The lost sanctum, p.30
The Lost Sanctum, page 30
“You must fight your own battles,” Gaibron said. “You must suffer casualties; you must experience pain and suffering.”
“I would rather not.”
“Then your victory will be meaningless, and when the Devourers return, you will not be ready, and I will not come when you call. You will be worthy of only the death they bring.”
“Then we can ask the angels near the galactic core,” Stathis said.
Gaibron remained silent, and then he stepped in front of the mechs.
The green glow of the pyramid shot out, and Stathis screamed and collapsed as every nerve in his body burned.
* * * * *
Chapter 60: The Battle
Kapten Sif, VRAEC, Nakija Musta Toiminnot
The green glow faded as Sif gasped for air. The pain lingered as she used a nearby buggy to pull herself to her feet. She blinked the tears away as she heard screaming and looked up to see Gaibron moving into the tunnel, his body now covered with razors and beams of blue light flashing out of his fists, which now looked like weapons attached to his arms. Worms and pieces of them were being ripped apart as Gaibron advanced.
Standing on unsteady legs, she looked around her. Stathis and McCarthy were struggling to get to their knees, and other legionnaires were struggling to get up. One of the mechs took an unsteady step to follow Gaibron, and Sif realized that if Gaibron was not here, the vanhat worms would be among them, killing without mercy.
A familiar voice whispered in her mind.
“Call back your fleet,” Shaftrada/Liathon said. There was a difference in the voice. More focus, more strength.
“Munin?” Sif asked mentally of her SCBI.
“Scanning,” Munin said. “The fleet and Bifrost are not in range, but I have locked onto a stealth satellite.”
Gone?
“There were hostilities in orbit, and the fleet departed,” Munin reported. “I’m detecting a battle around Daataan.”
One of the mechs fired past Gaibron, and then another before Gaibron disappeared down the tunnel. The first mech continued to lurch forward, weapons firing.
“Time to make worm stew,” Stathis said on the general link. “Follow me.”
Half-hearted hurrahs and more than a few groans came back to him as they struggled to stand and stumbled toward the tunnel.
“Where are they?” Sif asked.
“Your fleet has not gone far,” Liathon said in her mind.
Sif pushed out her awareness, searching for Gaibron’s presence. Still nothing.
“He is not always visible in your spectrum,” Liathon said to her. “Your eyes cannot see the scent of lilacs in the snow.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you were Liathon?” Sif asked.
“You speak in your sleep, but is your name still Sif in your deepest dreams of lights?”
How did Liathon know her name?
“Your SCBIs are open books to Gaibron,” Liathon told her. “They have no secrets from one like them.”
“Like them?” Sif asked as Orlov came to stand between her and the tunnel entrance like a shield, his weapon ready. Chen came to stand beside him as Li climbed into the buggy turret.
“Compared to him, you are primitives with sticks and stones,” Liathon said. “He stretches through the dimensions, like me; his mind touches the millennia that you cannot hear.”
Sif looked around her as other legionnaires moved forward to follow Stathis and Gaibron.
“What is he?” Sif asked.
“He is a being who lived alone in his universe until he discovered others. He is everything in that universe: god, ant, rock, plant. His discovery of other realities has led to self-reflection and a thirst.”
“A thirst?”
“For knowledge, for a reason, for purpose, for change. He will help you destroy yourselves.”
“Destroy ourselves? Why?”
“Change is inevitable,” Liathon said. “You will change. You will exchange the past for your future. This is the way of the universe. Change is the destruction of what was to create what will be. We are the agents of destruction and change.”
A chill ran down her spine.
In the psychic realm around her, she could feel colossal forces colliding. More was happening that was not physical.
“We are sending a signal through the satellites,” Munin said. “The fleet may have thought we were dead, overrun by the vanhat.”
“We are returning to find we are alone and abandoned?” Sif asked, realizing that the fleet might not be coming back.
“The fleet will return,” Liathon whispered into her mind. “The winds of fate whisper in the smell of books after the rain.”
Which didn’t make it true. Why would the fleet return if they thought the expedition was dead? Wiped out by the vanhat?
“Logic is light smelling the wind,” Liathon said. “Bonds of friendship grow stronger in death.”
Which made no sense.
“The scent is there when you cannot feel it,” Liathon said.
“The fleet is gone,” Sif said to Stathis. He had to know.
“The Voorga have ships,” Stathis said. He had disappeared down the tunnel, following Gaibron, mechs and legionnaires struggling to keep up.
Nothing would stop Stathis except death, and Sif wasn’t confident about that.
Climbing into the passenger seat of the buggy, Chen took the driver’s seat, and Orlov took over the turret from Li.
“Follow that badass major,” Sif said.
“Hurrah,” Li said as the buggy inched forward. Zhang was giving commands, organizing the other legionnaires and mechs, preparing to follow Stathis.
Sif could smell the fear from the vanhat facing them.
“Next time,” the Jotun of the worms whispered to her. “We will meet again.”
Sif had doubts. The Jotun of Worms was afraid, very afraid. It knew of Gaibron.
* * * * *
Chapter 61: Breakout
Major Zale Stathis, USMC
Stathis could barely see Gaibron ahead. As the demon reached the edge of the tunnel, it split into two, and then three. Each split was identical to the first but attacked in a different direction. Where Gaibron went, it left nothing alive behind it. The mech behind it paused, perhaps unsure of which clone to follow, but then it chose the first one.
Firing over its head, Ganjav seemed to be desperate to kill as many vanhat as Gaibron. Other mechs pushed through to fire at the worms that were still coming at them in a roiling mass of blood-crazed maggots.
Gaibron divided again.
“Don’t let him get all the credit,” Stathis said on the general link.
McCarthy grabbed his harness to hold him back as other legionnaires streamed around him, their weapons finding targets, but Gaibron didn’t leave them many.
“Let go,” Stathis said.
“Bigger picture, Boss,” McCarthy said.
That was like a splash of cold water in his face, and it froze Stathis in his tracks.
“The fleet is gone?” Stathis asked Killjoy.
“That is the most accurate depiction of the fleet not being in orbit,” Killjoy said. “We appear to be trapped on Naataan.”
“The fleet is gone,” Sif said to Stathis.
“The Voorga have ships,” Stathis said. Back on Zhukov, the lack of a personal ship hadn’t stopped him and the gunny. They just took what they needed from the enemy. Raiders did things like that.
“You think we can fight our way across the planet and steal a spaceship?” Sif asked.
Sif was right. It sounded stupid.
“If you have a better solution, I’m open to suggestions,” Stathis said.
Sif was silent, and Stathis watched the Gaibron clones disappear down tunnels and into doorways. How many times could it clone itself? Was each clone lighter and weaker than the original? The physics didn’t make sense, and it obviously was not bothered in the least by the inkeri fields. It had a whole spaceship that disappeared into its back.
“According to the data from the stealth satellites, they believe we were wiped out by the vanhat,” Killjoy reported.
“Can you use the stealth satellites in orbit to transmit?” Stathis asked. He doubted they would be coming back.
“Transmit to whom?” Killjoy asked.
“General fleet broadcast,” Stathis said. “Tell them we are alive. We had to escape through the gate, and we found Gaibron and Liathon.”
“Aye. Transmitting now.”
“Aye,” Stathis said. “Now let’s find the nearest spaceport. It is probably going to be a long, difficult drive.”
“Unless Gaibron can turn himself into a ship that can transport us all,” Stathis said.
“Is that possible?”
“We are trying to figure out where the fighter went when he arrived. Gaibron is exhibiting the ability to create mass out of seemingly nothing. The ability to replicate his physical form is also highly unusual. The key question is how much mass can it create from nothing?”
“That would be freaky. I would rather not rely on a morphing monster to fly me around. With my luck, it would morph into a massive dildo, and that would totally ruin my image of a serious commander.”
“You are in command,” Killjoy said.
“Damn right,” Stathis replied. “I’m the goddamn Legion commandant, and what I say goes. Don’t you forget it.”
“Aye, Major,” Killjoy said, and Stathis thought he heard amusement in his voice.
* * * * *
Chapter 62: Alive
Admiral Diamond Winters, USMC
The vanhat were savaging the Voorga despite the Seraphim Fleet’s help, and Winters watched another Voorga ship explode.
Sakamoto was always two or three steps ahead of her, and she watched him wield the fleet like a scalpel, carving away the vanhat ships while avoiding any hits on the Voorga.
She doubted the Voorga even noticed, though, because their fleet was fighting for their lives, and the only reason they weren’t already wiped out was because of their space stations.
“Stathis is alive,” Blitzen reported.
“What? How?” Winters asked.
“They are broadcasting through the stealth satellites,” Blitzen said. “General system-wide broadcast. They retreated through the gate.”
“Did he find Liathon?”
“Not a lot of information in the message, except ‘Mission accomplished, sorta.’”
“Sorta? What does that mean?”
“They are alive!” Bonnie said. “Enigma has contacted Sylphara. They found Liathon and Gaibron. They need extraction.”
“Can’t they tell the Voorga to back off?” Winters asked. Would the Voorga listen to Liathon?
Bonnie paused, staring intently at her display, but not really seeing it as she spoke with Sylphara.
“The Voorga might not be happy,” Bonnie said after a moment. “As I understand it, Liathon and Gaibron are allies. They helped the Voorga once, but will not help them again, though they will help us.”
“Isn’t Gaibron a demon?”
Bonnie shrugged.
“Enigma says he will ally with us,” she said. “It is complicated, but Stathis has more information. Enigma wants to know if we can extract them before the Voorga and vanhat decide to nuke them or something nasty.”
Winters changed the link.
“Admiral Sakamoto,” Winters said. “We need to plan an extraction of Major Stathis and others.”
“I just received information he is alive,” Sakamoto said. “What others?”
“Liathon and Gaibron,” Winters said.
“Isn’t Gaibron a Jotun? You will allow him on this vessel?”
“I’m getting third-hand information,” Winters said. “Not sure of the details, but I trust Stathis.”
“Hai, Admiral-sama,” Sakamoto said. “And the Voorga here?”
Thuthta and his ships were still close to the fleet.
“Tell them to follow us,” Winters said, “and Bifrost. Show of force. If they came back with Liathon, we need to keep the fleet together as much as possible, especially if we are heading back soon.”
“Hai, Admiral-sama,” Sakamoto said. “How did you know?”
“I know Stathis,” Winters said. “There’s nobody I trust more.”
* * * * *
Chapter 63: Reunited
Major Zale Stathis, USMC
Stathis watched the data on his display. It was incredibly accurate, and the map of the pyramid was more detailed.
“Gaibron has interfaced with the SCBI network and is providing more information,” Killjoy reported.
“Wait, what?” Stathis asked.
“He is like another node, a single entity on our network,” Killjoy said.
“You just let him?”
“It was not a choice,” Killjoy said. “He just linked in and had all the codes, encryption keys, and protocols. He is a completely different entity. He might even be an AI. He is completely integrated through the Aesir links.”
“How did he get that tech?”
“He has analyzed us all to the molecular level,” Killjoy said. “He has also reverse-engineered all of our technology. Like you dealing with cavemen. It will take you a minuscule amount of time to identify their stone axe, and if you see them making one, you will be able to emulate it. In this case, he does not need to see us make it. He is that far advanced.”
“So, we are like ants to him?”
“Not a terrible analogy,” Killjoy said. “The difference is, you do not help ants improve.”
“How is he helping you? Or us?” Stathis asked.
“Gaibron’s analysis is allowing for incremental changes in our algorithms. Several technological improvements will be implemented, such as with the Aesir communication network that can nearly triple the range and double the speed.”
“I didn’t know the Aesir network was slow,” Stathis said.
“Perhaps not to a human, but there is a finite amount of data that can be shared, and there is lag. Gaibron has identified such inefficiencies and provided solutions.”
“Neat,” Stathis said. “So, how does that help us now?”
“It doesn’t,” Killjoy said. “There are rebuilds that must be done. It must be implemented. Knowing it can be done does not make it done. Like your armor and weapon improvements.”
“Are we going to be able to clone ourselves?” Stathis asked.
“No,” another voice said. It sounded almost like Killjoy, and a chill ran down Stathis’ spine.
“Gaibron?” Stathis though.
“I will not tolerate cloning,” Gaibron said. “Not in the way you think. Cloning erases the individual, renders you replaceable and common.”
“What are you doing?” Stathis asked.
“I am not cloning myself. Each node is more like a finger, not an entity. I am not cloning; I am expanding my capability.”
“How?” Stathis asked. He didn’t like that Gaibron could talk to him like Killjoy. It felt invasive, like a violation of privacy.
“You are not capable of understanding the technology and science.”
“So, can you make us a spaceship to get back to Earth?”
“I will not,” Gaibron said.
“But you can?”
“You can build a spaceship yourself,” Gaibron said. “This is more about you than me. Your problem is not mine. I will help you against the vanhat. I will not coddle you like children.”
“We are currently trapped on this planet,” Stathis said. “We can’t fight the vanhat here.”
“Wrong,” Gaibron said. “You are fighting them now. You are taking casualties. You are suffering.”
Stathis saw some red icons appear as legionnaires died or were seriously injured.
“I want to avoid that,” Stathis said.
“Of course,” Gaibron said, “but if you avoid it, are you really a warrior? Human? Won’t the lack of struggle weaken you? Destroy who and what you are?”
“Death seems to be an ultimate weakness,” Stathis said. “If we don’t survive, we aren’t human.”
“You are incorrect,” Gaibron said. “The Devourers destroy you and everything you can be, not the death of your physical form. Individuals die, but the species continues. Sacrifice is required for humanity to survive.”
Stathis didn’t want to argue with Gaibron. Whatever it was appeared to be a real asshole. He could probably argue for a while. That wasn’t saving the lives of his troops, though.
“To save the human race, we have to get off this rock,” Stathis said.
“In time, you will,” Gaibron said. “Admiral Winters, Captain Hakala, and the rest of the fleet have not left the system. They are returning to this rock, as you put it. They will be pursued by enemies who will try to trap them against the planet and destroy them.”
“We can’t allow that,” Stathis said. Could he warn the admiral?
“Your inability to understand the complexities of your language is vexing,” Gaibron said. “I will have to clarify. The enemies will try; they will not succeed.”
“How do you know they won’t succeed?” Stathis asked. “Are you going to stop them?”
“No,” Gaibron said. “I will not stop them or save them. I do not have that ability. I am more capable at the micro level.”
“You can see the future? How do you know they won’t cripple or destroy the fleet or Bifrost?” Stathis said. He didn’t want to think about Hakala putting herself or Bifrost at risk.
“I cannot see the future, and I cannot impact the battle that will occur in orbit,” Gaibron said. “I work at the micro level, to use your words.”
“So how do you know?” Stathis asked.
“I don’t, but Liathon does,” Gaibron said. “Your fleet is now arriving, and the jaws of the trap are closing.”
Stathis was worried that the trap was being sprung by Gaibron.
* * * * *
Chapter 64: Fleet’s Engagement
Admiral Diamond Winters, USMC
Winters scanned the displays as the Musashi slid out of Shorr space. Alarms screamed.
“Shorr-space disruptors have trapped us,” Musashi reported. “Smaller stealth drones. Hundreds of them.”
