ISSUE 5: YOUR PRINCESS IS IN ANOTHER….
What were they thinking? Why reveal your identity to the whole Multiverse? One thing is for sure: Hilary will explode. That apple pie had been sitting next to her the whole time. My brother thinks it’s a diversion. I believe him. –Medusa
There are theories but usually, when a foe reveals one kind of weakness, they mean to hide another beyond the sight of everyone, who is Eliza Murphy protecting? And why? I will analyze these prophecies of old. The creation races hide various truths within.-The All-Father.
Every time I see how bruised she is after fighting her brother, I want to scream. I know why they have to do it. Based on the databases I examined from House Genetic Tantrum, The Urradens are on par with Dexter’s matter capabilities. I know what I’ll have to do when the time comes. I do not relish it whatsoever. –Lorain Lanis.
I know: The cat is all over the multiverse. But I am the only Eliza Murphy with the keys to a certain kind of adventure. If our enemies focused on me: They wouldn’t see my brother coming until far too late. Aether assured us of that. So I would be the lure. It's why Dexter worked me so hard. Harsh bone-shattering punches. Because the All-Father wouldn’t hold back. He wanted to beat me into submission. I had to endure. SO others would rally behind me. It’s very true. I had to be a shield. So my brother could get that vital crack into the enemy.-Sleeping in Starlight, a memoir of the 22nd century.
Old Markav Territory
Outer Orbit of Gas Giant 2334.5
July 22nd, 2114
Medusa’s fist connected with the ancient Artock before her.
His eyestalks going glassy as they collapsed. She bellowed, “Oh BROTHER DEAR!” Three thin disks shot out and hit her energy barrier. They thudded to the deck with a hiss. Her brother’s swarthy face materialized. His body was obfuscated by a stealth shield. He glanced at her mostly humanoid body. Gone was the massive serpentine tail. In its place was a normal set of legs. The only scales she had on her body were near her neck. From what he could tell, she even had her face near human normal. The eyes were still slit golden akin to his. Her high cheekbones and full lips curled at his expression.
“Yes brother, I got the same cell at Stonewall. But Thoth is off somewhere, chasing an elusive dream, while I got cast off. “
As she said those words he could see the abject hatred in her eyes. The shame of ever loving someone like Thoth. She had been used. He would be careful. For a woman scorned could turn on family as well. He deactivated the rest of the battle suit. To see if she’d react. Her voice deepened, to an animalistic hiss.
“So the girls and I decided to make our mark. This leads us here. To a certain Mr. Nix.”
Snake Charmer responded, “The son. Not the father. He’s been missing since the debacle on Earth’s home system failure.” She motioned to the darkened corridor behind her. Three hunched shapes crept forward. Charmer kept his face blank and upwind. Girls? Hags were more like it. Three wizened women scrambled forward. Voice as one, “Oh what a strapping lad!” Their black eyes were akin to pools of ink. Cracked lips and nearly toothless as well.
This was going to take a while.
Bits of cloth broke off. Their desiccated flesh revealed spidery marks.
Egyptian.
Snake Charmer glanced once more at his sister.
Her face was hard from the passage of years.
Knives in the dark.
Upper Rings
Typha (Hysen Sphere)
Q’vera kept herself hooded. It wasn’t too uncommon here. She was just another Red Defender patrolling the Outer Shell Wards. From what B’karis had said she had to plant some false flags. Since E’ratha was getting quite uppity when it came to the Cult of C’alain. Q’vera didn’t want to know the particulars. In and out. She flew towards the Hanging Gardens. Many human travelers had set up shop there. Perfect place to situate more distractions. Since the immigration had started, over 1 million humans now resided within Typha’s home system. Well over 1200 demis had registered. To help patrol the sector and promote goodwill. Star was often seen zigzagging everywhere. No matter if it was House territory or Commons. Q’vera smiled as a rather enthusiastic human with Bardaxians in tow greeted her, “Good defender! Care for some flowers from Earth? Or some ginseng perhaps?”
The two Bardaxians, Golden Retrievers, barked. >>We love the tea! It is soothing!<<
She exchanged some pleasantries with the man. Planting the nanite recorders as she shook on the deal. They would flood the area. Sending out signals to agitate E’ratha’s Arbiters. A wild goose chase. As Thomas Murphy would put it. She waved as she sprung skyward. The calculated spinning of the Hysen spheres housing countless Typherians. Between the two major hubs, the sea of life was vast, with over 5 trillion souls alone gaining warmth from the double suns. That was just the major city outer shell. She would not let Set farm these people.
This technology made population growth beyond comprehension.
Which was why Humanity had exploded outward. Q’vera wondered where all the extra manpower came from. Those who had lost their Universe to Unity’s encroachment perhaps? The Terran Alliance had different Protocols. Which irked E’ratha to no end.
Typha, dirtside, had just over 2 trillion House members. Of those, Ayeer and its allies numbered in the billions but if Set had his way, the number of people wouldn’t matter. It's how those House Shock troops and sleepers would be employed. She shuddered to think of the All-Father’s population assets. Before Urranden’s banishment, they had numbered near 900 Billion. Without regulations? Illegal cloning, genetic slavery, and the like? She thought her father’s estimate of 5 trillion was low. She bet good money that Urraden had recruited from the Multiverse itself. Once things heated up: The loss in total all-out war terrified her.
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Ayeer Landing Pad
Typha
Sul’sandra was having similar thoughts.
She knew where Humanity’s explosive growth came from. Project Freefall and Proctor Gansys as well. He had quietly collected great swaths of populations. Recruiting them from different Earth periods. They had come willingly. For the Proctor had laid all the cards bare. Guiding people to the Irish king within the Dreaming. Even a few of the original Light Shamans from that initial meeting of Bardaxian, Dog, and Living Stone combat currently resided within the Dyson Sphere of Earth. She dared not say her speculations out loud. Humanity was planning on shifting the Typherian Spheres to Earth when the time came. She was certain of it.
The biggest giveaway was the fact that Project Freefall stayed within Weave Space.
Many commentators speculated that Earth kept Sol’s orbit free for other projects.
Military in nature. But like the Generational Ark Ships of old, Humanity wanted to save as many lives as possible. Planets could be re-terraformed, she knew that all too well, people couldn’t. Their technicians believed that a 1 for 1 clone body had no soul. A missing element from the Weave. She couldn’t refute them. Having seen too much of the onion already. Or what she was prepared to see. The Void Walker ground mooks were proof of that to her. Most were clones of Chronos. Or so they believed. The fact that they disintegrated on death also added to the “soulless” theory. She raised her head as Eliza landed. The ever-present Doc wrapped in a protective embrace. Sul sent the message.
///The net is being laid.///
The human woman didn’t react but another chime hit Sul’s inbox.
///Right. I'll get on phase 3 then. The lightswitch needs work.///
Eliza noticed the silence. “Right.” She closed her eyes and cupped her hands around her ears. Not allowing for any sensations that could give them away. Lorain stepped away for a moment. Waving Sul towards the Jupiter Rising.
*****
C’alain’s ghostly image greeted me as I cut myself off from Doc. Shutting down what I could from my Typherian bond with her. With the landscape of my mind, the old King patted the stone bench that materialized before me. We sat. It was odd being able to do this. A perk that Dexter and I got from the Wall and what lay beyond it. The Throne matrix itself. His deep voice rumbled, “Yes. All the cloak and dagger can get tiresome but I know you prefer that rather than the bodily alternative.” I grimaced.
The old images resurfacing.
What Anna had feared but it was Dexter and I surrounded by the total death of the Multiverse. If we failed. Yet we would continue. On and on. While the Unity’s herald laughed. It wasn’t Set’s face I saw. No, that wasn’t revealed. Set’s corpse huddled at the winner’s feet. I couldn’t imagine who’d be worse than Set. The world spun and my eyes snapped open. Gwen’s expression was controlled. Her bare hands on either side of my temples. Black hair tied back into a plaited ponytail. Her copper irises fixated on some distant point. Mom and dad were behind her. I jerked a thumb at the Jupiter Rising.
Mom left to join Sul and Doc. Dad cleared his throat, “Everything all right Sparks?”
Gwen smiled at that nickname. “Sure thing dad. Just had some words.”
C’alain’s amusement rumbled through me.
I wondered if I’d have any kind of secrets.
The Ancestor King choked back a groan of bemusement. >>Be careful what you wish for descendant.<<
*****
Turned out the multiplying Hag was named The Spinster. How fitting. Snake Charmer handed his sister a pistol. It was of Artock manufacture. “Use that to capture potential genetic stock. Bring them back here and we will process them.” Medusa leaned forward, her expression hungry, “Can I taste the merchandise then?”
Her brother nodded, “For magical energy? Yes. But no physical damage. Understand?!”
She pouted, “Fine.” She had taken what she wanted in Stonewall prison. Men, women, and even one guard. Finding out that she had a buried demi power that surfaced due to some extra scandalous activities. Her saliva had a property that could induce people to an intoxicated state that influenced people to tell the truth. Their most secret desire. How she had abused that. Finding the hidden compulsions of others. Using it to blackmail the other inmates, even that one guard. It was how she eventually escaped. Kissing the Spinster hadn’t been fun but it revealed a rather shocking detail she kept to herself for now.
She didn’t want to abuse the connection she had with the Spinster just yet.
Her brother introduced her to the basic artock crew that would be joining her on raids.
How delightful!
The ship had no name. It was a basic raider. Its real protection would come from Medusa herself. Oh yes. This would be a treat.
The humming of the arc ship indicated they were jumping away once more. Always moble. Due to the newly formalized Union of Worlds. Humanity wanted to play Captain Cosmos. She would show them the error of their ways. She wanted to be there when Hilary came back. The look on the former FBI agent’s face would be priceless. Snake Charmer snorted, “Why? So you can see the utter agony in her eyes?”
“Oh yes! Plus the fact that her greatest foe had been in the same meeting room for years. Wonderous rage!”
Abandoned Universe 255320
Primordial World
Date Unsynced
Hilary marveled at the skinsuit adorning her body.
It was a dull metallic gray. But she could form it into any kind of material she wanted.
Within a blink, she was wearing her old black pantsuit. Her human tan hands adorned with her old wristwatch. Its dark brown leather the same as she remembered. She felt her face. Not the mutated horror of a human mixed void walker. Just hers. As it was meant to be.
She didn’t know how long she had been traveling along with this dark mirror network of Set’s but she had found marvels beyond her understanding. Along with the special firearm, this suit, and a few other surprises she was sure to catch all her enemies off guard. Even her father. Paradoxically the face of Eliza Murphy circled her thoughts. She would kill that cripple first. Just to rub it in that General’s face. An outcropping of rocks revealed an old stone structure. She recognized it as another transit system in this dead universe. It was encased with the entropy of Unity. As the gelled surface of the wall sucked her in, she spoke the words, “Return me to the lands housing the fetid life of Avalon.”
Sir Avalon wouldn’t be able to protect that Princess of his much longer. Hilary had explored enough castles to drop the motherload on everyone. Set’s cultured voice rumbled in her ears, “Now now. Gently my dear. I wish to have more souls for the harvest.”
He would keep the knowledge of Star’s current status hidden for as long as he could. Knowing that she would react predictably. He wanted to control her hideous rage for himself. She would be the perfect weapon to destabilize Chronos’ hold on things. He would have everything for himself. Maybe even take Hilary as one of his brides. A ruler needed consorts after all.
Hilary sucked in a breath. The nightlife of New Ashbury hitting her senses. She was back. At the very same patch of ground where Sir Avalon had banished her. A holo billboard above her head had The Star-Spangled Banner proclaiming, “Join the Union effort today! Bring the Light to the Vastness of Space!”
Union? What the hell was that?!
Her HUD didn’t work of course. Since her mutation decimated her old human inplants. So she struck out towards the nearest pitstop. As she entered the diner, people were clustered around a holo screen in the corner of the eatery. She muscled her way through. Anna Preston McQuire’s face took up the majority of the screen.
The headline under it read:
Typha’s Commons Introduced a reformation to legitimatize Human and Typherian pairing protocols.
Hilary asked, “My implants malfunctioned, where’s the closest hotel? I’ll have techs relink them in the morning.”
One man glanced her way, “Two Cards special! About 1 mile up the road from here.”
Had she been linked to INet she would have been likely to jump ship off Earth to Typha.
As she exited, she heard a woman exclaim, “And to think! Mrs. Anna thought the Breeding program was on their end!”
The crowd laughed, another man added, “Turns out it's us, humans, they want.”
Another shouted, “From the depths of Space! Human men encounter the wild women of Sector X!” Hilary growled. That hadn’t changed. Taking on the whole Multiverse like a man from a fake FX show. She would teach them differently.
The Jupiter Rising
Officer’s Quarters
Nola triple-checked. There was no doubt. She was with child.
She glanced at Eddie’s sleeping form. Not daring to wake him just yet.
The morning would bring the happy news.