Shadow of the Chimera (Reckless Faith VII), Chapter 15

Spoiler alert: This is a new entry for the 7th book in the Reckless Faith series. The prologue may be found here: https://devonai.wordpress.com/2022/12/15/reckless-faith-vii-prologue/

Far Reach was a beautiful planet, quite similar to Earth in appearance. Though due to having fewer metropolitan areas, it was more verdant and unspoiled, or at least it seemed that way from far above. Colonel Dietrich believed she would never tire of simply gazing at a planet from orbit, even though such a world had become mundane by comparison in her short time outside of Earth’s humble sphere. Any such enjoyment had been spoiled, at the moment, by the arrival of fourteen Anachronian ships, and the threat one of their admirals had just made to her and her smaller group.

During quieter times, she had initiated a conversation with Admiral Praxis, a man to whom she’d barely said a hundred words since they’d met. Aldebaran and Faen notwithstanding, she’d never had a chance to have an unfettered dialog with an alien, and she listened, enrapt, to several of his stories, including his perspective on their recent entanglements with the affairs of the Faith and the Fox. Ultimately, both of them were frustrated with playing second fiddle to Commander Scherer, though Praxis had a better reason for being so inclined. Dietrich had known what was expected of her and her ship all along, while he was an unwitting participant. Still, nothing that Scherer had proposed during their current troubles was unreasonable or illogical, so both of them had to begrudgingly continue to follow his lead.

As such, it was he who had initially responded to the demands from the Anachronian admiral, and once again she could only listen in on their communications. Despite this, the fact that she commanded such a powerful ship imparted a modicum of reassurance. No matter what happened, she was in charge of the Percheron.

The desire of the Anachonians was straightforward: surrender the staff, and the ship on which it was currently placed. Since the staff was planetside, with Evangeline and the Percheron’s shuttle, Dietrich could only guess that the Anachronians didn’t trust their own scans, otherwise they would know none of the vessels in orbit had it. The Faith had sent a hurried message to Eva, advising her to stay put, until further notice. Dietrich had placed her crew on high alert, and stood by, ready for the worst.

“We don’t recognize your authority here,” John was saying, over the radio. “Nothing in the data we were given indicates that you can legally detain any of us outside of your own solar system. We will not comply with your demands. If you do not leave us in peace, we’ll have no choice but to defend ourselves.”

Dietrich understood why John was speaking that way, but whether or not their smaller force could save their own skins in action was unknown. With an advantage of more than two-to-one (not counting the Antares), the Anachronians would have to be pretty stupid to lose a fight with them. They also already knew that their antagonists had technology beyond anything they’d encountered before. If Dietrich had anything to say about it, they’d be better off fleeing, except they’d strand Eva on Far Reach by doing so. Eva broke in with her own transmission, on a separate and encrypted channel.

“Adeler here,” she began. “My new friend is advising us to tell the Anachronians that we don’t have the staff anymore, and for the two of us to launch and rendezvous with the Percheron.”

“They’ll detect the staff the moment you break atmo,” replied John.

“Mister Shang is confident they won’t. You should listen to him, Scherer. I believe him.”

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t share his confidence. It’d be safer if you meet up with us later.”

“Maybe, except they could set up a blockade, and send patrols down here. If they detect the staff, we’re all alone.”

“Damn it, you’re right. Stand by.”

Brockway said, “I have a bad feeling about this.”

“I agree,” said Dietrich. “I feel like we’re out of options.”

John’s transmission continued. “Adeler, would your companion be able to hide the staff if it and the ship he was on was boarded?”

“He says so,” came the reply.

“Then I think we should let them search us. If he’s wrong, then the worst that happens is they confiscate it. With his help, then there may be another way for us to fight the Chimeras.”

“I’m sure we’d all be rue to let our ships get searched by a bunch of strangers,” began Dietrich, “but I agree that it’s the best way to keep the peace.”

“All right, then, I’ll let the Anachronians know that we’ll agree to a search, if they allow the shuttle to return to the Percheron. Any objections?”

“I don’t like it,” replied Praxis, “but I’ll allow it.”

“No problem here,” added Vecky.

“Captain Lesath?” asked John.

“They probably won’t search my ship,” she replied. “I’m the one who alerted them to your presence here. Don’t worry, though, that was just after our unfortunate entanglement in New Solace. Since you saved Sargas, you have my support now.”

“Don’t tell them that, maybe they’ll still give you a finder’s fee.”

The others listened in as John got back into contact with the Anachronian admiral, and laid out their terms. They reached an agreement, and the first ship to be searched would be the Percheron. In turn, Dietrich briefed the rest of her crew on what was about to happen, and to give the Anachronians their full cooperation. That done, the only thing left to do was to wait until the shuttle returned.

Brockway tracked the small vessel, and coordinated its path into the Percheron’s cargo bay. Once the bay was again safe to enter, she and Dietrich stood up and exited the bridge. They descended the port-side staircase, and arrived in the bay just as the rear hatch opened. Eva emerged with the staff, her gait rather unsteady, followed by the man she had called Shang. He nodded at them in greeting, then closed his eyes, extending his arms out to his side at waist-level.

“Hello?” asked Dietrich.

“You have a cloaking device,” he said, then opened his eyes. “That’s a very good thing.”

“We think so.”

“That makes my job that much easier. Miss Evangeline, would you lean the staff against the bulkhead?”

“Okay,” she replied, doing so.

Shang closed his eyes again, and the staff disappeared. A moment later, Mungavin’s voice could be heard over the intercom.

“Captain, I’m getting a strange error message regarding the invisibility shield. ‘Localized activation.’ As far as I can tell, the ship is still visible.”

“Disregard,” said Dietrich. “We’ve got it under control. Mister Shang, that’s quite impressive. I’ll not trouble you for how you did that right now, I’ll only ask whether or not such a measure will be sufficient to fool the Anachronians.”

“It will be,” he said.

“Yeah,” began Brockway, “unless they happened to be actively scanning us between the time you got here and now.”

“They weren’t.”

“I can confirm that,” said Mungavin. “No unusual neutrino emissions were detected in the last five minutes.”

“Lucky,” said Dietrich. “Mister Shang, how close do you need to be to the staff to keep it hidden?”

Shang said, “Ideally, no further than five meters.”

“In that case, let’s move the staff to the lounge. Our impending visitors might find it odd if you’re standing around in the cargo bay for no apparent reason.”

Shang handed his shorter staff to Eva. Without dismissing his cantrip, Shang walked over to the wall, and made a gesture like he was grabbing the staff. Dietrich pointed toward the stairs, and the entire group ascended to the top deck and entered the lounge area. This small space was directly off of the central corridor, and had the same purpose as the one on the Faith from which it had been copied. Three couches and a coffee table offered a casual spot just to the aft of the conference room, though a wall-mounted monitor allowed anyone there to stay apprised of what might be going on elsewhere. Hourglass-shaped windows on the starboard side of the hull gave way to a generous view of the exterior.

Shang’s actions implied that he had placed the staff against the bulkhead, and he settled into one of the couches, placing his heels on the coffee table.

“I have a million questions for you,” Dietrich said to him, “but I don’t want to be an ungracious host. Is there anything I can get for you?”

Mungavin’s voice interrupted her. “Ma’am, a heavy cruiser is drawing abeam. Shall I prepare the port-side airlock?”

“Of course. We’ll head to the Zero-G room to greet them.”

“Aye.”

Dietrich turned to Shang. “This is where the rubber meets the road, Mister Shang. Any last uncertainty, and you should let us know now.”

“This is Initiate-level stuff; don’t worry about it.”

“Okay, because the alternative is a close-quarters firefight, with my people crammed into a corridor while you sit here with your feet up.”

Shang waved his hand, and the lights in the room flickered. “They’d be fried to a cinder before they fired a shot.”

Dietrich was not reassured by this display; instead, her anxiety only worsened. Even though she knew her all of crew were armed, she found her gaze settling on Brockway’s waistline, to confirm that she had her pistol. Evangeline had hers as well, in addition to Shang’s staff. At the same moment, Zeta entered the room, her own sidearm in clear view.

Leaving Shang to his reclining, she and the other three headed aft to the Zero-G room. As with the Faith, this area was kept clear in case they needed to deactivate the artificial gravity or depressurize the room. They waited by the port-side airlock until the indicator light turned from red to green, then Zeta unlocked the inner door.

A half-dozen armed and armored Anachronian soldiers entered. They each had energy rifles slung over their shoulders, and wore sidearms in thigh holsters. Dietrich identified herself, and welcomed them to the Percheron.

“I’m Petty Officer Vendrigan,” one of them said in response. “Last chance to hand over the contraband before we tear your ship apart.”

“There’s no need to be so heavy-handed,” said Dietrich. “We’ll open any compartment you want, and I’m sure your scanners are capable of inspecting void spaces or areas you suspect have been intentionally hidden from you.”

“Oh, if it’s here, we’ll find it. Graffias, you’re up.”

A seventh man boarded the ship. He was wearing what Dietrich would describe as a martial arts uniform, dark red in color, its tunic secured by a brown leather belt, and a gray robe, its hem almost reaching the floor. He was not an Anachronian; if she had to guess, she would say he was Primarian or Matesian. He bore no weapons that she could see, other than a wooden sword, carved in the Japanese katana style. The hair on the back of her neck stood up.

“You’ve brought your own Sortarius, I take it?” she asked.

“Your comparison is damning,” Graffias began, “especially for someone who claims ignorance of such things.”

Just then realizing that someone else had entered the room, Dietrich looked over her shoulder. Shang was there, grasping Amity’s staff in both hands, the hardwood implement plainly visible for all to see.

“Traitor,” he hissed.

With a practiced snap, Zeta brought her pistol to bear, and the next thing that Dietrich knew, everybody was pointing weapons at each other. The Anachronian soldiers had unlimbered their rifles with terrifying speed, while her own people held their pistols steady at eye level. Graffias held his sword with one hand, and stared unwaveringly at Shang. Dietrich held up her hands.

“Everybody just chill the fuck out,” she said.

In an instant, blinding electrical bolts shot out of the room’s several power receptacles, striking each of the soldiers. All of them collapsed, unconscious. One searing, crackling bolt arced a path from the outlet to Graffias, but his sword seemed to absorb the energy with no harm to him. Dietrich and her companions pointed their pistols at him.

“Child’s play,” he said.

Dietrich’s body seized up, pain coursing through every nerve, and her world quickly faded to black.

_____

Evangeline felt a curious tingling in her arms as an electric bolt struck the staff she was carrying. She had instinctively closed her eyes when the room had filled with lightning, and when she opened them, only she, Shang, and Graffias were left standing. She holstered her pistol and grasped the staff with both hands. When Shang had first offered it to her, she felt some of the same reassurance that Amity’s staff imparted to her, though it was far less noticeable if she wasn’t actively thinking about it. Shang and Graffias were still staring hatefully at each other.

“What kind of perversion did you come up with to allow yourself to be in league with these fascists?” asked Shang.

“Probably the same reason you’ve given a Staff of the Archon to this random woman,” replied Graffias, gesturing at Eva. “Perhaps all of our Order could be called apostates now, with all of us left to fend for ourselves.”

“Things are not as dire as you imply. Stand down, and we can talk about it.”

As much as she was itching for a fight with this guy, Eva had a greater obligation. Even if the Anachronian soldiers had been merely knocked unconscious, the consequences could not be ignored.

“I’ll leave you two to your feud,” she said. “This is not my problem.”

Eva slowly backed away, headed for the central corridor. Shang winked at her as she moved. As soon as she’d exited, and began to make her way back to the bridge, the sounds of combat followed her, echoing down the hallway. If she had to guess, the two men were exchanging parries, though the clash of wood-on-wood was much louder than it should have been. The lights flickered, and she quickened her pace.

Moving down the port-side corridor, she arrived on the bridge. Haverbrook, Mungavin, Mintaka, Al-Nilam, and Ogden were all there, and looked at her expectantly.

“Signal our fleet,” began Eva. “We need to go light immediately. Negotiations have failed. Dietrich, Brockway, and that other lady are all disabled.”

“Destination?” asked Mungavin.

“Anywhere but here.”

“They’ll be expecting us to rabbit,” said Mintaka. “I’m sure we’ll be followed.”

“Scherer will figure out how to lose them. Just send the message, and as soon as a set of coordinates are agreed on, Haverbrook, lock ‘em in and get us out of here. The rest of you, arm yourselves if you haven’t already, because we’re going to have prisoners. Unless Shang loses; then, I don’t know what we’ll do.”

Haverbrook said, “You’re forgetting, we’re still coupled with the Anachronian cruiser.”

“Damn it. Can you disconnect the gangway from here?”

Mintaka said, “I can close our airlock doors, but I can’t force the cruiser to disconnect its couplings. If Haverbrook maneuvers away, there may be damage to one or both vessels.”

“That’s the least of our problems!”

“Coordinates received from the Reckless Faith,” said Mungavin.

Haverbrook pushed forward on the throttle. There was a thump as the Percheron tore itself free from the docking couplings.

“No damage registered,” said Mintaka. “We should be clear to go light.”

“Good, let’s get the hell out of here.”

Haverbrook initiated the FTL drive. Eva turned around and headed back toward the Zero-G room.

“If you’re armed, follow me,” she said.

Mintaka and Al-Nilam got up and ran down the corridor beside her, each drawing their sidearms. The sounds of combat from aft had ceased, and they burst through the door. A grisly scene met their eyes. Blood, viscera, and bone coated the floor, aft bulkhead, and a section of the ceiling. The six Anachronian soldiers, and their three crewmates, lay motionless on the floor. Shang was sitting on the deck, leaning against the wall, breathing heavily. Al-Nilam vomited.

“Graffias has been defeated,” puffed Shang.

“I can see that,” said Eva, grimacing at the sight. “Are you okay?”

“I’m exhausted, but unharmed. We should deal with the Anachronians, they’ll be awake soon. They and your friends should only have minor burn injuries.”

Eva and the others checked on the crew, and confirmed they were still breathing. They dragged them out into the corridor, then returned to gather up both the Anachronian’s weapons, and the wooden sword that Graffias had been carrying. Next, Mintaka closed and locked the door to the Zero-G room.

“Ogden, this is Adeler. You’re needed in the aft corridor.”

“I’ll be right there,” he replied over the intercom.

“Shang, why don’t you go back to the lounge area and sit down? We’ve got everything under control for now.”

He nodded, and walked away. Doctor Ogden arrived, and began to evaluate the trio that had been injured.

“What do you want to do about the soldiers?” asked Mintaka.

“I’m not going in there without an armed escort,” said Ogden.

“I meant in general.”

Eva said, “When they regain consciousness, we can communicate with them over the intercom. We’ll let them know that they need to cooperate with us if they want food, water, medical care, or help cleaning up that mess. If they’re stubborn, we’ll transport some supplies to them, anyway. No need to treat them poorly.”

Dietrich, Brockway, and Zeta woke up, and were able to walk, so Mintaka, Al-Nilam, and Ogden helped them descend the nearest set of stairs to the medical bay. Eva double-checked that the door to the Zero-G room was secure, scooped up the wooden sword, then went to join Shang in the lounge. He was reclining on one of the couches, his eyes closed.

“I’m going to need some time to rest before I do anything like that again,” he said.

“What, exactly, did you do?”

His reply seemed strained. “I suckered him into concentrating on repelling my strikes with my staff, until I sensed that most of his energy was being spent on mitigating its blows. Then, I hit him with all the power that the staff could muster, at once. I’ve never done that before, and I was rather surprised to see the results.”

“I’m impressed his bokken survived that.”

“Bokken?”

“The wooden sword.”

“Oh, he blocked it. The force channeled through his weapon and into his body. I doubt you’ll be able to find his hands in there anywhere.”

“Grim. Shang, we have a basic idea of how your weapons are so powerful, but can’t rectify that with our own base of knowledge. Would you be willing to help us out with that? Our fight with the Chimeras may depend on it.”

“It’s not my decision to make. I’m beholden to higher powers than myself.”

Eva sat down next to him. “You mentioned possibly knowing how we could recreate a wormhole, to travel quickly back to Sadal Biham. I assume you’re talking about more of your kind, right?”

“Yes.”

“Then perhaps there will be someone there that outranks you.”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

Eva clutched the wooden sword. She could see the golden patterns on its surface, and sense the similarity to the staffs that she and Shang already had. Its shape better lent itself to her skills and experience, and she found herself quite enamored with it.

“This weapon of Graffias. Is it imbued with the same abilities as a Staff of the Archon?”

“Seems that way. I’d have to actually hold it to know for sure.”

She offered it to him, but his eyes were still closed.

“My allies and I are going to need to know our next destination as soon as possible. We can continue to make random heading changes, but we shouldn’t stray too far from where we’re going.”

“Perdition.”

“I’m sorry, that’s the name of the planet?”

“Yes. Perdition. The lost planet.”