Mars is a paradox of quiet desolation and relentless threat. Even a single breath is a victory over the void.

—Chen “Cricket” Guowei

CHAPTER 1

Olympus Station, hosting two hundred thousand individuals, with two-thirds in transit, served as the primary transportation hub of Mars. The structure mostly existed underground, with three wings that included homes, stores, factories, and research facilities. At the heart of the city lay the central utility plant beneath the ground, containing the gravitics core, which provided the city with gravity like Earth.

The spaceport emerged onto the Martian surface, the only part of the structure to do so. Various restaurants and pubs provided their patrons with views of the Martian landscape—a breathtaking expanse of land that remained entirely inhospitable to human life.

O’Brien’s Pub, with its allegedly Irish drinks, mirrored the station’s blend of authenticity and adaptation. Fiberglass accents, crafted to mimic ancient hand-hewn wooden beams, adorned the establishment. The bar itself was a substantial slab of maple, encased in a thick layer of indestructible epoxy glass, undoubtedly imported from Earth at significant cost.

Circling the ceiling, just beneath the glass dome, a scrolling display showcased the latest news and updates. Outside, the temperature plunged to fifty degrees below zero, while the Galactic Congress debated the merits of imposing new mining restrictions in the Chara asteroid belt, with pundits criticizing the proposed legislation for various reasons.

Along the bar’s perimeter, a series of snugs were situated, reminiscent of a practice from the early nineteenth century, when Irish pubs provided private booths for women. In homage to this tradition, O’Brien’s featured several of these semi-private booths.

Kaylie Stewart nestled into a cozy snug, the doors nearly shut, affording her a view of the patrons while remaining unseen. She was, perhaps, the only authentic Irish element in the establishment. Her green eyes, heart-shaped face, delicate features, and dark hair with auburn highlights testified to her lineage. She seldom pondered her heritage unless it pertained to ales. Having earlier spied a bottle of Smithwick’s behind the bar, she had promptly made it her choice.

Estia sat in silence opposite Kaylie, having politely refused the waiter’s offer of sustenance. She was beautiful and tall, with long blonde hair that verged on platinum. Her striking blue eyes betrayed an almost childlike innocence. She sat with a silent grace, her movements precise and almost too perfect, hinting at an unusual past Kaylie had yet to fully understand.

Meanwhile, Kaylie bent forward, her head lowered, her focus shifting between the individuals visible through a gap in the snug door and the holographic display before her.

“What are you looking at?” Estia asked.

“It’s a VRD—a virtual retinal display,” Kaylie explained. “It projects a computer screen onto my retina, similar to a heads-up display.”

Estia looked curious. “I haven’t seen those before.”

“It’s pretty common. As long as I’m within range of a network, I’m connected. I also have nanocomputers if I need private resources.”

“I see.”

Kaylie doubted Estia fully understood. Her isolated upbringing left her with gaps in common knowledge.

“I’m worried that you won’t be able to make it through security,” Kaylie said.

“I saw them earlier asking for identification.”

“Yes, that’s going to be a problem,” Kaylie agreed. “Plus, there’s a full-body scan to go through, so let’s see if we can avoid that. Stay here. I’ll be back.”

“Okay.”

“And don’t talk to anyone.”

Estia grasped Kaylie’s hand. “It will be okay.”

Kaylie had checked the departures list earlier. Flights to Earth were leaving about twice an hour, and she desperately wanted to be on one of those flights and off this God-forsaken airless rock. It wouldn’t be difficult for her. It would be much harder for her companion to do. Estia didn’t have identification. She couldn’t just buy a ticket, pass through Mars security, and fly on a commercial ship.

As she left the table, the absurdity of her current situation struck Kaylie. How had her life come to this?

She had met Estia at Niruku’s research facility on Mars, not long before her life fell apart. Niruku operated unusual research projects. That was no secret. But this one was the last straw. It had pushed Kaylie past her ethical limits.

They needed to get off-planet to somewhere safe. Somewhere they were unknown. Somewhere outside of the Solar system. She hoped to find a ship headed to a jump gate. But how to get off-world? They would pass through customs and security at some point unless she could find private transport.

If a commercial flight was out of the question, what options were there for private flights? It would be a matter of finding a private ship and booking a passage. Of the various patrons in the bar, who might travel on a private ship?

Travelers filled the pub. A family of five occupied one table. The middle child couldn’t decide what to eat, and the parents were growing frustrated. It seemed like one of those vacations you need a vacation from when it ends.

Three women dressed in business attire, most likely attendees of the sales conference at the Hilton, shared a bottle of riesling at another table. Four young men at a stand-up table wore team colors for a sporting event they had attended. A fleet officer, a pair of flight attendants, a barfly doing his best not to look like a barfly, two off-duty Martian police officers, and a businessman sat gathered at the bar like cape buffalo lingering around a watering hole.

She noticed another man sitting alone in a booth near the back of the bar. He was a spacer. She was certain he had spent time near Saturn’s ice rings. He sported greasy black hair, slicked back, neck tattoos, and a face that had not seen a razor in at least a week. Kaylie suspected the man was uncomfortable in the artificial gravity. He had the thin, stretched look of a man who had spent too much time in low gravity. He must already feel the effects, and probably would not be staying long. His destination mattered little if it meant getting off Mars. She would figure out the rest later.

The direct approach seemed best, so she plopped herself in his booth, facing him. He looked up from his hamburger in surprise.

“I’m Ginger,” she said. “I’m looking for a ship.”

He said nothing, picked up his napkin, and dabbed the corners of his mouth like he was at a dinner party in Manhattan. Then he took a long drink of his beer, swished it, and swallowed.

“Well,” he said, “You’re in a spaceport. I bet you can find one. You can probably find lots of them.”

“I’m looking for privacy.”

“Pretty girl like you claims to be looking for privacy. I got no money for a red light special. Go away.”

“Red light? I’m not a prostitute! I’m looking for a way off this planet. I am looking for someone with a ship who will not ask me questions.”

“You got trouble with the law, then?” He indicated the two off-duty police officers at the bar. “Perhaps you should introduce yourself to them. Maybe I should call them over?”

“Nevermind!”

She got up from the table and crossed back to the bar. Two empty stools sat between a fleet officer and a businessman. The red-headed fleet officer’s freckled face said he was about thirty. He wore a crisp, white uniform with the double silver collar bar showing his rank of lieutenant. Kaylie didn’t think he would be helpful to her since his flight would be on a commercial or fleet ship.

The businessman was a neatly groomed man in his forties. He wore a serviceable suit that looked ten years out of style, and although his shoes were a bit worn out, he had polished them well.

She picked the chair closest to the businessman and ordered a glass of chardonnay. Focused on something on his VRD, he nursed an expensive whiskey. He turned to look at her when she sat down, and he had an almost surprised look on his face. He turned his attention to her. “Hello,” he said.

She turned to look at him, nodded, and sipped her wine.

Best to play aloof.

“I’m Jim,” he said, offering his hand.

She didn’t take it. “Ginger,” she said as she brushed her hair back with one hand to reveal her neck.

“Done anything fun here on Mars?” he asked.

“Honestly, it’s been quite boring. How many times can you look at red dirt before you realize it’s just like all the other red dirt?”

He nodded. “So, where are you headed then?”

“Trying to find a flight to Earth. Mine was overbooked. I’m still on standby.”

“Didn’t you have a friend with you? Blonde? I think I saw you on the train.”

“Yeah. Are you on a private ship?” Kaylie asked. He had noticed them before. She knew men were more interested in Estia anyway, but if it helped them get off the planet, it might be a good thing.

“Yes,” he said. “I can’t stand flying commercial anymore.”

“So, you’re a pilot? Or you have a pilot?”

“I’m not a pilot. But I can fly a shuttle—say, if you’re looking for a flight and can’t find one, I can probably accommodate you and your friend.”

It was the second time he’d mentioned Estia, which made her slightly nervous. Something must have given away her hesitation because he raised his left hand and showed her his wedding ring.

“Hey, I’m married, okay? Just offering a ride, nothing more. I’m looking forward to getting back to my wife. We live in New York. If you’re looking to get to Earth, I’ve got two spaces.”

“How much?”

“How’s a hundred credits per seat?”

He had offered a deal, which meant he wasn’t trying to take unfair advantage of her. She would be more suspicious if he’d offered the ride for free.

“Sounds good,” she said. “When are you leaving?”

“I was just about to go. Just finishing this whiskey.”

“Let me get my friend and my suitcase, and I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be waiting,” he said with a smile.

Kaylie stood and hesitated. Something was off, but she struggled to put her finger on it. Was it the smile or something else? Why did it seem like a shark smiling?

“Everything okay?” he asked, sensing her misgiving.

“It’s nothing. Everything’s fine.”

“Bring your friend, and we’ll go,” he said, returning to his whiskey.

The third mention of Estia unnerved Kaylie. Instinct told her not to be alone with him. She turned on her heel and walked away. Jim was saying something, but she ignored him and returned to her snug.

Kaylie touched Estia’s elbow and whispered, “Let’s go.” She grabbed her bag and wheeled it in front of her.

“I guess that did not go well?” Estia asked.

“It didn’t,” Kaylie said. She engaged her VRD, searching for a listing of private ships. Did they need to file flight plans somewhere? Were those public records? It took only a few seconds to find that Concourse J held all the private ships.

“Come on,” she urged Estia.

They left O’Brien’s heading away from Jim, and stopped in the corridor, where Kaylie consulted the map. She scanned it and brought it up on her VRD display as a reference while she walked. An icon showing her current position made it easy to navigate. She found a place where people posted private flights online and did a search, finding two postings for individual crew positions today. No options were available for a passenger.

“Kaylie?” Estia prompted.

“Just a minute, Estia. I’m trying to think.”

“Kaylie?” Estia repeated.

“Yes, hold on. I’m just trying to figure out what to do next.”

“I thought you might want to know that a man is following us.”

Kaylie stopped and whipped her head around to see that Jim followed them. She quickened her pace, and Estia matched her.

“Why do you say he is following us?”

“When you stopped to read the departures board, he stopped to read the arrivals board, but then he followed us toward departures. That doesn’t make any sense,” Estia said.

Kaylie glanced over her shoulder. Jim made no pains to hide that he was coming her way. She felt her heart thumping in her chest. “Come on,” she said, taking Estia’s hand. They hurried through the terminal, nearly running, but their pursuer gained ground.

“What does he want?” Estia asked.

“I don’t know, but he mentioned you three times,” Kaylie said. She felt an agonizing fear. She’d felt that something wasn’t right, but this wasn’t just an infatuation with Estia. Jim wanted something. She had thought he might be a hard-working salesman, but now she knew she had misjudged him.

It became clearer in her mind. The worn shoes meant the man did a lot of walking. The old-fashioned suit meant he wanted to look like a businessman but couldn’t quite pull it off. It added up to either security or a police detective. Neither option was good, but he hadn’t called out for them to stop. He hadn’t pulled a weapon and given them any lawful orders. That ruled out cop as his vocation. That meant he was security, which was worse news.

Kaylie turned to look. Jim kept coming straight at them. She caught his eye and kept moving. Estia kept pace with her. They moved around slow-moving travelers and had to sidestep to avoid colliding with people crossing in front of them.

In a moment of luck, a motorized transport came between them and their pursuer, unloading passengers from another terminal. It gave them a few seconds to increase their lead. Kaylie pulled Estia around a corner and out of his sight. She ran to a clothing store across the corridor. Estia came with her. They stood behind a rack of clothing and waited.

Seconds later, Jim came around the corner and stopped, looking in both directions. He touched his ear and said something, then walked in a circle, looking at each shop. He stopped, speaking again to an unseen listener. Kaylie thought he looked right at them for a moment, but then he turned and sped down the corridor in the direction they had first turned.

She waited for him to get lost in the crowd and then purchased a pair of sweaters and two hats. She pulled Estia into a changing room and helped her hide her hair under the hat. Kaylie did the same. The disguise was minimal, but it offered some semblance of concealment.

They made their way toward Concourse J. Kaylie darted her gaze in front and behind her, trying to spot the man before he saw them. They passed through a section of the mall with shops on each side and then several restaurants. Beyond the restaurants were restrooms.

She took Estia’s hand and pulled her into the restroom. Their pursuer almost certainly wouldn’t come into the ladies’ room, so she took the time to catch her breath and adjust their outfits, hair, and hats while a near-constant stream of women entered and exited.

Once they were back out in the main corridor, Estia asked, “What are we planning to do?”

“We’re going to stow away,” Kaylie replied.

Estia took it in stride.

Kaylie looked in both directions and then continued toward Concourse J, riding a horizontal moving walkway to catch her breath.

They reached a four-way intersection. A doorway to the right led into Concourse J. But when they turned the corner, they saw Jim standing next to the door leading out into the flight gates.

Kaylie stopped and pulled Estia back with her toward the corner so that they could peer at the man without being seen.

“I think he’s Niruku security,” Kaylie said.

“He’s talking to someone,” Estia replied.

They watched as he engaged in a VRD conversation with unknown persons, and then he abruptly turned toward them and walked in their direction.

Kaylie backed up around the corner, turned on her heel, and found herself next to a jewelry store. She stepped inside, and Estia joined her as they made their way to the back of the display counters, where wedding ring sets and graded diamonds were showcased. They feigned interest in some rings until Jim arrived at the four-way intersection. He looked around, did not see them, and then turned to his right, disappearing toward Concourse I.

When he disappeared out of sight, they returned to Concourse J and went through the door to the private gates, closing it behind them. The empty hallway went for a long way. To their right were docking bay doors, numbered one through forty-six. The left side of the hallway had fewer doors, and none of them provided access to gates. She checked three doors. They were all locked. A digital board on the left wall showed that thirty-six of forty-six gates held ships. Each gate showed the name of the ship.

Kaylie brought up her VRD and looked at the status board. Gate two contained a ship named Conestoga. She looked up the ship to find that it was a private sightseeing ship. This might be a ship to stow away on, but a luxury tour ship probably wouldn’t be leaving the planet.

Gate three contained a smaller ship called Buccaneer, a single-person ship. It didn’t seem likely to be big enough for passengers, except potentially in a cargo bay. That might not be awful, so she marked it as a possibility.

They walked further down the hallway to a similar board. A fleet ship named Covenant was docked at the next gate. She wondered if this one belonged to the lieutenant she had seen in the bar. Gates five and six were both vacant.

“How will you decide what ship to try?” Estia asked.

“I’m not sure. Just trying to figure it out.”

The door opened behind them, and they turned to see Jim and another man dressed in the same fashion step in and close the door behind them. Jim’s smile was devoid of any pleasantness.

“You have something that does not belong to you,” Jim said, his voice edged with a cold firmness. “It’s time to come with us.”

He unbuttoned his suit jacket and opened it up just enough to show a holstered firearm.

Kaylie could feel bile from her stomach trying to rise into her throat. It made her want to vomit. She said, “I have nothing belonging to Niruku.”

“Lying will not help you,” he said.

“We’re not going back,” Kaylie said, hoping she sounded more convincing than she felt.

“I would rather not shoot a pretty, young thing like you, but I will if I have to. Either way, Niruku is taking back what is theirs. Your choice, Kaylie.”

He knew her name. He knew what she had done. The game was up, and she knew it. They had caught her, and her career was over for nothing. There would be prison time. How long, she didn’t know. But that wasn’t the worst. They would take Estia back to the lab and experiment with her. No one would ever know that it had even happened. Niruku would get away with it. They always got away with it.

But they were going to have to come through her first. She stepped in front of Estia. “Run!” she hissed to her friend.

But Estia didn’t run. Instead, she touched Kaylie’s shoulder. “It will be okay,” she said, nodding her head.

The second man pulled on a set of thin gloves. He produced a taser and zip ties from his coat—thick ones, like the ones used by police officers to restrain people.

“Go!” Kaylie whispered. “Just run!”

But Estia stepped in front of Kaylie, putting herself between the men and her more petite friend. “Good afternoon,” she said, her hands spread in a message intending to show goodwill.

“Get on the ground!” the man with the taser said, pointing his weapon at her. It started as a growl, becoming a shout. “Hands behind your back! On the ground now!”

“No, I don’t think I will,” Estia said.

She took two steps before the taser probes struck her. But instead of convulsing and falling prone, Estia scarcely flinched.

The man stared at the weapon in disbelief and then pulled the trigger again, but it did not have the desired effect on Estia, who pulled the probes from her clothing. Jim reached to unbutton the strap on his shoulder holster.

With one more quick step, Estia reached them. Like water flowing downhill, she spun on the ball of her left foot, her right leg sweeping in a wide arc to plant a roundhouse to Jim’s neck. Continuing the spin, she delivered a wheel kick with her left leg, striking the second man’s jaw.

It was as if she had flicked off a pair of light switches. Both men slumped. Before Kaylie could react, Estia stood back at her side. She had somehow taken Jim’s firearm. She ejected the magazine, then extracted the chambered round, snapped it into place in the magazine, replaced the magazine, and placed the pistol in her waistband as if she had done this a million times.

Neither man moved. They were both unconscious.

Kaylie turned to look at Estia, slack-jawed, eyes wide. She had moved faster than Kaylie thought possible. Time had slowed down. She had been an outsider watching events that had happened to completely different people. Somehow, there had been a strange sense of calm and acceptance as she watched it unfold. But now that time had caught back up, she realized she had been holding her breath.

She turned to Estia. “How did you—?”

Then she thought better of it. They could have that conversation later. If there were two of them, more would be coming. It wasn’t safe in the spaceport now. They would need to move below, into the underbelly of Olympus Station, some place where there were fewer cameras capturing her likeness.

“I should have known it wouldn’t be that easy,” Kaylie said. “We’ve got to find a place to hide so I can think through how to get us out of here. Come on,” she said.

Estia followed along as they moved back through the terminal, leaving the unconscious men behind.

When they arrived at the spaceport exit, Kaylie pulled Estia to the side into a restroom and peered back around the corner to check the exit. She watched for about a minute and then grabbed Estia’s hand, almost running as they left the spaceport, returning to the bustling streets of Olympus Station. They made their way to the primary hub of the station and took the elevator down into the bowels of Mars.

[ Next ]

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In the loom of dawn, where fates entwine,
Each moment a thread in the fabric of night.
We walk our path, with a purpose divine,
Guided by stars, in the softest light.

A breeze takes flight with a whispered call,
A new note joins the symphony’s sweep.
Time’s river moves, with secrets small,
A sound that rises from the depths of sleep.

In life’s grand waltz, we dance alone,
Yet love’s whisper leads, steady and slow.
A future unknown, in seeds once sown,
Blooming gently in the morning’s glow.

—Takeshi Hoshi, Bliss

CHAPTER 38

The Stewart family estate comprised three hundred eighty acres of a pristine private island in the southern hemisphere of the planet Eden. A small family community nestled around the main house, comprised of nine guest cottages on the easy-swimming beach. The gentle sound of waves mingled with the rustle of palm fronds, creating a serene atmosphere that felt like a world away from the chaos they had once known.

There was only a slight axial tilt to the planet, meaning the seasonal changes were minor. During the rainy winter, the temperature stayed around twenty-two degrees. Later in the year, when the temperature hovered around twenty-nine degrees and the days were ninety percent sunny, the property would become a noisy playground for cousins, nieces, and nephews. There would be football games, croquet, badminton, cookouts, and toddlers running around on the grass, their laughter echoing across the cove.

A teak open-air walkway crossed from the main house to the beach, ending in a boat lift with four personal watercraft and a high-speed cruiser. The house did not have a regular garage for automobiles because the island lacked roads. Instead, the island was a sanctuary of nature, where footpaths wound through dense groves of native trees, and the hum of technology was replaced by the whispers of wind through the leaves. It wasn’t uncommon to spot wildlife darting between the trees—small, curious creatures that made Eden feel even more untouched by civilization.

As Ray sat in an Adirondack chair on the lawn overlooking the cove, he felt a profound sense of peace. The star, Chara, crested over the eastern hills, bathing Joshua’s Cove in golden light. Songbirds had sung twenty minutes earlier, and the morning was still, save for the gentle lapping of the waves. He had been there since before dawn, soaking in the tranquility of the place that had become his refuge.

Along the edge of the cove where the sand met the grass, a stag stood watching Ray nervously. The Solvani—native to Eden—were creatures of delicate beauty, perfectly adapted to the sun-drenched coastal environment. This one, standing just over a meter at the shoulder, had fur the color of sun-bleached ivory, blending seamlessly with the golden dunes. Its coral-like antlers caught the morning light, creating a shimmering effect as it moved. The stag’s presence, as it bent to graze on the lush grass, felt like a reminder of the harmony Ray had found here—both with the planet and within himself.

Before long, the creature caught Ray’s scent and bounded off gracefully, disappearing into the lush grassland in moments. Ray watched it go, a smile touching his lips. He put down his coffee and opened Ichiro’s ancient book, being careful with the pages. It belonged to the Hoshi family and was not his to keep. As he leafed through the book, he paused to read a passage; the words resonating with him in the stillness of the morning.

Ray read it twice, the words lingering in his mind as he stared out at the sea, contemplating their meaning. The passage felt like a reflection of his own journey, the way his life had woven together with those he loved. As he sat there, the world around him seemed to hold its breath, as if waiting for something to happen.

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When truth and revelation shatter the old world, the dawn of a new era begins—not with the clash of weapons, but with the quiet courage to face what remains.

—Ray Decker, Rebirth of the Eldar

CHAPTER 37

Ben Ackerman arrived at the Congressional building two hours before the special session of Congress, hoping to get an early scoop for the Galactic News Network broadcast. If he could grab a story, maybe he could get his face on the news again. The problem was that nobody was talking. There were few hints about what the special session would include.

“What you got?” he asked Lily Torus from Charan News Today.

“No idea,” she said. “Maybe newer tech from the artifact? But I think Senator Stewart is going to open the session.”

“Lady’s like a cat,” Ben said. “Nine lives.”

“Yeah,” Lily replied. “Her career was in flames six months ago.”

She was right, although it sometimes felt like a very long time ago. The Senator had refused to discuss the claims that her daughter took part in the attack on Eden Station. Prognosticators had declared her dead as a politician, including some talking heads on his own network.

However, her silence had become her greatest achievement. Rather than defend her daughter from an unbelieving media frenzy, she had protected an active special operations mission—Operation Jackknife. She had taken the brunt of the worst kind of accusations and, like gold from the fire, came out purified. She had allowed the truth to come out in its own time.

“No one will ever apologize for the tar-and-feathering job we did to the family,” Ben offered.

“Ancient history,” Lily said.

She was right about that, too. The most vocal talking heads had become walking heads. They’d been disinvited to prognosticate on any other matters for a while. But they were like cats too. They’d return as soon as everyone forgot how vile they’d been just a few months earlier.

“You think it’s more about Niruku?”

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True readiness means considering not just the likely, but the unthinkable.

—Ray Decker, Rebirth of the Eldar

CHAPTER 36

Peter Martin stood before a thick pane of glass, looking out over the devastating remains of Eden Station. Three thousand, six hundred, seventeen people were dead. Ten floors of the station were completely lost. Irreparable damage affected another six levels. Lesser damage, still in a state of repair, extended below this for another ten levels. Honestly, the attack should have taken more lives, but people acted quickly. People mostly followed the protocols correctly, although there were still lessons to be learned from the events.

They had housed over fifty thousand people in the damaged levels. Most had escaped. But not the fleet. The fleet lost one thousand three hundred and six officers, over half of whom were irreplaceable senior officers. It was hard to fathom that Ellen Lamond was gone, but she was.

Medbays were still overflowing on all the fleet ships that had arrived in response to the attack. The four hospitals on Eden were overwhelmed, so they transported those who could be to hospitals all over Earth and Andonia. At last count, over ten thousand casualties, most of them injuries, including many life-altering injuries. But Peter was thankful that most of the civilians had survived. It could have been far worse.

Atmospheric generators had worked overtime to restore suitable levels of breathable air to all the remaining enclosed spaces. Carbon dioxide scrubbers were still arriving to supplement the lower thirty-six levels of the station, where people now congregated at twice the normal density. This had pushed law enforcement further toward the planet side, making the peasant levels safer and shutting down some organizations that had previously gone unchecked on the dark side of the station.

“Admiral?”

He turned to look at Debra Lucas, formerly an enlisted chief who he had field-promoted to lieutenant just a day ago.

“Yes?”

“Sir, there is a call for you,” she said.

“Who is it?”

“A giant ship has come through the jump gate,” she said.

“What ship?”

“It’s a battleship of some kind, but nothing I’ve ever seen before. I asked around on the way here. No one knows what it is.”

“Send it to me,” Peter said.

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In the silence after war, the true battle begins—not against enemies, but within the heart that must guide what remains of the warrior who fought the battle.

—Ray Decker, Rebirth of the Eldar

CHAPTER 35

Ray woke in the medbay of the Shinobi, lying on the same triage table where Ichiro had first treated him for a gunshot wound. He recognized it instantly. He also recognized the warmth in his hand and knew without looking that it was Kaylie. She had been holding his hand while he slept, just as he had held her hand during her recovery.

He opened his eyes to look at her. Her breath caught as she looked back, her eyes filled with worry and relief. He felt her hands trembling in his. Ray sat up on the table, checking himself over. The wounds were still present, but they were almost healed. “How long was I out?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

“Almost a day,” Kaylie said, releasing his hands.

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In the end, love transcends the limits of form, for it is the memory of a heart that never forgets its twin.

—Thairis, Memories

CHAPTER 34

Aolis turned to look at his wife one last time, but she was gone—and so was the table beneath him. He had only closed his eyes for a moment, but in that brief instant, everything had changed.

He was no longer in what he had believed to be the death chamber, the place where they had surrendered their lives for the hope of the future. Instead, he lay on the floor of a vast, brightly lit room. His eyes quickly adjusted, revealing the room with perfect clarity. As he sat up, he felt an unexpected sense of vitality, as though he had awakened from the deepest, most restful sleep in many cycles. Moving was effortless, like breathing. There was no pain in his joints—only strength and agility.

And then he saw people. So many people. And they were all strange.

What in the Three Gods?

Hundreds of people filled the room. They were not Eldar. They were something else, and each was waking feeling as confused as he was. It only took him moments to realize they were on a Corelian class battleship in space. The very ship his eldest son had designed before he was lost to the Vorgh. A moment of grief overwhelmed Aolis. His children were heavy on his mind. And while he’d never been on one of these battleships, he knew what it was. They were in the cargo bay of the ship.

How had they come to be here?

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A thousand lives—but none of them truly yours. Without the soul, you are but a hollow echo. Not even a ghost remains in the machine—only data.

—Estia Stardust, Revolution

CHAPTER 33

Kaylie took careful, measured steps, the pistol raised.

“You’re more resourceful than I thought,” Niruku said.

As he spoke, the glowing orb fluctuated in time with his voice.

“What-what are you?” Kaylie asked, her mouth agape.

The connection to Estia had dropped unexpectedly. She was alone now.

Was Ray still alive? Was Estia?

“I am Niruku. I have always been Niruku.”

Sanctum Sanctorum. She had heard that phrase in Italy on Earth.

She pointed the gun at the orb.

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Who is the greater fool, the one ensnared by the deceit of another, or the one lost in the illusions of his own making?

—Ben Ackerman

CHAPTER 32

The simulant cut at the air with the wakizashi, and then it spoke. “In the five hundred years since I first found the Eldar artifact, I’ve learned some things of my own.” It slashed at Ray. He sidestepped and cut the simulant’s leg off at the knee. The creature stumbled and fell to the floor. Ray finished it with a thrust into its skull.

The simulants converged on him, pummeling him with truncheons tuned down to inflict pain and forcing him to a new opening in their midst. A third simulant picked up the wakizashi as the rest withdrew to give them space.

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In the shadows of every fortress lies a sanctum where secrets are guarded not by walls, but by the will to protect what should never be seen.

—Katsu Niruku, Anatomy of Power

CHAPTER 31

Kaylie watched the fight unfold from Estia’s perspective from the Shinobi, her heart pounding with every blow Ray exchanged with the simulants. The ship was ready to fly, as far as she could tell, but her mind was elsewhere—torn between the safety of the Shinobi and the promise she had made to Ray. He had asked her to stay behind, to let him handle this alone, but every instinct screamed at her to help.

The moment she saw Estia become overwhelmed by the relentless onslaught of simulants, her resolve shattered. Kaylie knew she couldn’t stay behind—not when Ray’s life was hanging by a thread. She grabbed the pistol, checking it over with trembling hands. Fifteen rounds wouldn’t be enough, but it might be enough to stop Kannon Niruku. She was determined to try.

With a heavy heart, Kaylie took the truncheon from her cabin and left the Shinobi, every step down the corridor echoing her fear. She gripped the weapons tightly, the cold sweat on her palms making it hard to feel secure in her hold. Her mind raced with doubts, but there was no turning back now.

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A true master does not rely on his own hands alone but ensures his will endures beyond his death.

—Katsu Niruku, Anatomy of Power

CHAPTER 30

Ray and Estia left the Shinobi behind and walked together to the pod cargo bay. Estia carried an electrified truncheon. Ray carried Ichiro’s katana. Without a battery replacement, the plasma pistol was useless. Ray grudgingly left it behind. Kaylie remained on the Shinobi, armed with the pistol that Ichiro had taken from her on Mars.

She had wanted to go with them to confront Niruku, but they had argued about the need for her to keep the Shinobi protected in case there were others on the Leviathan who might try to commandeer their ship.

“You’ve got fifteen rounds in that pistol,” Ray had said. “Save them for an emergency. Keep the ship clear. It’s our only escape.”

She had relented and stayed behind, sitting on the bridge. Estia was streaming her vision to the forward viewer to keep Kaylie apprised of their progress. As Ray and Estia approached the other cargo bay, Kaylie regretted staying behind. She didn’t feel like she was doing enough to protect their flank.

“Should I follow along behind?” she asked Estia over a headset.

“I think it would be better if you stayed and watched from the ship,” Estia said. “We might need you to do something for us if we get into trouble.”

“Okay,” Kaylie said, not sounding convinced.

Ray was glad Estia had said it, relieving him of the need to ask Kaylie to stay behind again. He’d already made his argument, but it was only half true. The confrontation before them was going to be dangerous and perhaps deadly. He didn’t want Kaylie to be hurt again, especially on account of his actions. The excuses he made for leaving her on the ship had a valid premise, of course, but his primary motivation was just to protect her. Kaylie must know that, deep down, but she had relented when he had asked her to stay behind.

He wondered if he’d ever see her again and regretted not talking with her about how he really felt. While his anger toward her persisted, it was only a surface-level concern. He’d get over it eventually, and now he felt regret for not having forgiven her outright before he left. He considered going back, but was afraid this would ruin his resolve to confront Niruku.

He stood in a dimly lit corner of the cargo bay with Estia, surrounded by the hum of machinery and the faint glow of control panels. The weight of the upcoming confrontation pressed heavily on his shoulders, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. He practiced some breathing exercises and noticed Estia observing him.

Ray looked at her. “You ready?”

“Do you trust me?” she asked.

“I’m going to have to, aren’t I?” he said.

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A closed door is not an obstacle but a riddle, and the key is not force, but understanding.

—Katsu Niruku, Anatomy of Power

CHAPTER 29

Kannon Niruku knelt on the deck and looked down at the corpse of Luis Soto. Soto had gotten sloppy. He’d brought a single android into the room with Decker, relying on threats, intimidation, and that damned plasma pistol, which now was presumably in Decker’s hands.

Higgins and his team of twelve men accompanied Niruku. The Chairman had insisted on bringing a dozen androids with him. Higgins felt like they were more trouble than they were worth. Niruku wanted a show of force, although he would be the first to admit that they weren’t particularly useful in combat. They could kill, but they simply weren’t capable of complex decision-making.

Higgins watched Kannon place the tip of his wakizashi at the back of the neck of the malfunctioning android that Soto had left behind and put an end to the creature with a single thrust, severing the spinal cord. He had seen Niruku dispatch androids before. He was clean and efficient at it, which Higgins appreciated.

Niruku directed two soldiers to breach the door to the other brig, where Stewart was held. It didn’t surprise Higgins to find the room empty. Decker had taken her with him, just as Kannon had predicted. The two were clearly lovers, a weakness that Higgins would exploit if necessary.

The Leviathan was a giant ship with almost no one on it. Aside from his twelve men, Niruku and Soto (before his death), a bridge crew of five remained behind at their posts. Higgins had insisted on having the bridge secured so that Decker and his compatriots didn’t storm the bridge and take out the small command there. Niruku had agreed. Only Higgins and Niruku had the code to re-open the bridge.

Niruku said. “Split your team. Six of you, with me and the androids, will go to the artifacts. The other six to the Shinobi, just in case they are hiding out there.”

“You heard him,” Higgins said. “Jonesy, Strat, Biggs, Booker, and Maverick with me. The rest, stay with the Chairman.”

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One must not just to remember, but reconcile the fragments of what was, what is, and what might yet be. In the end, identity is a journey, not a destination.

—Thairis, Memories

CHAPTER 28

Estia occupied the captain’s chair. Kaylie thought she looked different. Her mannerisms displayed a noticeable contrast from just a few days ago. She was almost regal in her posture, but she also had a look of confusion on her face.

“This is what I was afraid of,” Ray said, under his breath. “She doesn’t know us.”

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To break a man, one need not only shatter his body, but sow doubt in his soul. In the silence of captivity, it is the weight of betrayal, not the chains, that proves most unbearable.

—Katsu Niruku, Anatomy of Power

CHAPTER 27

Ray Decker sat at a table in a detention cell on the Leviathan. A chain passed through an eye bolt embedded in the table, shackling his hands. Strips of bloody cloth wrapped around his right hand. Soto sat across from him, a plasma pistol in his hand. A simulant stood next to Soto, wielding an electrified truncheon.

“Some people, probably wiser than me,” said Soto, “have claimed that a human being is more than the sum of his parts. But the math doesn’t really work out, does it? I think a man is less than the sum of his parts. Hear me out.”

Ray did not answer.

Soto continued, “For example, if you take a one-hundred-kilogram man and remove his hands, you’ve removed about a kilogram of his body. Just one percent. But you’ve diminished the man by more than one percent, wouldn’t you say?”

“You’re a very sick individual,” Ray said.

“Similarly,” Soto said, “the head is maybe seven percent of a person, but if you remove that, you’ve arguably taken one hundred percent of what they once were. Am I wrong here? Help me with the math, Decker.”

“Maybe,” Ray said. “But if you remove the soul from a man, he weighs the same, one hundred percent of who he once was, except he’s no longer human. Instead, he’s a monster that works for Niruku torturing prisoners.”

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In the silence of forgotten corridors, where the echoes of Eldar wisdom still resonate, we find the fragments of our past. It is within these fragments that we uncover the truth of our origins, our purpose, and the path that was laid before us long ago.

—Thairis, Memories

CHAPTER 26

Estia stretched her arm again, realizing Aolis had let go of her hand. Despite her efforts, she couldn’t sense him anymore. She opened her eyes, expecting to see Aolis one last time, but he was nowhere to be found. She was no longer on the bed of the resurrection chamber—in fact, she wasn’t in a resurrection chamber at all. The unfamiliar surroundings unsettled her.

She lay on a large pipe in the near darkness, but the faint square of light above her allowed her to see her environment. Glancing from side to side, she found no easy way to move, unless she wanted to crawl through the superstructure of her surroundings—a daunting prospect, especially at her age.

Where had Aolis gone? Where was she? Had the Vorgh attacked the City of Hope?

Estia put her hands on the panel above her and pushed. To her surprise, she could lift it. It must be some new lightweight polymer. Light flooded her eyes, but they quickly adjusted as she moved the panel aside. She climbed up and wondered why she was below a raised floor.

She moved from the room to find herself in a corridor and immediately knew she was on a spacecraft. But why or where?

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I was at my cottage on Eldaran when the Vorgh came.

—Thairis, Memories

CHAPTER 25

Aolis returned to the chamber of the Masters, the oldest and wisest of the Eldar. The people had cast their votes. They had made their decision. It was his duty to present the people’s will to the Masters. It was his people’s ultimate vote and perhaps their last act. The Masters’ will was law, and it would be carried out, but in their benevolent wisdom, they had turned to the people for guidance on this most important of all decisions.

He trembled. He always trembled when he entered the chamber of the Masters. Aolis trusted in the wisdom of the masters, but he was unsure about the people’s will. They could be a fickle lot, changing their minds from one day to the next, bending like a reed whichever way the wind blew. Still, he trusted the Masters.

He held the sealed vote in his hand. He did not know what it contained and wouldn’t know until he opened the seal and pronounced the will of the people before the Masters. They would then make a final judgment, and they would execute the law.

Today he wore his most regal outfit, a robe of purple silk with interwoven palladium stitching that depicted the three worlds: Alannora, Omerra, Eldaran.

Eldaran. The world he loved. The original home of creation. It was the birthplace of the Eldar, who had descended from the very first beings to exist in the world: Amadan and Eva, the first created by the Three Gods.

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In the depths of forgotten knowledge lies the key to understanding our purpose. It is only through the whispers of the past that we grasp the truth of who we were meant to become.

—Thairis, Memories

CHAPTER 24

Estia left the bridge of the Shinobi and returned to her room to watch additional episodes of a show called Chuck, which depicted a computer nerd who accidentally became a spy when someone uploaded a computer program into his brain. She wondered if the programming Chuck received was the type of thing Ray was concerned about for her, but she did not think this kind of thing was realistic.

She was halfway through an episode when she heard a hum and paused the video, then stepped out of her berth. The ship was empty. Kaylie and Ray had gone to visit a waterfall. Wondering if someone had left the winch on, she entered the cargo bay to check, but Ray had already turned it off. She tiptoed around the cargo bay, listening carefully, and realized the hum was coming from the artifact.

Estia placed her finger on the material. It felt both cool and warm to the touch, sending a shiver down her spine. She then placed both hands on the material and felt a very subtle thump, then another. It felt as though a distant heartbeat pulsed within the artifact. She moved her hands along the hull, and as she approached the middle, the heartbeat became more robust.

To her surprise, the hull material dissolved before her, revealing a doorway inside the artifact. She stepped inside, and the hull reappeared behind her as if there had never been a doorway. Lights came on inside the artifact, flooding her senses.

A voice in her mind said, “Greetings, advocate!”

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Some storms come without warning, but it’s the ones that brew in silence, in the aftermath of loss, that leave the deepest scars.

—Christine Silman Decker

CHAPTER 23

A storm rolled in from the southwest, dark clouds churning as Ray dragged the render bodies to a ravine and tossed them over. The chilly rain stung his skin, adding to the morning’s dreariness. He returned to the ship to dry off and sat on the bridge, reading through more ship logs from Ichiro’s prior excursions to Tempus and Tellarius. Kaylie went to take a nap following the trauma of the render attack. Estia hadn’t come out of her room and was presumably still watching old films.

Ray hoped to get the artifact outside to try more powerful means of opening it. He worried he might be missing something. As he stared at the logs, frustration gnawed at him. This artifact was an enigma, and every attempt to unlock its secrets felt like a shot in the dark. Was he overlooking a crucial detail, some key to its mechanism?

His thoughts drifted to Niruku. Five centuries ago, they had also encountered a similar artifact on Mars. What if their failure to open it wasn’t because of a rough landing, but the desperation of scientists who had run out of ideas? What if, in their frustration, they had forced it open with explosives? Ray shuddered at the thought. Would he be making the same mistake, driven by impatience and the pressure to succeed?

He also considered that there were no useful personal weapons on board the ship, which he thought was an oversight by Ichiro. Kaylie’s pistol used nine-millimeter rounds, which was good news. It meant he could strip the rounds from the assassin’s discarded magazine and reload Kaylie’s pistol. They were down to fifteen rounds. Ichiro possessed a katana. Ray had some familiarity with the weapon, having studied sword fighting in simulations. If push came to shove, he might make use of it.

He slipped back outside to work on the landing gear door, but finally gave up on it. He was going to need a new panel. Instead of trying to fix it, he used a cutting torch to cut it up into bits, planning to turn it into a nasty surprise.

Kaylie found him working on it under the starboard wing of the ship, where he had worked out of the rain, grinding charcoal and creating a mixture of black powder. It had stopped raining by the time she came out to find him.

“I can’t find Estia,” she said, her voice tinged with worry.

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The pain of that loss etched itself into his soul, transforming the boy I knew into someone hardened, who now sees the world through the lens of grief and survival. The innocence of youth is fragile, and once shattered, it never returns.

—Roman Decker

CHAPTER 22

The star looked like Earth’s sun. Despite the ship’s tinted forward viewers, the brightness made it impossible to gaze at for an extended period.

“It’s actually a little brighter and larger than Sol, but not by much,” Ray said, as he shut down the forward viewer and returned the bridge to its normal illumination.

It took Kaylie a few seconds for her normal vision to return. She looked down at her hands and rubbed them together, trying to erase the indentations her own fingernails had left in her palms during the firefight with the other ship. Logically, the events on Eden Station had been more dangerous, but they’d happened so fast that she hadn’t fully processed them until a week later. She had been fully present for the firefight, and it had lasted longer, making it more frightening for her.

“So, this is your home system?” she asked, trying to put the fight behind her.

“Yes. The star is called Eos,” Ray said. “We’ll be at Tellarius in thirty-five minutes. We can go to a place I know and work on this artifact in peace, undisturbed, for as long as it takes. I know Tellarius better than anyone else—certainly better than anyone at Niruku. We won’t be able to repair the starboard cargo bay until we land. But we have extra titanium plating and a plasma welder, so I’ll be able to fix it. I just don’t know about the artifact. We won’t be able to tell until we get there.”

A half-hour later, Ray brought them into a medium orbit over Tellarius with the stealth drive engaged. Its beauty, compared to Tempus, mesmerized Kaylie.

“It’s so green,” she said.

“Wait until you see it up close,” Ray said.

He transitioned the ship to gravitic-assisted atmospheric flight and brought the Shinobi in low over New Virginia before circling his farmland. To Ray’s surprise, someone had taken the time to keep his farm running.

“That’s where you lived?” Kaylie asked.

“I lived in town, but I worked here for ten years,” Ray said. “I farmed that myself. Not that I was particularly good, mind you. Garner must have assigned that to someone else in my absence. They would not understand where I’ve gone. We’re just days away from harvest now.”

“It looks beautiful to me,” she said.

“I need to land here and get some things,” Ray said. “It doesn’t look like there’s anyone here. But it is the weekend, so I’m not surprised.”

“Is it safe?” Estia asked.

“Time will tell,” Ray said.

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In the theater of war, strategy unfolds through two fundamental approaches: the overt and the covert. Who can claim to have exhausted the infinite potential of their interplay?

—Tiberius Voss, Tactical Advantage

CHAPTER 21

Ray sensed Kaylie’s anxiety as she hurried to his side, her voice tight with worry while she glanced at the screen. “Niruku?” she asked, her tone betraying her concern. He noticed the slight tremor in her hands as she reached for the control panel.

Ray nodded, his jaw set in determination. “Couldn’t really be anyone else,” he confirmed. “They must have tracked us somehow. But we’re in stealth, so I don’t know how they would have done that.”

“They must have found the coordinates,” Estia said. “They are already close enough to fire at us, but they haven’t locked onto the Shinobi. Maybe they don’t know we’re here.”

“They’ll be in visual range in less than two minutes,” Ray said. “I’m getting us out of here.”

He maneuvered the ship south, away from the mainland, remaining fifty meters below the ocean’s surface. He traveled thirty kilometers before daring to bring the ship back to the surface out of the frigid depths of the ocean, its sleek frame slicing through the waters like a silent predator.

Ray’s fingers danced across the control panel, his mind focused on their escape as they breached the surface, water cascading off the ship’s hull in shimmering torrents.

As they broke free from the ocean’s embrace, a chilling sight awaited them. Hovering ominously before them was another ship, identical to the Shinobi in every way, as if a reflection of their own vessel.

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In the end, survival isn’t about who’s right or wrong—it’s about who’s left.

—Katsu Niruku, Anatomy of Power

CHAPTER 20

From the bridge of the Shinobi, Ray watched the video for a second time. Kaylie had stepped away after the first viewing. It was a recording of Alain Bradford’s last moments. A Hispanic man held a dismembered finger. Bradford was asking if there were any surgeons left. After a brief conversation, the man aimed a pistol at the screen.

A popping sound followed, and then the display tilted to the side. The VRD showed an attempt to contact emergency services related to the cardiac arrest of the wearer.

Then Ray heard, “His ship is out there somewhere. If he takes off, we’ll shoot him down.”

“Why would they kill him?” Estia asked, dismayed.

“They know where the artifact is, so they have probably beaten us to it. Plus, they intend to shoot us down if we launch,” Ray said. “But we have a stealth suite, and we’re going to launch, anyway. Engage stealth.”

“Done,” Estia said.

Ray lifted the ship vertically to be only thirty meters above the ground. No trees were at this height, so it was only a matter of staying above the prevailing terrain. He skimmed along the planet’s surface, heading northward, away from Mossley Landing. Two hundred kilometers along, he banked left and flew a low-altitude circle that would lead them back toward the station from the south.

“Plot the coordinates,” he said.

Estia did, but they didn’t make sense.

“It’s in the ocean?” Ray asked.

“Yes,” she said. “The coordinates are in the ocean, but it is almost seventeen kilometers from the southeast dome.”

“So, it fits the distance he told us,” Ray said. “But underwater? I thought it was buried.”

“There’ll be silt on the ocean floor,” Kaylie said. She had returned to the bridge to sit down, but was not looking well. “We were just talking with him last night. He wanted to see his ex-wife again and wanted to retire on Eden. Now he’s just gone.”

“Soto seemed confident that they had gotten what they needed from him,” Ray said.

“Why would he send the coordinates to me?” Kaylie asked. She stared down at her feet and shook her head, not understanding.

“I don’t know,” Ray said.

“It’s possible,” Estia said, “that he only sent the coordinates to Kaylie, or that he sent different coordinates to Niruku. Maybe he was giving us a head start?”

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Ray said. “I’m hoping that he distracted Niruku.”

“In which case, he gave up his life,” Kaylie said mournfully. “He’d still be alive if we hadn’t gone to see him.”

“We don’t know that,” Ray said. “Whoever this guy is, he was on the way before we talked to Bradford yesterday afternoon. And he was communicating in real time to somewhere in the system. I think Niruku is here.”

“You mean the boss?” Estia asked.

“I mean Kannon Niruku. I think he’s here,” Ray said. “And this Soto guy works for Niruku. There was a familiarity with how he spoke to whoever was on the other end, and I think it was Niruku.”

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