The Gardens of Nibiru (The Ember War Saga Book 5) (13 page)

“Roger, good copy,” Hale said. “Cortaro, close in. Cover the exits in case someone tries to bolt.” He looked at Steuben and Standish; both activated their cloaks.

Hale checked the remaining battery life on his own and found only a few minutes of juice left. The battery would recharge off ambient heat and his body movement, but without sunlight his reserves wouldn’t get very far from zero.

He waited until he heard the sound of footsteps trudging up wooden steps before he went invisible.

The door creaked open and a tall elderly man with a jeweled circlet entered the room. He spread his arms to the side and ushered three robed figures into the room.

“Come, come,” Idadu said. “Take your position in front of the effigy and commune with Lord Mentiq. He’s excited to have you so near him at last.”

Hale recognized Lilith’s pointed chin beneath her hood. She sat cross-legged on the floor and lowered her chin to her chest. The other two moved stiffly. One had to help the other to the ground, their liver-spotted hands clasped together.

“Remain in quiet contemplation until dawn,” Idadu said. “The kadanu will arrive and take you to the temple. I’m so envious. I’ve been waiting years for my call, but it is my duty to serve. Yes…yes.”

The old man walked right in front of Hale, the floor creaks lessening as he neared the invisible Marine. He frowned as the sound from the floor changed unexpectedly.

“Odd.” Idadu shifted his weight from foot to foot and the floor groaned in response. Hale raised an open hand slowly, ready to grab the old man by the mouth if he stumbled into him.

“Eh, no matter.” Idadu tottered over to a wooden box and opened a drawer. He removed three tightly wrapped silver pouches the size of a large pill and held them up in the candlelight. “Now, this part of your path has been kept secret since our beginning on Nibiru. This gift from our Lord will calm your mind, ease any anxiety you may have.”

Idadu ripped the corner away from a pouch and tapped a pale-white pill into his deeply lined palm.

“Lilith? You first.” He grasped the pill between two fingers and reached toward her.

Hale grabbed Idadu by the wrist and dropped his cloak.

“Mentiq preserve us!” Idadu said. He looked at Hale with wide eyes, his jaw slack. “Brother kadanu, what are you doing here?”

The two elderly anointed looked at each other. “Is this part of the ceremony?” the old man asked.

“I’m not your kadanu.” Hale pointed a finger at Idadu. “I need you to stay quiet and listen to me.”

Steuben de-cloaked and put a weighty hand on the elderly couple’s shoulders.

“Shh,” the Karigole said.

“They found me in the forest, Idadu. They claim they’re from Earth. Tell me this is some sort of test of our faith, please,” Lilith said.

“I don’t—I…Earth?” Idadu shook his head from side to side. “No, that’s impossible. Mentiq saved only us so we could grow closer to perfection. Then he promised to call us to his side and live with him in heaven forever.”

Hale let Idadu go.

“This is not going to be easy for you to hear.” Hale removed his helmet. “Earth survives. Whatever your ancestors told you was a lie. Here. We made this for you to watch.” Hale angled his forearm computer to point between the Akkadians and tapped a file.

A holo projection filled the air: Earth, spinning in the void, great swaths of megacities gleaming in the night. The video cut to human cities bustling with energy and commerce. Then an edited version of the video with Commander Albrecht, the former commander of the
Breitenfeld
’s air wing who was left behind when the ship and the rest of the Saturn colony fleet stepped out of time, narrating Earth’s scouring by the Xaros. Then images of Phoenix being rebuilt and footage of the Toth attack on Hawaii and a wrecked overlord tank on display in the foyer of Euskal Tower. The holo ended.

The four looked at Hale, confused.

“What was that at the end? The broken glass?” Lilith asked.

“You don’t know what the Toth overlords look like?” Hale asked.

Their blank expressions gave him the answer.

“The Toth leaders, and Mentiq, survive by consuming the neural energy of sentient beings, just like us,” Hale said.

“Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous,” the old woman said.

“I have another video.” Hale swiped through the files on his gauntlet and hesitated before opening another file. “My armor captured this while I was a Toth prisoner aboard one of their ships. This will be difficult to watch.” He double-tapped the screen.

A hologram of Kren standing next to a pilot from the
Breitenfeld
began. Demands went back and forth between Kren and Hale as the overlord demanded more information about the proccies, information Hale didn’t have to give.

The four civilians went deadly pale as Kren murdered the first pilot. The elderly couple clutched at each other as Kren consumed the second pilot, the woman’s head buried in the man’s chest. Idadu’s shoulders drooped. He looked so surprised that Hale could have tipped him over with the tip of his finger.

“That’s…what was that?” Lilith asked.

“Toth. Mentiq’s species,” Hale said.

“No.” Idadu pointed at the painting. “
That
is what he looks like. He is just like us, but perfect in every way.”

“I’ve seen them up close and personal. Trust me on this,” Hale said. “The warriors you saw aren’t the worst kinds of Toth.”

Steuben took his helmet off and looked at Idadu.

“You know my kind?” he asked.

“You’re Karigole. How did you get off your island? You’ve been under sanction since I was a boy for participating in the Lan’Xi heresy. I remember the day one of you came to us, making ridiculous claims about how we’re nothing but fodder for Mentiq. The kadanu captured him and…” Idadu brought his hand to his mouth. “They said he was lying about everything. A test of our faith.”

“The Toth overlords consume the minds of sentient species,” Steuben said. “You and your people have been born and raised for this specific purpose, as food.”

“No!” Idadu whirled around, his gaze darting from the images of those who’d made the journey to Mentiq’s city. “All of them? Every one of us who’ve ever…ever…” His eyes rolled into the back of his head and he collapsed to the ground.

“Damn. Yarrow, get in here,” Hale said. He pressed a thumb to Idadu’s throat and found a pulse.

“I think,” Lilith swallowed hard, “I’m going to—”

A small waste bin flew through the air and stopped beneath her face. She wretched into the bucket. Standish, who’d grabbed the bin, materialized.

“They’re taking this really well,” Standish said. “Much better than I would have.”

Lilith grabbed the bottom of the bin and vomited again.

“There you go, sweetie.” Standish gave her a pat on the head. “Don’t worry. I still think you’re hot.”

The door to the building opened and shut, and Yarrow dropped his cloak.

“Get the elder back on his feet,” Hale said to the medic. He turned his attention to the three villagers. “Tell me, what’s supposed to happen next?”

“Idadu takes us to the kadanu before dawn, at the landing pad,” the old man said.

“How many of these kadanu are there? Are they armed? How big is their ship?”

“The area is forbidden.” Lilith wiped a sleeve across her mouth. “No one’s ever seen what happens when the anointed leave and no one has ever come back. Not once in seven hundred years since this village began.”

“Ugh,” Idadu said as Yarrow sat him up. Yarrow snapped a small capsule and waved it under the old man’s nose. His face twisted with disgust and his eyes snapped open. “You’re all still here,” he groaned.

“What’s supposed to happen next? Tell me about the shuttle,” Hale said to the elder.

“They take the pill and I guide them to where the shuttle will take them away,” he said. “Then I spend the night patrolling the village, making sure everyone stays in their homes so they don’t disturb the anointed.”

Yarrow picked up a pill from the floor and placed it into a small chamber on his gauntlet. Readouts came up on his forearm screen a moment later.

“This would be one hell of a party drug back on Earth, sir. Muscle relaxants, sedative effects…it would keep them nice and pliant for when the Toth show up to get them,” Yarrow said.

“Back on the ranch, we’d never slaughter an upset cow,” Standish said. “All that adrenaline would ruin the taste of the meat.”

“This is all a pack of lies,” the old woman said. “I’ve been ready for my ascension for sixty years and I’m not going to let you take this from me. We are going to the temple, aren’t we, Idadu?”

“Wait, wait.” Hale raised a hand. “I can save you all. I have a ship in orbit that can bring you all back to Earth, but first I need to get to Mentiq’s city and…deal with him.”

“Heresy!” She pointed a knobby finger at Hale. “I will denounce you to the next true kadanu I see. My reward for just service to our lord will be more than I can imagine once Mentiq brings me to heaven.”

Steuben picked up a wrapped pill and tore the pack open. He shoved the pill into the old woman’s mouth and held her jaw shut. She struggled briefly, then calmed down. Steuben snapped his face toward the old man.

“Will you be a problem?”

The old man shook his head so fast his double chins quivered.

The woman rolled forward and lay on the floor, drool seeping out of the corner of her mouth.

“Enzuna, this is wonderful,” she slurred. “I feel so close to our Lord Menflish…”

“She’ll be like that for hours,” Idadu said.

“Sir, you’ve got one coming in fast to your location,”
Bailey said.

Hale heard shouts from beyond the walls.

“I thought everyone was supposed to stay in their homes,” Hale said to Idadu.

“They are!” Idadu got to his feet and took a few wobbly steps toward the door.

“Cloaks on,” Hale hissed. He slapped his helmet onto his head and thumbed the activation switch. An error icon popped onto his visor; the batteries were dead. He tried to turn it on again and got the same results.

The door to the meditation room burst open, and a young boy fell into the room.

“Lilly!” He scrambled toward the young woman and wrapped his arms around her. “Don’t go yet! Our mommy and daddy are gone. Ask the kadanu to let you stay!” The child did a double take when he saw Hale standing in front of the portrait.

“She can stay a bit longer, can’t she? At least until I receive my calling.” He looked at Hale with tear-filled eyes.

“Yeshua!” came from outside. Three more villagers ran into the room. They went to their knees once they saw Hale.

“We’re so sorry, kadanu,” a middle-aged man said. “We tried to stop him but he slipped out of the house. Please forgive him. He’s just a boy. Don’t take him away so soon.”

Hale looked at Idadu.

“Wonderful news, everyone!” Idadu clapped his hands together. “Lord Mentiq heard young Yeshua’s prayers and sent his most trusted servants to us with a message. Lilith will stay until the next choosing.”

“She will?” Yeshua squealed and squeezed his sister even harder.

“I will?” Lilith asked.

“Yes, you’re staying,” Idadu said firmly. “But the elder anointed ones will continue on.” The old man went pale. Idadu winked at him. “Now, I want a welcome feast prepared for the kadanu in the college chambers. Lilith, my dear, you will organize the un-tasked girls, just like the last time the kadanu arrived.”

Lilith stood up, Yeshua still clinging to her. “Give me half an hour before everything is ready for our…guests.”

“Go! Shoo!” Idadu waved the villagers out of the room. “Wake up everyone and tell them about the boon from our lord and savior.” He waited until the rest left before he turned to Hale. “Play along. Our tradition is to welcome the kadanu. There are always four men who come. The leader stays with me. Do you have three more men with you?”

“Yes, what do you need them to do?” Hale asked.