Waves of Consequence Page 2

  “If you could infiltrate that spot,” Treyges said into his ear, “it would be very helpful. It is the weapons and targeting sector. It is in the center of the ship, to protect it, but if you could destroy it, we may be able to capture the dreadnought.”

  Saiph smiled. “Okay. Yeah, I’ll give it go.” Saiph flared energy into his back and feet to increase his speed. “Has anyone ever done something like this before?”

  “No, sir. I don’t believe so.”

  Saiph exhaled. “Brilliant.”

  He sent even more power to his hands and held them out in front of him, preparing to form a beam of energy. When the ship began to fill his vision, he let loose and poured a continuous flow of power into the beam so that it would keep going and burn a hole through the ship’s hull. It worked. As he entered the breach at a ludicrous speed, Saiph quickly realized that flying through space was different than flying through the air on Jangali. Speed and distance were deceiving. Though speed was his primary concern at the moment. He quickly curled into a ball to protect himself, but his momentum still carried him right through several walls before he was stopped by something hard. He slumped to the ground, alarms blaring in his suit.

  “Ship breached,” a pleasant voice said over the intercom. “Ship breached. Ship breached. Closing breach. Breach closed. Area repressurizing. Area pressurized.”

  Saiph flared energy through his body, remembered what he was doing, and got to his feet. How long until this city-ship realized that someone here didn’t belong? The rest of the Harain army was on this ship somewhere, and running aimlessly down the halls didn’t seem like the best of ideas.

  Saiph ran through several corridors, following the nav point as best he could. He eventually came across an emergency maintenance crew working on damages that had occurred from the current battle. That’s when Saiph also realized that he was on a ship that Jon had ordered to be destroyed. Could he survive something like that?

  One of the ship’s workers dropped his tools and held up his hands, his eyes closed tight as if he were about to be crushed by a train.

  “Um,” Saiph said. “Um…stop working and go sit over in that corner. I’m giving you the rest of the day off.” They did as he said without hesitation. “Okay. Right. Bye, now.”

  Saiph continued to move, and the nav point became larger until he had to look up to see it. It appeared like he was a level or two below the targeting center. Saiph raised his hands and fired lasers at the roof, making a hole. He jumped through it and into the middle of a dozen surprised soldiers.

  Everyone stared at him for a long moment, then raised their guns and fired, but Saiph was moving before their minds could even register what was happening. The first two soldiers were down before the bullets had left their weapons. It was easy. Any bullets that did come near, Saiph noted and dodged appropriately. Most shots were so far behind him that it didn’t matter. It was all over within a few seconds.

  Taking a breath, Saiph looked up and blasted another hole in the roof of the corridor. He jumped and then found himself in the firing and targeting center. People sat at control stations looking as baffled as the soldiers he had just surprised. Saiph looked around and identified the man in charge. He flew over to him, grabbed him by the neck, and lifted him into the air.

  “Do you want to die?”

  The man shook his head, terrified.

  “I’m going to put you down, and you’re going to tell these people to stop firing. If you do anything but that, I will kill everyone in this room instead, starting with you.”

  The others at the controls didn’t even need the man’s order; they began shutting down their stations and putting their hands in the air to surrender.

  Saiph looked them over. “Tie each other up.”

  They hurried to obey, finding plastic cuffs. Within minutes, they were sitting in a tight circle on the ground, bound and immobile. The shaking of the station had stopped, and Saiph assumed that Treyges had ceased firing. Tergrii bless him. Knowing that he wouldn’t be blown into a million pieces at any moment was very relaxing. He tried to think. How had Sargas ordered the ship to attack? Could he really have done that remotely? They had just killed his Jangali body the previous night. It was possible that he had already downloaded his consciousness into a new body.

  Saiph turned to the man he had picked up. “Is there a high-ranking officer on this ship that is never really around? Someone who takes long breaks or is even gone for days at a time?”

  “C-commander St-Staylin Harain,” the man said. “How d-did you k-k-know?”

  “Who here is the best with computers?”

  The commander looked at him, confused. “I s-suppose it would be L-Lieutenant Browder.”

  “Lieutenant Browder,” Saiph said, “please raise your hand. I’m not going to hurt you.”

  A large and overweight woman awkwardly got to her feet and stared at him, scared but in control. Saiph walked over to her and she straightened her spine. “I need your help.”

  “They’ll kill me for helping you,” she said.

  “The fight is over. You attacked us. We won. Who do you think will be deciding your fate?”

  She hesitated, then gave a curt nod.

  Saiph turned to the rest of the prisoners. “If any of you try to escape, I’ll destroy the ship without hesitation.”

  Just to make sure, Saiph pointed a hand at the control stations and fired a weak laser into all of them but one.

  “Can you find Commander Staylin?” Saiph asked the lieutenant.

  “Yes.”

  Saiph walked behind Browder and cut her bonds. He stepped in front of her and pointed to the computer. She nodded.

  Saiph could see why the commander had thought of Browder first. As her fingers flew across the keyboard, Saiph wondered how she knew what she was doing without looking down. The screen flickered so fast between readouts that Saiph couldn’t tell what was happening. What if she was sending a signal to the army or something?

  “Don’t try anything funny,” he said.

  She looked at him like he was crazy to suggest it. “Believe me, that’s the last thing on my mind right now.”

  She was at the computer for another minute before she stood up, still looking at the screen. “He’s in his quarters. Fourth floor, sixth corridor.”

  “How far is that from here?”

  “Only a few minutes.”

  “Lead the way, please.”

  Lieutenant Browder jogged as quickly as she could down the hallway. Hardly anyone else was around, and she explained that this was a secure part of the ship reserved for high-ranking officers. Most were all probably indisposed elsewhere at the moment.

  “Why is Commander Staylin in his quarters, then?” Saiph asked.

  “How should I know? Never even seen the guy.”

  “What’s your first name, Lieutenant?”

  “Tiff. You’re Saiph Calthari.”

  “What gave it away?” Saiph said, smiling beneath his mask. To his surprise, she smiled too.

  They rounded the corner, and Saiph heard a familiar sound. He looked up and saw two Andhaka at the end of the hall. They charged. Saiph threw Tiff back around the corner, then pulled out his swords and charged the Andhaka. He jumped between the walls, floor, and ceiling of the narrow hallway to try and throw them off. The first Andhaka attempted to target him, but it was too large and sprawling for such a narrow corridor. Four of its blades were too long for it to maneuver properly. Saiph easily batted away the other two blades with his swords and then fired a laser from his shoulder. The Andhaka flew into its counterpart, and both collapsed to the ground, destroyed.

  Note to self, Saiph thought, always encourage Andhaka to fight in narrow hallways. Got it.

  Saiph peeked back around the corner and saw that Tiff was unconscious but breathing normally. He turned and saw a single door that the Andhaka had been guarding. He walked toward it slowly, gathering his thoughts and pouring energy into the palm of his hand. It glowed blue from
the heat.

  When he reached the door, he tried pulling it opened, but it was securely locked. Saiph stuck out his glowing hand and pushed against the handle with all his strength. The metal began to melt away as his hand sunk slowly through. After a few long moments, the door gave way and Saiph broke the lock. He stepped through to see a man frantically typing at a computer that had been hidden in the wall.

  Saiph extended his arm and held his palm out toward the man. “Don’t move.”

  The man immediately stopped typing and turned around. “Oh my god!” he said. “Please don’t hurt me. Please!” He was shaking terribly.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” Saiph said. “I just need you to answer a few questions.”

  “I’ll tell you anything. Just let me live. Please.”

  Saiph took a step farther into the room. “How long does it take you to switch between bodies? Is it instantaneous?”

  The man’s scared face transformed into a sneer. “I’ve really got to change something if it’s this easy to find me.”

  Sargas was wearing the body of a squat, heavily muscled man with black hair and brown skin. He took a step to the side.

  “Don’t,” Saiph said.

  Sargas stopped and looked at Saiph closely. “You do look striking, all glowing blue against black armor. But, tell me, has it started to hurt yet?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “When you’re using your aura, has it ever felt like you’re burning on the inside?”

  Saiph involuntarily remembered the two times when he’d felt that horrific sensation. Pain like that was not something he could forget.

  “So it has,” Sargas said, smiling. “And Jon hasn’t even told you what it is yet, has he? Oh, this is rich. I wonder how long you have left…”

  Saiph was torn from his memories of pain and confusion to see that Sargas had taken another step toward the door. Saiph straightened his back and tensed his arm, ready to fire.

  “You don’t have to live this way,” Sargas said. “All you know about me is what Jon has told you. I’ve done things I’m not proud of, but I’m trying to make a better world, just like Warren Winters did. It wasn’t right, killing all those people, but he did make the world better. That’s what I’m doing, Saiph. You’re on the wrong side.”

  Saiph shook his head, his mind searching for the right thing to say.

  Sargas looked at him with pity in his eyes. “Your protector hasn’t even told you that you’re dying. He’s using you, just as he used me to create the Essens all those years ago.”

  “Shut up,” Saiph said, taking another step forward. “At least he didn’t try to take my body.”

  “Because he didn’t have that option!”

  “How long does it take you to move between bodies?” Saiph asked.

  Sargas rolled his eyes. “Why would I tell you that?”

  “Good, so you don’t remember, after all.”

  “Remember what?”

  The lie came to Saiph’s lips before the thought was even fully formed. “In the palace, before you committed suicide, we had a short conversation. I’m tired of being kept in the dark, but why would I leave the enemy I know for the enemy I don’t? How can I trust you? So you told me how long it took you to move between bodies and where I could find your new body and verify it with a version of you that doesn’t remember our conversation during those last moments.”

  Sargas peered at him for a long moment. “I don’t believe you.”

  “That’s fine. I didn’t really think you’d keep your word.” He lifted his hand higher.

  “Eight hours,” Sargas said abruptly.

  Saiph was glad Sargas couldn’t see his face behind the mask. “And are you still going to try and steal my body?”

  “Not if you work with me. Help me restore order to the Sphere.”

  Saiph nodded, trying to act as convincing as he could. “I’m going to kill you now, but I want you to tell me something else first, so I can check it with you next time we meet.”

  “No. How can I trust you’re not stringing me along?”

  “Do you want me on your side or not?”

  Sargas started laughing. “You think you’re so clever right now, don’t you? But you forget yourself. Your entire life—every moment you’ve ever had—is like an afternoon to me.”

  Saiph felt his heart beating faster. Something was wrong. He fired a laser directly into Sargas’s head, killing him instantly. He ran outside the room to hear alarms blaring. “Self-destruct in one minute. Self-destruct in one minute. Please proceed to life pods immediately.”

  Saiph flared energy and sprinted to Tiff. He picked her up and dashed back to Sargas’s room. He slapped her in the face and she woke up.

  “What? What’s happening?”

  “Self-destruct in fifty seconds,” the pleasant voice said.

  “The ship is about to be destroyed. I need you to get whatever you can off this computer.”

  “What? No, we’ve got to get out of here!”

  “I’m your only chance of survival. Do as I say, and I promise to save you.”

  Her eyes welled up with tears as she faced the monitor. “What am I looking for?”

  Saiph got very close and whispered in her ear, in case anyone or anything was listening. “Get everything you can. Especially anything on Nero. It’s the water planet.”

  Tiff nodded and tapped furiously at the keys. She inserted a small cube into a slot and it began to blink. “Downloading now.”

  Saiph began to gather energy into his flight and shield systems.

  “Self-destruct in twenty seconds.”

  Saiph watched the computer screen, urging the download to go faster.

  “Self-destruct in ten seconds.”

  “Time to go,” Saiph said.

  Tiff pulled the cube from the computer and handed it to him. Saiph placed his hands together and inundated his arms and hands with energy, then let it loose on the wall, continuing to feed it with as much energy as he could manage. The laser blew through the first wall, then melted the second, then the third. It kept going.

  “Self-destruct in five seconds.”

  The hole through the walls was just big enough for Saiph and Tiff to squeeze through. He grabbed her by the waist and held her close to him.

  “Take a breath.”

  Saiph’s feet and back exploded in blue energy and he shot through the hole, one hand outstretched to keep the laser going through the tunnel.

  Come on!

  The blue beam of energy hit another wall and then there was nothing but black. He held Tiff tightly against him, and as soon as he hit open space, he let out a constant series of shield bursts, hoping it would keep her warm. He flew straight for Stargone, flying as fast as he possibly could.

  “Treyges, need an entrance! Have someone with me!”

  At that moment, Saiph was blown off course as the Harain dreadnought exploded in a huge ball of flame and light. Saiph corrected as best he could and kept going, thinking about all those poor people on board who hadn’t managed to escape. A surge of guilt ran through him as he thought about the people he had tied up. He hoped they had gotten out after hearing the alarm. A nav point appeared in his vision, and he could see a door opening on Stargone.

  “You will have to slow down, sir, or you will fly straight through,” Treyges said.

  Saiph didn’t slow. He didn’t know how long someone could survive in space, but it had already been ten seconds.

  Eleven. Twelve. Thirteen.

  Saiph entered Stargone, and as soon as he was past the threshold, he flipped to face the entrance, flaring as much energy as he could into his flight systems. He slowed, but not enough to stop. He hit the wall hard, and it stole his breath away. He was falling to the ground but managed to twist so that he was on the bottom and Tiff was on top. He hit with a thud, then lay still.

  2

  Lin, 2006

  I was skipping down the hall in my princess pajamas and with my drawing of Cinderel
la when I heard them.

  “I don’t know why she cancelled. She just did, okay? Now what are we going to do?” my mother said.

  “Can’t we just leave her here with pizza and a couple of movies?” my father asked.

  “Lin is six years old, Bruce. We can’t just leave her here to fend for herself. Do you want to go to prison for child neglect?”

  I heard him collapse onto the couch. “I thought my life would suck less once I was rich.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize your life was so terrible. I must have forgotten that it was me who went golfing last Saturday while you stayed with her. I must have forgotten that it was me who took that weeklong ‘business trip’ to Vegas last month and missed her three-hour recital. Oh wait, no, that was you.”

  “You’ve had us hire a full-time nanny during the day!” my dad yelled. “And you don’t even work! What the hell do you do all day if not take care of our daughter?”

  My grip tightened around Cinderella.

  “We’ve talked about this! You know I have anxiety about having to take care of her all day. My life coach even said I needed more balance in my day-to-day! And just because I don’t make as much money as you, it doesn’t mean that my time isn’t as important.”

  “Is it really, though? I mean, come on, Lisa. Your time doesn’t pay for this house. Your time doesn’t pay for the cars or Lin’s school. Your time doesn’t feed us or buy you all those designer clothes you love so much. I just want to go to the party. Is that so much to ask?”

  They kept yelling. I looked down at my Cinderella drawing as tears sprang to my eyes. I walked back to my room, sobbing quietly.

  My parents always bought me whatever I wanted if I complained enough, but only one person in the world truly spoiled me.

  “Ohhh, Linnn,” he called out. “Where is the Lin I want to spin and put on a dolphin fin?”

  I laughed and ran into my grandfather’s arms, shaking with pure excitement. I was so small that I didn’t realize just how frail and thin he was.