and the suit's extremities had far more flexibility and dexterity than the previous design.

  “It’s comfortable.” Taytha noted.

  Her voice projected like a specter’s.

  “My voice. What happened?”

  “It is the suit's voice distortion,” assured Haitrion. “A useful tool.”

  “You’ve taken a lot of liberties.”

  “I have. Even with these liberties this rock might still claim us.”

  A gust of wind entered the room as another wall dematerialized. The drop bay in the adjacent room was now wide open. Taytha’s azukar rose up in front of her. She grasped the hovering weapon and secured it to the right side of the thrusters on her back. Taytha then secured her AGR in between the pair of rear thrusters. She walked to the edge of the drop bay. They were now less than one hundred feet above the surface.

  “Let’s go see who’s down there?” Taytha offered.

  Before Haitrion could respond Taytha leapt from the edge. The ground rushed toward her through the blackness. She landed, crushing the rocks and ground beneath her. The upgraded suit's exterior lights blossomed, showering the area in front of her with a pale blue hue.

  Taytha turned around and looked up. Before her, the transformation of the arc suit Hermes. Shapes folding upon shapes creating new forms. The head and chest of a great suit of armor appeared. Succeeded by legs and feet. Arms folded out from the back culminating into a massive arc suit over thirty feet tall. It shared the same exterior style as her own upgraded suit with matte black plates and amber and blue lights. The behemoth touched down to the sound of breaking stone. Taytha turned back to the horizon. The area was devoid of life. All that remained of the battle was a few gutted drop ships.

  “This is how everything was right before those creatures attacked me. There were no bodies. No weapons. Even the drop ships bringing in heavy equipment disappeared.”

  Taytha gestured around her.

  "Look. There’s no trace of any of it. It’s all gone.”

  The lights from Hermes cast down onto the corpse of a hollowed out drop ship. Shadows grew along the ground as the burnt orange glow covered the vessel. Taytha approached a gaping hole in the side. She placed her hand over the scorched edges.

  “From a powerful heat blast.” Haitrion confirmed. “Everything inside would have been incinerated.”

  Taytha crept in through the burned out fissure. The walls were caked with carbon scoring. The vehicle had been gutted by fire and death.

  “It’s all torched in here,” Taytha reported. "All that’s left is ash.”

  She made her way to the cockpit. Every electronic component was removed. Every screen. Every button and lever. Every wire.

  “There’s nothing up here either. No bodies.”

  Taytha turned around.

  “Even the seats are gone.”

  The Hermes rotated and strode away from the wreckage dragging the golden glow with it. Taytha’s low light vision blinked on. She exited the stripped husk back into the darkness.

  “There’s a large amount of heavy metals present. Tungsten. Platinum. Iron,” observed Haitrion. “Just beneath the ground.”

  Taytha knelt down and ran her hands over the dirt. She picked some up in her first. It was loose and fell through her fingers.

  “Haitrion. The ground around here has been disturbed. Like it’s been tilled. Or dug in.”

  “Sergeant.”

  The Hermes turned, drawing the light back to where Taytha was standing. Encircling her, half buried, was a massive cybernetic serpent. Large cuts had been taken out of the sides. The head of the monster was hanging by bits of shredded flesh and wire. The metal super structure was exposed, jutting from its torn body. Its thick metal scales glistened under the lights of the Hermes.

  “It has to be over a hundred feet long.” muttered Taytha.

  “Over there.”

  Taytha looked over to where the Hermes gestured.

  “In the mouth.”

  Hanging out of the great beast's jaws was a half devoured soldier. Their helmet was still intact. Taytha approached the gaping maw of teeth gripping the helmet of her dead comrade. She hesitated before remo
ving it. Taytha looked down at the rows of teeth that had ground up the soldier's lower portion. She shuddered. A ping chimed off in her earpiece.

  “The helmet seems undamaged. I’m going to try and disconnect one of the redundant storage drives.”

  Taytha removed the helmet with care to reveal the desiccated face of a young girl with long hair. Taytha's earpiece chimed again. She turned the helmet over and reached inside.

  “Sergeant.”

  “One sec. These things are kinda hard to get out.”

  Taytha’s earpiece chimed once more accompanied by a warning on her display. Unknown organic approaching. Taytha paused.

  “Haitrion. Whats going on?”

  “They are coming. Beneath the ground.”

  Taytha looked back down at the helmet in her hands. She gripped piece of armor tight and with brute force ripped it in two. She tossed one half to the side and pulled out the redundant hard drive. The alerts chimed in like rain drops.

  “Sergeant!” roared Haitrion over the mic.

  “I have it!” cried Taytha as she stowed the drive.

  "They are upon us!”

  Taytha whirled around her AGR tight in her grasp. The ground between Taytha and the Hermes exploded. Taytha laid into her trigger. The Hermes drew its blades bearing down on the rift. Into the air rose another one hundred foot serpent. Then another broke ground. Then a half dozen more.

  “Sergeant!”

  Three of the hellish worms charged Taytha. With her finger still on the trigger she did not hesitate. She rushed to meet the beasts head on. The head and mouth of the first worm was shredded to pieces. As she drew her azukar as she converged with the remaining creatures. Taytha leapt into the air, rotating before landing behind the maws of teeth. With one swift stroke Taytha cut one beast in two. The halves remained connected through thin wires and tissue. She stowed her blade with haste and brought her AGR back around and screamed as she squeezed the trigger once more. A thunderstorm of blue rays burst from her weapon. The Hermes launched into the air and came down on the third serpent, slicing off the head of the halved menace left wriggling on the ground.

  “On your six, Sergeant,” gestured the Hermes with glowing amber weapon.

  Taytha flipped around. Her suits sensors were ablaze with commotion.

  “Clear display!" she ordered.

  Her HUD reorganized clearing the clutter. She grinned for a moment. The sensors zeroed in on seven above ground targets approaching them.

  “Stand clear Sergeant.”

  The Hermes stowed its weapons and made two fists. The gargantuan machination stepped to the side and squatted down with open palms as if to lift a great weight from either side. The ground began to shake. Shards of metal from the carcasses of the fallen worms ripped from their flesh and lifted into the air. The heads of the first four rushing worms were impaled by rising spears of tungsten and iron. Their great bodies falling limp behind them. More worms broke ground. The left side of Taytha's HUD indicated thirty three cybernetic serpents.

  “Haitrion! There's more!” she cried.

  The Hermes shot its palms forward sending the large shards of metal wrenched from the corpses hurling towards the onslaught. The projected mass of metal crashed into the first wave of worms turning them into cornucopias of gore. Haitrion plunged the Hermes into battle. More iron and tungsten spikes skewered incoming monsters while Haitrion dispatched others with his fiery blades. Taytha fired up at their heads as the beasts attacked Haitrion. She weaved in and out, side stepping in between the legs of the arc suit firing volley after volley. The Hermes cut down two more and went airborne, thrusting itself toward the next oncoming mass of enemies. Small sparks of electricity emerged as magnetic fields sped around the Hermes at greater and greater speeds. Two more smashed though the dirt just in front of Taytha. With lighting speed Taytha fired her thrusters and bounded away. Blue rounds from her AGR sliced through attackers. Haitrion landed with crushing force, snapping two of the worms in half. The Blades of Hermes whipped about like great flames arcing across the sky. Haitrion carved his way through wave after wave. Taytha's hud indicated one hundred and four cybernetic serpents.

  “Haitrion! There's no end!”

  The golden arcs from the blades of the Hermes cleaved through masses of enemies. The corpses of the great serpents started piling up around them. Taytha fired at a worm slithering over the bodies of its own dead. Her rounds missed wide and the creature ducked back behind the heap.

  “Sergeant, fall back to the Hermes. We are leaving.”

  Taytha squeezed off a few more rounds as she back pedaled. She turned and smacked the shin of the arc suit. The left shin guard of the great suit opened like double doors. Inside the lower leg was a chamber just large enough to fit Taytha’s ZGC suit. She entered the cavity and turned around. The shin’s doors closed in front of her.

  “Prepare for liftoff.”

  The mass of worms closed in shaking the ground. Taytha closed her eyes as the arc suit Hermes lifted and tore off into a black sky.

  CHAPTER 5

  RAFFA SAT SILENT in a cold cement room. The over head florescent lights covered everything with their artificial hue. He dragged his finger around the rim of a glass of water sitting on a table in front of him. The heavy metal door swung open and in stepped a young man in his mid twenties. His FTS uniform was fresh and new. The creases from when it was packaged could still be seen.

  “Mr. Calderon I have good news.”

  Jonathan dropped a tablet on the table and took a seat across from Raffa. He unlocked the tablet and looked up at Raffa.

  “Mr. Calderon —“

  “Please, just Raffa.”

  “Okay Raffa. Your report has be filed with Pyra Prime Security and we have opened an investigation into the attempt on your life.”

  Raffa nodded his approval.

  "You will be given executive protection under PPS and all infractions and misdemeanors committed during your unscheduled launch have been dropped."

  “That sounds great Lieutenant. Thank you. What about my assistant, Serena?”

  “She is being released as we speak. She will meet you in the lobby of the twenty second floor.”

  Raffa stood up.

  “Then let us conclude this business,” he replied with a nod.

  Jonathan followed.

  “Let us.”

  Raffa moved around the table towards the door. The young lieutenant opened it and they stepped into a long deserted hallway. It was quiet. Like a tomb. Raffa turned just as the door behind them closed shut.

  “Excuse me Lieutenant, has there been any media coverage of the assassination attempt?”

  The pause was too long. The lieutenant started down the hall. Raffa followed.

  “There has been a media blackout assigned to the case. Media access is restricted.”

  Raffa raised an eyebrow.

  “Do you know who authorized it?”

  Another long pause.

  “Lieutenant?” Raffa pressed.

  Jonathan maintained his course.

  “Lieutenant, do you know who authorized the media blackout?”

  Jonathan stopped and turned to Raffa.

  “Sir, I do not know the details of the media blackout. All I know is it came down as a royal order.”

  “Emperor Feera?”

  “Anyone in the Royal Family could have issued the order. Knowing who did is above my pay grade."

  Jonathan’s expression turned.

  "Is there something you forgot to mention Raffa?”

  “No, I don't believe so,” he replied.

  Jonathan pivoted leading the pair down the corridor. The way curled around a corner to a small lounge area. It was littered with couches, chairs, and long planter boxes packed with exotic flora. Large glass windows allowed rays from Uruteth’s twin suns to come through, showering the room with gold and purple hues. As Raffa approached the windows he shielded his eyes from the light refracting off the surface of Pyra Prime’s ocean. Therm
ipoli now lay far beyond the artificial body of water, with the Palace Therremos at the center piercing the horizon like a glowing needle.

  Jonathan lead them to a perpendicular hallway with a set of elevators at the end. Jonathan punched in a code on a ten key pad and placed his badge against the reader. A panel slid open revealing a palm scanner. Jonathan placed his hand on the device and a call for the elevator was placed.

  “Your belongings have been returned to your assistant, Serena. As I mentioned before she will be waiting for you in the lobby on the twenty second floor. FTS will provide escort and transportation to your star deck as well."

  “Thank you. We will be departing from star deck 189. A few more of my colleagues are waiting for us there.”

  Jonathan looked down at his PDC and punched in a few commands. It chimed and he looked up at Raffa.

  “You’ll have two squads to escort you on the tram to star deck 189.”

  “That sounds great Lieutenant. How many officers is that?”

  “It will be twelve veteran security officers. Charlie and Delta squads.”

  The elevator arrived and the door slid open. The two stepped in.

  “I have to apologize FTS would offer further assistance however, I can only direct personnel within the limits of FTS grounds."

  “I understand Lieutenant. I have a personal security detail tha—“

  The building rocked from the shock of an explosion. Then a second. A red light flashed inside the elevator as it came to a halt at the closest floor. The doors slid open to the fifty first floor.

  “Warning. Active shooters in the building. All passengers and civilian personnel please evacuate the premisses,” cautioned a calm female voice over the PA.

  Raffa and Jonathan looked at one another.

  “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to follow me to the nearest evac point.”

  Raffa scowled.

  “Who do you think this is for?”

  "What?” Jonathan questioned.

  “Why do you think there are active shooters in Flight Transportation Security?”

  “I-I dont know. I don't know who would be brazen enough to attack an FTS compound.”

  Raffa rolled his eyes and looked around. The fiftieth floor was deserted. The red lights swirled about dancing along the walls. Raffa started into the the room and spun around.