Shadow Agents Read online

  "Kor IV is a half-terraformed world abandoned after the Tekk Plague struck," Silky continued. "It would give us a good place to hide out afterward if needed."

  “Going to the midpoint sounds good to me,” Bishop said.

  Everyone else agreed.

  “Course laid in,” Silky said. “So whenever you’re ready, sir…”

  Siv pressed a button on the left side of the control panel then gripped the handle on the right side and shoved it forward.

  The ship turned thirty degrees then accelerated into hyperspace. For a few minutes, everyone stared out the window as blue, white, and green streams of hyperphasic energy swept over the ship. None of them were used to space travel.

  “So what’s the plan?” Kyralla asked as the spell faded.

  "We can figure out the details after some food and sleep when our minds are clearer." Siv stood slowly, his knees wobbling. "Now, I think it's time I paid the priestess a visit."

  “Maybe you should rest first,” Kyralla said, frowning. “Maybe we all should.”

  Oona, with a frightened look on her face, nodded.

  In a way, the Ancient priestess, Lyoolee Syryss, was the cause of all their troubles, especially Siv’s. From the moment his father had summoned her damaged ship from hyperspace and then rescued her stasis capsule, he was a marked man. Gav had barely managed to hide her, along with the Outworld Ranger, before special forces agents murdered him and threw Siv into cryo-storage, only a week before the Tekk Plague had struck.

  When Siv had woken up almost a hundred years later, the world he’d known was gone. All he had left was Silky, his father’s super advanced—and possibly sentient—9G-x chippy. For his father, who had placed knowledge of the Ancients above everything, even his own family, the priestess was the key to unlocking all of their secrets. But to Siv, she held the promise of a final connection to his dad.

  Siv could understand why Oona might be both eager and frightened to meet Lyoolee Syryss. For Oona, the priestess offered a chance to survive the Trial of Corruption, where she had to battle the darkness within the hypermind—whatever that meant—with her soul and sanity intact. The only other hyperphasic messiah to survive the trial, Qaisella Qan, had gone terrifyingly mad and now ruled over the Empire of a Thousand Worlds as their Dark Messiah.

  “There’s not much to see, sir,” Silky responded directly into his mind. “It’s just a capsule. No viewing window or anything.”

  Siv took several faltering steps. “Don’t care. I’m going to see her. Then I’ll get some sleep.”

  Mitsuki rushed over to him. “If you’re going to insist on this madness, let me help you.”

  “Thanks, Mits.”

  Since the ship’s AI could handle all the routine tasks of flying, especially during hyperspace when there wasn’t anything to do but monitor the systems, they all left the bridge. Together, they walked out into the main corridor. They stopped outside the ship’s small detention cell, which Gav had only used for safely storing valuables.

  Siv placed his hand on the door. Once it approved his DNA signature, a number pad popped up on the display. Silky relayed the five digits he needed. Siv typed them in, and the door opened. He took a deep breath and stepped inside.

  The cell had initially been a large crew cabin. Nevertheless, the stasis capsule took up so much space that the five of them could barely squeeze inside.

  Silky was right. There wasn’t much to see, other than a sequence of orange lights flashing on a control panel. Otherwise, the capsule was a dark, silvery color, like a piece of glass that was so dirty you couldn’t see through it. The pod thrummed with life, though the sound was barely audible over the droning of the ship’s engines and air filtration systems.

  A tingling sensation tugged at Siv’s mind, and the ceramic guardian amulet hanging from his neck grew warm against his chest. He pulled it out from beneath his battlesuit. A faint, red glow emanated from it.

  Siv locked his fist over the amulet and closed his eyes. He could feel Lyoolee's psychic presence. He tried to reach out and speak with her as he had before when he'd been at death's door. But nothing happened.

  Taking deep breaths, Siv touched the warm capsule and tried to quiet his mind. Mentally, he called to the priestess, but still, nothing happened.

  “Oona!” Kyralla cried out.

  Siv turned to see Oona’s eyes roll back into her head. Her body went limp, and then she collapsed onto the floor.

  3

  Oona Vim

  The ship spun as Oona’s vision blurred. Her knees buckled and her head thumped hard against the cold floor. As she fell into darkness, a jolt of fear struck, sending her heart racing. Had the Trial of Corruption begun already?

  If so, she would fail. She wasn’t ready. She might never be. But she had hoped the Ancient priestess could help prepare her first. So she’d at least have a chance.

  Oona suddenly found herself standing in a garden crammed with alien ferns, spindly trees, and thick clumps of dazzling flowers with scents so cloying she could taste them. Narrow paths wound through the garden. There was a barely contained wildness here as if the gardener visited rarely.

  A large, red sun high above made the sky a vibrant violet and gave the vegetation a purplish cast. A breeze gusted, and wind chimes clinked, their sounds discordant and off-key.

  The garden stretched for at least a hundred meters before ending at an iron railing along a cliff edge. On the horizon stood a metropolis bristling with spindly towers that rose into the clouds. Starships and aircraft by the dozens zoomed over and around the city, like bees around a flowering shrub.

  “Welcome, Oona Vim, to the Heart of the Numenaia, the Temple of Bhala-Rei,” said a lyrical voice from behind her.

  Oona spun around and then stepped back in amazement. She didn’t know what she’d expected, but the achingly beautiful, alien woman before her was not it. This must be the priestess, Lyoolee Syryss.

  The Ancient woman was exquisite and exotic, yet strangely familiar. It was almost as if Oona were looking into a mirror.

  Their faces shared the same shape and structure, but the Ancient woman’s eyes were almond-shaped and curled up at the corners. The lustrous sable hair cascading down the priestess’ back resembled Oona’s before it had fallen out during her first awakening. Unlike Oona, the priestess was tall like a spacer with opalescent green skin. However, they had the same lithe build.

  A tiny antenna sprouted from each side of the Ancient’s head, just above the temple. Oona reached up and touched the bumps on each side of her head, feeling the knots that had formed when she had lost her hair, knots that could only be felt, that no one else noticed.

  The woman smiled, her plump green lips peeling back to reveal sharp, thin teeth. She locked her long, extra-jointed fingers together in an elaborate gesture and bowed.

  “I, High Priestess Lyoolee Syryss, welcome you.”

  Oona matched the gesture as best as she could and bowed back. “It’s… It’s my pleasure to meet you.”

  “Do not be afraid, child.”

  Oona nodded meekly, her racing heart beginning to slow. She wasn’t facing the trial now.

  Her eyes drifted away from Lyoolee Syryss and onto the enormous tower behind her. It spiraled up so high that Oona couldn’t see the top of it. Every square centimeter of the stone building was engraved, though she was too far away to make out the designs.

  “How did I get here?”

  The priestess smiled. “I brought you here, child. This place is but a memory. A telepathic conjuring to give us a space where we could meet face-to-face. Though we can talk directly, mind-to-mind, I thought it would be better to converse this way. Bhala-Rei… It is my home and my heart. There is no easier place for me to summon from memory. And, if you will forgive me, I could not find a home in your heart.”

  “We moved around a lot, until my awakening—the first one. And Uncle Pashta’s estate never felt like home to me.”

  “I understand. And the stage of developmen
t you are referencing is called the Inheritance of Potential.”

  “Oh.” Oona stored the fact away to meditate on later. “It’s very beautiful here.”

  “This world, the city you see on the horizon, and the temple behind me, they were the crown jewels of our empire. Until the Shadraa came.”

  “The Shadraa?”

  Lyoolee seemed to shrink in stature, the smile fading from her face. “Terrible monsters that came from the dark of another dimension, devouring our worlds. They are a threat your people will no doubt face someday, but let us not speak of them now. We have more pressing concerns.”

  “I do have a lot of questions,” Oona admitted.

  “And I will gladly answer as many of them as I can…in time,” Lyoolee said, her voice weakening. “But it would be best, for now, to stick to the most pressing concern: the test that lies ahead of you.”

  “The Trial of Corruption?”

  She nodded. “A difficult ordeal for my people, but for a human like you, lacking true telepathy and years of training…” She smiled faintly. “It will not be easy.”

  Oona sighed. "You mean almost impossible. According to our lore, someone like me is born somewhere within the galaxy every year. As far as anyone knows, all but one has died during the final stage, if not sooner. The ones who weren't murdered, of course."

  “Why would someone seek to kill you?”

  Oona shrugged. “I have no idea.”

  “We should begin…” her voice trembled and her eyes drooped “…begin the training you need…to have a chance at…surviving the trial.”

  “Are you okay?” Oona asked, stepping toward her.

  Lyoolee wobbled then began to fall. Oona rushed forward and dared to reach out, to touch her. She quickly caught the Ancient woman, who weighed no more than a child, before she hit the ground. Oona lowered her to a sitting position.

  “Thank you, child.”

  A realization came to Oona as she felt the woman’s cold skin. “You’re dying.”

  “You are more perceptive than I suspected. Yes, ever since Gav Gendin pulled my ship from hyperspace I have been slowly dying.”

  “How long do you have?”

  “I…I have no idea.”

  Oona frowned. “Maybe if we get you out of the capsule—”

  “No, child. The capsule was damaged in battle. Opening it now would kill me.”

  “Then I’ll get Bishop to look at it. He can fix anything.”

  Lyoolee smiled sadly. “That is kind of you, child. But your needs must come first. You will not be able to choose the day and time of your trial. It will come upon you suddenly. And judging by your gifts and demeanor, I think it will come soon.”

  Oona frowned. “If I die, another will take my place. But you are the last of your people.”

  “If I survive, I will find myself alone in a galaxy with no one else like me. Except you, perhaps.” Lyoolee shook her head. “It is not death that I fear, but the Shadraa returning. I only hope to give you a chance of saving your people from the fate mine suffered. After that, I can die content.”

  The world around them faded then flickered.

  “You’re getting weak.”

  Lyoolee nodded. “We will speak again soon, but for now I must…rest…”

  The Ancient planet vanished, and Oona found herself lying awake, and aching, on the floor within the detention cell.

  4

  Siv Gendin

  Siv knelt beside Oona as she sat up slowly. Kyralla was on the other side of her, holding one of her hands.

  “You okay?” Siv asked.

  Oona nodded. “Bruised a bit from falling. Otherwise…I’m fine.”

  “You’ve got to stop scaring me like this,” Kyralla said, frowning.

  “Sorry, sis. Couldn’t help it.”

  “Did you speak to the priestess?” Siv asked.

  Oona’s shoulders sagged, and her eyes teared up. “She’s…she’s dying.”

  Siv flopped back against the wall, heart sinking.

  “Is there anything can we do?” Bishop asked.

  “If you could fix the pod, we could wake her up,” Oona said. “I think that would help. But she is thousands of years old, so… I don't know if that would be enough.”

  Bishop furrowed his brows and rubbed one of his curling horns as he examined the control panel. "Unfortunately, tearing machines apart is how I figure them out. Obviously, I can't do with the alien woman's life on the line."

  “Please do whatever you can, Bishop. She’s very weak, and there’s so much she needs to teach me.”

  He shrugged. “I’ll take a look at it. But don’t expect much.”

  “So she is going to prepare you for the trial?” Kyralla asked, a hopeful tone in her voice.

  "She promised to train me and to tell me all about the Shadraa. They're the ones who destroyed her people. She wants us to know about them in case… In case she doesn't make it."

  “It’s because of me, isn’t it?” Siv asked quietly. “She’s dying because she helped me.”

  “Oh, Siv, no,” Oona said. “I’m sure that’s not the reason. She’s been fading ever since your dad rescued her ship from hyperspace.”

  "If she has survived for a century in real space," Mitsuki said, "shouldn't she be okay for a few more years?"

  Oona shook her head. “I don’t think so. She seems to think she doesn’t have much time left.”

  Siv could tell that Oona didn't want him to feel bad, but he didn't believe her for a second. The priestess had somehow transferred some of her life-force to him so that he could get everyone to the Outworld Ranger. How could that not have hastened her death?

  “Sir, please have Oona recount the entire experience from the beginning. We need to know everything she saw and everything she heard. Tell her to leave nothing out. No detail is unimportant.”

  “Isn't that excessive?”

  “Not at all, sir. The priestess is the last of the Ancients. Her knowledge should be recorded for posterity.”

  Siv relayed the request. Oona vividly described the priestess and the Ancient planet she had seen, and everything they had discussed.

  Siv expected Silky to switch back to speaking over the comms so that he could question Oona about her experience directly. But he stayed quiet throughout her retelling, and afterward when the others drifted into speculations about the priestess and what she might teach Oona.

  “I’m not buying this whole messiah business,” Mitsuki said, “but if there is anything to it, I’m glad this Ancient woman agreed to tutor Oona. I’d rather Oona survive and, more importantly, not turn out like Empress Qan.”

  “I’ll read everything I can on the stasis chambers we use and see what I can figure out,” Bishop said. “Siv, you spent some time in one, right?”

  Siv frowned. "All I can tell you is how much it sucked. I don't know anything about how it works, and obviously, I wasn't awake for any of it. I'm sure Silky studied up on it, though."

  Silky didn’t make a response.

  “Silkster?”

  “Sir?”

  “Got any research on stasis chambers at hand?”

  “Of course, sir. I’ll send it to Bishop immediately.” Silky paused, clearly distracted. “Sir, please ask Oona to get the priestess to pinpoint the exact location of her home planet, if possible, the next time they communicate.”

  “Sure.” Siv frowned. “You okay, Silkster?”

  “Of course, sir.”

  Siv wasn't sure he believed the chippy, but he let it go. Silky was quirky at the best of times.

  Siv held out a hand, and Mitsuki helped him up. “I’ve got to get some sleep.”

  “Food,” Mitsuki said. “We all need food first.”

  “A good meal would help you recover more while you rest,” Kyralla suggested.

  “Just sleep for me, thanks,” Siv replied. “Octavian has already insisted on hooking me up to an IV drip. It’ll have the nutrients I need, mixed in with the meds.”

  They
returned to the main corridor, walking at Siv’s shambling pace. Kyralla paused between a tiny private room and the crew’s sleep stations: four bunk spaces built into the wall, stacked together and arranged two-by-two.

  Each bunk provided enough room for the average spacer to sit up, but only just. A nook at the foot of each cubicle offered a place for a few small personal items. Anything much larger than a pair of boots would have to be stored in one of the lockers lining the wall beside the bunks.

  “We have to sleep in these coffins?” Kyralla said in disgust.

  "You've clearly only ever traveled in style," Mitsuki replied, with an unmistakable tone of disapproval.

  Kyralla shot her a dark look but didn’t argue. She and her sister had grown up with a lot of privilege. What they hadn't had, because of Oona’s nature, was the freedom to go out in public.

  “I’ll take one of the bunks, once I’m recovered,” Siv said.

  “Like hell you will,” Bishop blurted out.

  Everyone stared at him in surprise. Bishop was rarely forceful in his opinions.

  “Sorry, it’s just… Well, it was your dad’s ship, Siv. And now it’s your ship. You’re the captain. That means you get the captain’s quarters.”

  “But Siv doesn’t care,” Mitsuki said. “Trust me. All you’ve seen was that sweet country house. I’ve seen all the crummy government housing projects he chose to live in. Siv prefers to live in buildings with rats. I think he can manage a bunk just fine if he wants.”

  Oona and Bishop started to argue with her, but Siv interrupted them.

  “Look, if it’s my ship, and if I am the captain, then I decide the sleeping arrangements.” Siv leaned wearily against the wall. “Once I’m well enough, I will give up my room for a bunk. Mitsuki, you will take the small private room. You need room to stretch your wings. Kyralla and Oona, you can share the captain’s quarters. We’ll find a second bed somewhere and cram it in there. You two need to be together in case the trial begins.”

  “I suppose that makes sense,” Kyralla agreed hesitantly. “After the trial is over, and Oona’s safe, I will take one of the bunks, too. I love my sister and all, but it didn’t go well when we shared a room in the past.”