Crush looked at Hacksaw and Yrinla in turn. “You aren’t hearing the voice, are you?”
They looked at one another. Hacksaw shrugged. Yrinla shook her head.
“What is the voice saying, Guardian?” asked Yrinla.
Crush walked down the Amalgam’s ramp, stepping back onto Cradle’s soil. The ground began to shake beneath her feet. It was subtle at first, but it built into an earthquake that caused the trees to sway violently, their limbs slicing through the air.
“Well this I can see,” said Hacksaw, his voice attenuated with distress.
The rumbling rose to a crescendo, and the guards at the back entrance to the palace stood, eying each other warily as they held their ground.
The ground before Crush’s feet lurched and exploded into a shower of dirt. She turned away, shielding her face, turning back when the dirt stopped falling and the earthquake died away. A tall stone figure rose before her from the newly made hole in the ground.
Glowing with the same sapphire rivulets that wound over her own body, this creature stood nearly seven feet tall and at least half as wide across his shoulders. His face looked like a carved mask of stone, and his eyes burned a brilliant sky blue. Behind him, the guards ran trembling back into the palace.
“SISTER,” he said in the same grinding, stony voice she had heard a moment before. “YOU MAY NOT LEAVE CRADLE.”
Crush turned to the others.
“Yes… we, uh, hear him now, Guardian,” said Yrinla. “And we see him, as well.”
Crush turned back. “Brother, I assume I am to call you that? Brother, my allies are in danger and have called for me. I must go to them, though I have many questions for you before I go.”
“YOU MAY NOT GO, SISTER,” insisted the figure. “YOUR PLACE IS ON CRADLE. YOU ARE THE GUARDIAN.”
“Yeah, so I’ve heard,” said Crush, her tone turning defiant. “But since no one has explained to me what that means, I suppose I can’t be expected to know my duties!”
“PETULANT CHILD!” said the stone man. “FOLLOW ME, AND YOUR ELDERS WILL EXPLAIN THE GUARDIANSHIP TO YOU, AND WHY WE HAVE WAITED SO LONG TO REVEAL OURSELVES.”
By now King Hua and Queen Shiu had come out to see the figure for themselves, after the guards had gone to tell them what had happened.
“Wait, Coreborn!” exclaimed the King in his chiming native tongue.
“NO, IT IS YOU WHO MUST WAIT,” the stone figure warned. “DO NOT FOLLOW US. ALL WILL BE CLEAR IN DUE TIME.”
Without another word he climbed back down into the earth through the hole he’d stepped out of. Crush shrugged to the others present and followed her “brother,” soon disappearing into the dark tunnel.
***
Skritka paced nervously in his office. He had watched over the battle in real time with Executor Grak-Yurp and Administrator Sta-Kwi. The carriers, gunships, and support vessels had blinked off and on as the power was disrupted by enemy attacks, each time the ripmed system taking a bit longer to kick back on. Eventually, it simply didn’t. The footage from the bridge of the Pinion was a harrowing demonstration of why. They had sent the best stills they’d been able to capture to Grepk, to see if creatures in the footage were the same as the one they’d met.
There was no indication that any damage had been inflicted on the enemy, or that there were any survivors. The implications were horrifying.
“Word’s gone out, sir,” said a voice at his door. He looked up to see Administrator Sta-Kwi, back from making a few calls. “All power plants throughout the city are communicating with the Navy to discuss advanced shielding. The engineers and techs in the Depot are saying they want to try shielding larger areas. It will take more material but we may be able to avoid the issues the Silver Star Fleet ran into.”
“Whatever it takes,” said Skrikta. “If we have to, commandeer materials. Individuals, organizations, and companies will be reimbursed.”
“Martial law, sir?” asked Sta-Kwi.
Skritka shook his head. “Just a State of Emergency for now. The Executor affirmed it already. It should go out through normal channels shortly but it's already in effect. The Houses are gathering shortly, and I can assure it will be a point of discussion.”
“Yes, sir,” said Sta-Kwi. “I'll go see to it. I expect most private entities will be willing to help. The larger corporations may very well donate material.”
“If anything can bring out the best in people, it’s being invaded,” said Skritka.
Sta-Kwi smiled a wide, wan smile as she turned and left.
Stritka comm rang with the old, familiar tone.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“Executor?” he asked as he answered the call.
“Prime Minister,” said Grak-Yurp. “We need to discuss clayside fortifications and orbital defense. But first, we need to work out the details of a civilian evacuation.”
Skritka hung his head. Although the idea had been discussed in the past on a theoretical basis, Griffonia had been founded as a fortified last stand against the Astralbians, and had been a relatively secure planet in the centuries since, even through the Singularity Wars. The idea of retreat was simply counter to the national culture. The next few weeks promised to be trying times, even on the domestic front.
***
“What’s going on?” asked Vanbrook as he jogged into the combination auditorium and observation deck aboard the Wingspan. It was the only place inside the ship where the entirety of the crew could be gathered, and typically that only occurred during take off and landing, as the seats all had built-in restraints. Seeing Raivyn come in alongside Dekken, Vanbrook figured she knew why an in-person meeting of the entire crew had been called.
Raivyn stared him down, her anger still fresh enough that she didn’t want to talk to him. “Chief Engineer Dekken will fill you in shortly.”
Vanbrook grimaced at the cold answer and turned away quietly.
“Blue Griffon Fleet,” said Dekken, addressing both the gathered crew of the Wingspan and the crews of the Bombard and Shepherd, who watched the speech being broadcast to their respective ships. “As you know, Griffonia is under imminent attack. At this time a hostile fleet is approaching the planet. This fleet destroyed the Pinion, and the fate of the Silver Star Fleet in its entirety is unknown.” Anxious murmurs worked their way through the crowd. “As of today, the Prime Minister has announced a voluntary evacuation of the entire civilian population. Refugees will be sent to Kirakna, and from there on to Hittania and, by leave of King Hrynkak, Hruduk.” The murmuring grew more intense and Dekken visibly deflated. “We will, for the time being, be making our way to Kirakna to help organize the flow of refugees.” A general grumbling rose up from the crowd.
“QUIET DOWN, ALL OF YOU!” shouted Captain Fenrik, his colorful feather crest rising in anger as he stood up from where he sat behind Dekken. The murmur died off suddenly.
“Thank you, Captain,” said Dekken, straightening up and looking back at the crowd. “As I said: the Blue Griffon Fleet will be stationed on Kirakna for the foreseeable future. You have the long and short of it now, so get back to your stations. We have work to do before we can leave Gateway and we need to do so as quickly as possible. Providence shine on us all.”
As the crowd dispersed from the auditorium, Hunt was pacing in his room, listening to the announcement on the public comm speakers. Dekken had invited him to join him in the auditorium, but the thought alone embarrassed Hunt to no end. He wished it had been him giving that speech. Dekken was a fine sailor and a gifted engineer, but, despite being second-in-command aboard the Wingspan, he just wasn’t a leader by nature. Shaking his head, Hunt laid down in bed, putting his hands behind his head and waiting for the announcement to buckle up for take off. Being under arrest wasn’t something he wanted to make a habit of, but at least, for the first time since basic, he was finally catching up on his sleep.
***
Griv turned out to be a dead end for the investigation. The crooked security guard had been grilled a few times by Trebor and Yellup, but didn't know anything they hadn't been able to work out through other evidence. Criddek was too smart to tell someone like Griv anything he didn't have to.
Ultimately Griv was turned over to the justice system at large to be charged for his corruption. Darvik assumed he was rotting in a cell in Kerucester Penitentiary, an institution Darvik knew all too well.
His thoughts had been cast back to that time of his life pretty often since he'd run into Krum-Bahk outside the Depot. There wasn't much about his life from the time he moved to the city that he could look back on proudly. He'd earned his place as a duelist, that was for sure, but all he managed to make of that was to leverage his way into a life of petty crime.
Maybe if he kept his nose clean he could build a life for himself in the RTS. A voice in his head reminded him that, sooner or later, he'd screw this up just like he'd screwed up everything else.
Another voice repeated itself: “I've got plans for you, Darvik.”
“Hey,” said an irritated, watery voice, punctuated by the sound of two tentacles slapping together by way of clapping. Darvik suddenly remembered he was sitting at his desk in Trebor’s offices.
“Wake up and grab your jacket,” continued Yellup. “Someone that looks like our guy just got flagged at some seedy spaceport on the south end of town.”
“I think I know the place,” said Darvik, pushing a creaky chair back and grabbing his long, black coat off the back.
“Of course you do,” said Yellup, rolling his large golden eyes. “Come on, Trebor's waiting for us upstairs.”
***
After a long, windy flight, Rewna finally touched down on Gateway. Sadly, her mount would die if not returned to an aerie shortly due to a chemical dependency that had been bred into the species. It was a built-in security measure in case of theft, and that certainly described Rewna’s situation.
With a sigh, she patted the wasp's head, telling it to go home. It buzzed away unceremoniously, and Rewna turned towards Lakeside, which was a good hike away.
She never let her hand drift far from the thorn gun at her side as she stumbled over the swamps and forests of Gateway, but the wildlife gave her no trouble. A wary group of spider apes sniffed the air as she passed near their grove, but saved their energy for something edible.
The sun was setting by the time Rewna reached the outskirts of Lakeside, which suited her fine. She ditched her Astralbian raiments and left them bundled up in the treeline along with her thorn gun, not wanting to be easily identified as part of the Astralbian Kingdom. Nudity was not a modesty issue for Astralbians the way it was for biological races, but clothes had become a cultural habit for them all the same.
She snuck into an unlocked civilian garage and crept over to the lockers, opening them carefully in an effort not to make too much noise. Finding a greasy set of mechanic’s coveralls, she slipped into them and then back out into the night.
Working her way over towards the more secured portion of the airfield where the Wingspan sat, she kept low and quiet, scaling the fence that separated the military and civilian areas and dropping down quietly on the other side. From there she made her way quickly and quietly to the Wingspan, looking for a way into the ship.
“Can I help you, ma’am?” asked a voice behind her.
She turned to see two guards wearing the standard double-breasted blue uniforms of the Griffon Republic Navy and carrying service rifles. Her shoulders slumped. She really wasn't much for espionage.
“Um, yes,” she said. “I'm here to see… Dekken. About a broken engine.”
“Uh huh,” said the guard, nodding with a smirk towards her stolen coveralls. “Is that a family name?”
She looked down at the clothes, and saw the name Staw-Muk, not exactly a traditionally Astralbian moniker, embroidered on the right breast pocket. She rolled her eyes and held up her hands in surrender. “Just take me to the brig. I still need to talk to Dekken.”