Genesis - the Battle Within (Pillars of Creation Book 1) (21 page)

He smiled at these meditations; the simplicity with which Osiris explained the diplomatic relations of an entire galaxy was quite an art. His smile soon evaporated though, as his meditation moved over to Osiris more directly, putting his second Sovereign’s older face into view.

Osiris taught him long ago, and the truth of his lessons wore down Genesis more than it once had. In his mind, his tutor’s deep features creased with concern as Genesis watched and as Osiris had done well to hide the weight of what he spoke from his teachings. But through experience, Genesis now understood the fragility their factions relied upon.

This alliance was something Osiris believed in, but Master Zeal had always warned the Way of the Sacred could not trust in it totally. Yet even harder than this, Genesis knew he was to forget these warnings as was commanded by the Elders. He was to adopt his new Sovereign’s ways and not Zeal’s apparent
misjudgements
.

The old Historian’s teachings were to put Genesis back on the right path and would apparently allow him to forget Zeal’s misguided ways; the same teachings that had been thrust upon him and were purposefully designed to replace his original Sovereign’s long lost words … the words that he refused to forget.

Bitterness rose from the back of his mind as Genesis fought to quell the thoughts of his true Sovereign—

As often before, Zeal jarringly interrupted his meditation and dominated its direction; his true master’s lean face again floated up from long ago. Zeal’s very explicit code was what had kept him alive in the face of even the worst of odds, it was likely the
only
reason why he’d just survived the attack from the Tel’nagara. Yes this was why, and only because of this code did the Terithian sector now know him as Genesis and he been made manifest and alive from such horrific encounters. He could never betray this Sovereign’s gifts … could he?

Genesis was jostled within the confines of the droid and brought himself out of meditation. He checked his scanners; he was almost at his destination and he still couldn’t see the ship in front of him. He knew this was not unusual, but still he looked intently for where it hid. This search seemed a good distraction from his current strange mood swing.

The frigate he struggled to look for,
Aspire
, was one of only three of its kind. Its rarity came from its design; it was neither built for offence nor defence, in fact it had fewer weapons and shielding than most commercial or civilian vessels. Instead
Aspire
was gutted in its production stages and refitted with the most powerful and advanced stealth capabilities known to Terithian territories.

The ship had become widely known and feared throughout all of SED-controlled space, with many a powerful vessel being brought down by its deathly silence. Genesis had always liked the ship itself, as it reminded him of his own tactics in a way. The vessel was far less lethal than many other SED ships, yet with its unusual abilities it remained one of their most effective.

Before most ships even had an inkling that they were under attack, the specially designed boarding crafts covertly let their skilled marines aboard an enemy’s ship, and disabled their shields, weapons and navigation systems before they knew what was happening. Once this was achieved the marines could then commandeer the enemy’s vessels for later processing, analysis and eventual re-use by the SED; which was in all, a highly efficient style of combat, he’d always thought.

To achieve this unchallenged capability
Aspire
, instead of being covered in the metres of thick armoured plating of most frigates, was instead fitted with an extremely powerful system of stealth generators that were responsible for its feared reputation. Genesis knew these stealth emitters were amazingly advanced and, in missions such as the one they’d just been in, meant he could easily slip undetected and silently under another ship’s defences. As far as Genesis knew, no ship in existence had even detected
Aspire
, let alone fired upon her. She was a class unto her own.

Suddenly in front of him,
Aspire’s
haze became visible, leaping towards him in a giant, dark, foreboding wall. The cloaking field billowed as it drew space around and over the ship’s entire hull.

Within the darkness Genesis watched transfixed as the black ink peeled back and the main hangar door opened, revealing the true nature of the cloud’s existence and his way aboard the ship – which he’d come to know as home for the past few years. The Paladins allowed the droid carrying him to go first into
Aspire’s
hangar, hanging back purposefully to avoid any last chance of ambush or attack. Genesis ignored them as the door continued to open, looking like it was hung on nothing as the cloak shrouded all but the interior hangar of
Aspire
.

The blackness parted majestically as if welcoming him in from the dark and beckoning to him. It only disappeared at the very last second as the retrieval droid pushed into the hangar and as the shroud washed back together, dropping them into complete obscurity for a moment. For a while the darkness remained, and then abruptly, shining through the cloud, a burning light from the interior shone through, blinding him momentarily. His suit’s optical filters instantly reacted, shielding his eyes from the glare.

After he gained orientation, Genesis saw that he was being flown straight towards the medical bay for analysis. This clearly meant that Admiral Antipatros was taking no chances with him, and his usual demand for protocol was to be upheld, along with his thinly veiled distaste for Immortals.

The droid manoeuvred precisely through the vertical docking stations of the Paladin fighters, which he noted were all prepped – looking strange in their inactivity – and ready for combat. Genesis calculated quickly, concluding there must have been twelve free spaces left from the escorting squad that had led him here; the remaining fifteen squads still looked impressive, lined one above the other in their rows, ready for combat at an instant.

Genesis knew that if
Aspire
ever
was
to come under attack, these, other than a few point lasers and rockets, were practically her only defence, the ship even being built with an oversized hangar to accommodate the larger number of fighters compared to normal frigates.

If
Aspire
was ever in
real
combat, this is what they’d need to rely upon, as her relatively unprotected exterior would tear apart like paper if she was hit by enemy fire, thanks to her lack of armour. Genesis forgot this quickly though, as he focused on their steep descent and watched carefully as he traced the path they took into
Aspire’s
depths.

They passed relatively unhindered and un-noticed as they descended into the lower reaches of the hangar, past the many docks and workstations. It was the second shift so only a few robotic droids and engineers milled about, working on their various projects with no one taking too much notice.

His retrieval droid had started electrifying the surrounding air, ensuring the death of any toxins or poisons that may have been on, or in, him. Genesis knew this was a preventative measure to counter any number of nasty bacterial tricks that the Skinks often used. A hatch twisted and opened ahead of him, allowing entry into the Priority 1 quarantine med-quarters. A lock-down room was already prepared and he was buzzed quickly into the sterile room.

His stomach lurched as the retrieval droid hovered close to the ground and stopped abruptly, its grappling arms whining as they released their iron grip and pushed him unceremoniously from its grasp.

The Immortal dropped the remaining metre onto the floor, nimbly landing on his feet and righting himself only to see the droid elevate with a loud hiss, a good fifty metres above him, and disappear back through the containment hatch they’d entered through. It sealed tightly behind it, leaving him feeling anxious as he stood alone in the room.

Genesis looked about the space. For the first time since his mission had begun, hours earlier, his feet were once again on safe ground –
it feels good to be back in familiar territory
, he thought quietly to himself. The room was brightly lit and was completely absent of any objects or fixtures, except for the large flexi-glass observation window in front of him.

He turned towards it. The room on the other side of the glass was so dark even he’d no idea who or what was in there. Normally his suit would penetrate the gloom but the flexi glass was designed to defuse his many available viewing modes, which he knew was done for the safety of any med-staff or other observers when viewing alien life forms or Immortals such as himself.

A voice sounded within the room from a multitude of speakers.

“Uh … right, just stand still 05, this won’t hurt a bit.”

Lights appeared around Genesis, intensifying and then focusing squarely on his entire body. A high-pitched humming sound emitted and the lights shifted from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, changing intensity as they did so. A few more seconds passed before a metallic arm leapt up from the floor and attached perfectly to his spinal processors jutting out from his spine. The arm moulded around the housings and intricately clasped pneumatic hosing into every socket along his vertebrae.

Genesis tried to relax, he was familiar with this protocol but still disliked it. The arm lifted him high off the floor as they pumped scans throughout his entire body and completed the analysis of his armour and internal genetics. A few more seconds passed before the whole unit let out a loud burst of pressurised air and precipitously disconnected, recoiling onto the floor, leaving Genesis again to take care of his landing.

The voice crackled back over the speakers, “Uh … right … there you go Immortal 05, looks like you’re relatively … wait a second … apart … no, that’s okay? Uh, well maybe I should just check that … just hold on 05, we just need to look into something.”

The room was silent as the responsible party was obviously studying something unfamiliar. Genesis started to worry, but the voice cut back again quickly.

“Uh …hmm … I will be right back in a—” The comm switched off before the medic finished.

Genesis didn’t like the sound of what was going on; his mind raced – this had never happened before.
What the hell’s the problem?
What had they found? Did he find the inject
—

A searing bolt shot from his neck and straight down his spine, his arms convulsing as he felt energy coursing through them. He staggered backwards as his head eventually cleared from the initial shock and his armour dropped his helm involuntarily.

Slath, what the hell,
he thought in a panic, tottering forward to where he’d been standing prior. The pain, whatever it was, had felt terrible and jarring—

It hit again, and this time waves of power seemed to wash through him, over and over, each bigger than the one before, as Genesis felt his body contort and stiffen as he fell flat to the floor.

Through tortured comprehension he realised it wasn’t letting up. The Immortal gave a muffled cry as a massive blast of energy leapt up from his core, and he spattered blood across the floor as he discharged his breath in shallow gasps. He spoke shakily through gritted teeth,              “What in Sacred is—”

His arms contracted involuntarily along with his entire body, pulling him into a hunched position. The pain became relentless; he could feel it building as though it was going to burst. Genesis looked down, but wished he hadn’t as he caught sight of himself. He glimpsed the red mist, or steam – he wasn’t sure which – rising from his hands.

With great physical effort he twisted his head trying to see in the flexi glass if indeed what he was beholding was reality. To his horror he saw that not only were his hands letting off the red mist, but his eyes were completely gone, replaced with a white glowing energy, as if they had been heated by some unnatural power. His own voice sounded far away.

“Help me Sacred,” he cried out to nobody in particular.

In terror he raised his hands to his face, as though this would protect him from what he saw. In barely a whisper his voice partly spoke and partly mouthed the words, praying for relief and assistance.

“Help me … somebody … anybody!” Genesis somehow managed to stand as he thumped on the glass, but got no relief. He knew at this point that the cause of his pain was from the Tel’nagara, who
had
infected him, and its injection
had
been an attack of some kind! Whatever it had injected him with, it was obviously just now taking hold— Genesis screamed with the last of his strength as he keeled over.

“Sacred, help me … Master Zeal … I need you.”

His trembling form stumbled as he struggled up, rocking against the wall – he knew he couldn’t take much more. Although short, this pain was more intense than anything he’d ever felt before, it was even worse than the nullifying operations of his grafting process. His eyes widened as he realised the terrible feeling was too much, he felt another wave beginning to build, stronger than all the previous waves.

He screamed at the top of his lungs.