Declaration (Forgotten Colony Book 5) Read online

  You are learning after all.

  “He’s going to betray you,” Caleb said, surprised the Advocate allowed it. “But it will serve you right to get a taste of what you’ve been spilling on everyone else. The blood of innocents is on your hands, Valentine. Not only the Inahri but everyone in Metro who’s died over this. We shouldn’t even be on this planet.”

  “Are you still whining about that?” Riley asked. “My original plan failed. The hallmark of a true Marine, a true Raider or Reaper, is to adapt. I adapted. I sacrificed. Earth will be free in my lifetime, thanks to me. Your lifetime, I’m not so sure about. I think Harai has other plans for you.”

  “He’ll have control of his own destiny,” Harai said, opening his eyes. “But that destiny will include serving the Relyeh. It is inescapable. You should be honored, Sergeant Caleb.” Harai rolled up the sleeve of his robe, showing off a new Advocate wrapped around it. “Ogg bade me let Ishek have you for a little while longer. He provided me a much lesser creature to help train. This one isn’t even developed enough to scratch the defenses of my mind. It has no chance of breaking through.”

  “It is an important skill for the adolescent to learn,” Ishek said through Caleb. “The Axon are exponentially more resistant than Inahri.”

  You are like an adolescent, Earther. Your ability to resist me is so weak as to be non-existent.

  “I can resist?”

  “The Advocates are symbiotes,” Harai said. “Not parasites. They can’t survive without resistance, or without the balance of power shifting from time to time. I honor Ishek as my partner.”

  Caleb tried to tell Harai his partner wanted an upgrade, but Ishek stifled the impulse.

  I respect Harai, as we know each other well. But he is not at your level. Not when you are at your best. I would trade him for you, given a choice. Arluthu will not offer that. I have made the most of our time together.

  “The effort of trying to get into my head will help the adolescent grow stronger,” Harai said. “I don’t really want it, but we all do things we don’t want to do in the name of loyalty and obedience.”

  “Why did you give your loyalty to Arluthu? You were slaves to the Axon, and now you’re slaves to him.”

  “No. He gives us opportunity. It is our responsibility to seize it. You will see.”

  Caleb lifted his head enough to look out the forward viewport. The transport had been airborne for nearly an hour. It was nighttime, making it difficult to see much of anything, but he could just barely make out the rippling of water in the dim starlight. Were they crossing an ocean?

  “Why did Arluthu make his home so far from the city-ships?” he asked.

  “He was here before the Axon arrived with our ancestors. Our Lord and Master waiting for his servants. Knowing we would come. The Axon never knew he was on this world. Not until it was too late. Otherwise, they might not have chosen this world.”

  “I don’t understand,” Riley said. “According to the Intellects, the Relyeh M.O. is to drop uluth onto the planet to wage war against the intelligent life there and then to come in and seize control. But you’re saying Arluthu was here before there was any intelligent life? Something doesn’t add up.”

  “The Inahri are special among the races,” Harai said. “And Arluthu is special among the Relyeh. He’s outside of their collective will.”

  “The Relyeh want every human on Earth dead,” Caleb said. “What makes you special?”

  “We are his chosen. We will carry the war to the Axon in his name, and all of the Hunger will exalt him.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  “Because you expect him to think as humans do. You aren’t capable of the complexity of thought and idea that allows the Relyeh to continue their expansion and domination. The Axon are closer, but even they will fall to the Hunger. They will fall to Arluthu, and then all of the Relyeh will see that he is their one true god.”

  Caleb stared at Harai. Did he just say god?

  You will see. And then you will believe.

  Chapter 6

  Another ten minutes passed in silence as Caleb fought the introspective guilt that threatened to drive him mad. It didn’t help that Ishek knew every thought and emotion. The Advocate didn’t offer its opinion again, but it didn’t need to. It was enjoying his inner turmoil. Feeding off it the same way it fed off their actions in the Free Inahri compound.

  Caleb worked to find some measure of calm. Some kind of resolution. What had happened wasn’t his fault. He had done everything he could to stop Harai from getting the modulator. He would have succeeded too if Valentine had even an ounce of loyalty in her. He didn’t know which was worse. The Advocate’s obvious enjoyment of cruelty or Valentine’s obvious delight in lying.

  He had always pegged her for a bitch, but this was a whole different level.

  He wished he could find satisfaction in knowing Arluthu was going to chew her up and spit her out. But anything the Relyeh did would be for his own gain, and that was bad no matter how it happened.

  Caleb froze at the thought, waiting for Ishek to interject. The creature remained silent, though he could sense its consciousness at the edge of his mind. Harai said the Advocates required their hosts to push back against them. How?

  “We’re approaching the Citadel,” Harai said. “We will be home soon.”

  Caleb glanced at Riley, who shifted her position in the transport to get a better look out the forward viewport past the pilot. Caleb turned his head too, tilting it to gaze out over the left side of the pilot’s head. He could see lights in the distance, blinking at the craft to help guide it in.

  He stared for a few seconds, trying to resolve the geography of the location. It appeared to him as though the Citadel was rising from the ocean.

  “What is it, an island?” he asked.

  “Not exactly,” Harai replied.

  They continued to close on the lights, the transport dipping slightly to descend. The outer lights weren’t growing in intensity at all, seeming to dim more the closer the transport drew to them. Other lights became visible, hundreds of faint white specks lining what looked like a mountainside.

  It rested in the center of a dark, rocky landscape, the harsh and cold island large enough that Caleb could only see the shoreline directly ahead and the the sides at the very corners of his peripheral vision. It had to be fifteen kilometers wide at the very least. Probably more. It was hard to judge in the darkness. It climbed at least three kilometers from the base in a jagged, chaotic flow of stone and light, spearing ever upward until it disappeared into the clouds that had formed around it. It seemed as if the shape and size was seizing control of the surrounding atmosphere, turning it dark. Ominous. At the same time, the thousands of altering planes drew his attention, pulling him into the form and nearly trapping him there, marveling in its complexity and alien beauty.

  “Why here?” he said softly. “This is the middle of an ocean, isn’t it?”

  “It is,” Harai replied. “As I said earlier, Arluthu spent many ens in wait for the proper time to deliver us from the Axon. This area of the planet is challenging to scan with sensors. For as large as the Citadel appears from close in, it would be like isolating a single star in the sky. The stone the Citadel is made from contains large amounts of metal we call zhilon, which also helps keep it hidden.”

  Caleb glanced back at Riley again. Was she thinking what he was thinking? From the taut look on her face, it seemed she was.

  Right or wrong, he didn’t believe Arluthu had come here for the Inahri. How could the Relyeh have known the Axon would bring humans to this world before it ever happened? Either Arluthu could see the future, or he was full of shit.

  If he could see the future, it meant either the Relyeh had the technology to travel through time, which Caleb couldn’t completely rule out but strongly doubted. Or it meant Arluthu really was a god. If Caleb had to choose between the two, he was more prepared to believe the time travel theory.

  If Arluthu was full
of shit?

  Then why was he here? And why had he sent the trife to Earth?

  Arluthu’s ways are his to discern, Earther. Not yours to judge.

  Caleb did his best to not react to the statement. He looked back out the forward viewport, trying to quiet his thoughts and observe. The Citadel loomed ever larger ahead of them, growing until the ocean around it had vanished, and only a wall of jagged stone was visible ahead. A small section opened then, a hangar bay door pushing forward and then sliding to the left to swallow the transport. The aircraft slowed, drifting through the open space.

  The hangar was dimly lit, casting the interior space in shadow. Caleb could make out the shapes of dozens of other craft inside, though it was hard to capture the details. There were more of the Inahri transports, but there were also other vehicles of what he assumed were Relyeh origin. They were crude and ugly, each one different enough from the next that it seemed as though they had collected rocks from the ocean, or maybe asteroids from space, and brought them on board to make ships of them.

  He froze at the thought. The coming of the trife had been preceded by the most massive meteor shower in the known history of Earth. Was he getting a closer look at the delivery vehicles?

  The transport continued to slow to a hover as it reached the back of the massive—it was at least a kilometer deep—space. It descended into an open area on what appeared to be an uneven stone floor, touching down amid small puddles in the depressions.

  Harai stood up as soon as the pilot switched off the main reactor, the soft hum of the transport suddenly vanishing into silence. He turned to the remaining members of his squad. “Report to the armory to turn in your gear, and then head to the barracks to grab as much sleep as Arluthu permits.”

  “Yes, Sergeant,” they replied, standing up, finding their weapons and quickly departing the transport. Caleb could hear their boots splashing through the small puddles as they moved away from the vessel.

  “Where does the water come from?” Riley asked.

  “Condensation,” Harai replied. “Arluthu prefers a moist, humid environment.”

  Caleb could feel the humidity creeping into the transport. It wasn’t a hot, heavy moisture like the tropical air outside the Deliverance. It was cooler moisture that carried a hint of the saltiness of the sea with it.

  “Riley, Caleb, you’ll come with me,” Harai said.

  “What about Washington?” Caleb asked. John was still unconscious in the back of the aircraft.

  “He has his purpose, and you have yours. Don’t worry. There’s a good chance you’ll see him again.”

  Caleb glanced back at Washington. The way Harai said it gave him a chill and caused Ishek to laugh.

  “Do you know what’s going to happen to him?” Caleb asked Ishek.

  It is more satisfying to let you discover in due course.

  Harai led them out of the transport. A group of Inahri in black robes were already approaching, surrounding another Inahri in white. Sergeant Harai fell to his knees and lowered his head as they neared.

  Bow to your superior, Earther.

  Ishek’s will overpowered Caleb, bringing him forcefully to his knees and lowering his head. Riley followed the gesture, matching the posture.

  “Colonel Ae,” Harai said. “I have successfully captured the quantum dimensional modulator and delivered it to General Ogg on the Seeker.”

  “I know,” the Inahri in the white robe said. “Well done, Sergeant. Arluthu is very pleased with you, though of course he expected your complete success. Are these the Earthers Ogg spoke of?”

  “Yes, Colonel,” Harai replied. “The petitioner and the warrior. Has our Lord considered my requests?”

  “He has. As Ogg already stated, he will grant an audience with the petitioner to hear it beg. He has requested you to accompany it to the audience with the warrior.”

  A ripple of emotion ran through Caleb as Ishek reacted to the news. The Advocate was excited. Caleb glanced at Riley from the corner of his eye. Ae was speaking Inarhai. She couldn’t understand him and had no idea what he had called her.

  “Of course, Colonel,” Harai said, his voice quaking. “Arluthu honors me in ways I do not deserve.”

  “That is true,” Colonel Ae said. “But Arluthu is nothing if not benevolent to those who carry out his will.”

  “Yes, Colonel.”

  Ae’s eyes ran along Caleb, studying him for a moment before shifting back to Harai. “His impurities will be offensive to our Lord. He will require sanctification.”

  Harai glanced at Caleb. “His impurities make him stronger. A better asset.”

  “It’s not up for debate, sergeant,” Ae snapped harshly.

  “Yes, Colonel. I will bring him to the sanctorium. The petitioner also wants to be sanctified.”

  “She wants to be sanctified?” Colonel Ae looked at Riley. Caleb could see a soft glow in the Inahri’s eyes, able to make out the reversed display just over his pupils. He wasn’t just giving them a once over. He was literally scanning them. “Very interesting. No. Arluthu will judge this curiosity personally.”

  “Yes, Colonel,” Harai said.

  Caleb peeked over at Riley again. She wanted to be rid of the mutation that was changing her into a human-trife hybrid. He understood the colonel had just denied the request, though she had no idea. But then, what the hell did sanctification mean when it came to him? He wasn’t turning into a monster.

  Ae held out his hand. “Thank you for delivering the adolescent. It will come to me now.”

  He remained motionless, waiting while the Advocate detached itself from Harai, crawling out from beneath his tunic, down his arm and into Ae’s waiting hand. He grabbed the worm-like creature roughly, passing it to one of the black-robed Inahri in apparent disgust.

  “Ishek will return to you,” Ae said.

  A most satisfying day. I hope we will be together again, Earther. Perhaps when you have slaughtered Harai and taken his place in Arluthu’s Might.

  “Go screw yourself,” Caleb said internally, drawing a short laugh from the Advocate.

  Harai pivoted and moved in front of Caleb, still on his knees. He grabbed at the Intellect Skin, pulling it off Caleb’s arms and down to his waist, leaving his top half bare.

  Caleb felt the Ishek’s legs pulling out of his flesh with small, sickening pops. His arm went cold, growing colder as the Advocate unwound from his arm, sliding down it to his hand and leaving a trail of ichor behind.

  Harai held his arm out while Ishek stretched across the gap like a caterpillar reaching between leaves. It grabbed on with its forelegs and pulled itself across, disappearing under Harai’s sleeve.

  Caleb opened his mouth, taking in a few deep breaths, suddenly growing nauseous as the full weight of what he had done came down on him, his body flooded by everything the Advocate had withheld. He fell forward onto his hands, heart-rate spiking as the world blurred.

  “Damn it, Ishek,” Harai said. “You over suppressed him.”

  Caleb waited to hear the Advocate reply, momentarily forgetting it wasn’t with him anymore. For as disgusting as the creature was, a part of him missed it already.

  “It’s a good sign,” Ae said, speaking in English now. “It means his will is strong. You may have just delivered your death, Sergeant. Are you sure you want him in the Kuu?”

  “Sergeant Card stabbed me in the heart,” Harai replied. “He nearly killed me already. It’s him or me. You and I both know that’s how it has to be. That it’s Arluthu’s will.”

  “We do,” Ae agreed.

  Caleb felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to see Colonel Ae smiling at him. “You will be a fine soldier in Arluthu’s Might. I can see it already.”

  “That’ll never happen,” Caleb replied weakly, between heavy breaths. It was getting harder to breathe.

  “The Kuu will decide,” Ae said.

  Caleb tried to pull in more air, finding it nearly impossible. “I can’t even breathe.”

  “You�
��re experiencing withdrawal from the chemicals the Advocates use to suppress your free will. All Inahri suffer a mild form of it when they lose their Advocate, even if only for a short time. Your natural resistance forced Ishek to release enough hormones to put you in shock. You’ll lose consciousness and remain that way for a short time. Don’t be concerned. When you wake, you will be sanctified and prepared to meet with your new Lord and Master. It is an unheard-of honor for a prisoner to have a direct audience with Arluthu. Consider that while you sleep.”

  Caleb slumped forward onto his stomach. The ground was cold and wet, but he barely noticed. His heart felt like it was going to explode. His head was heavy and hot. His muscles hurt like they were being ripped apart. He had no idea what was going to happen, but anything was better than this.

  When darkness came, he was grateful for it.

  Chapter 7

  Jackson’s body shook as he guided the wheelchair over the threshold of the southern seal. His first journey beyond Metro’s perimeter had ended with his wife having a traumatic break, half his Deliverance Defense Force soldiers dead, Metro Law decimated, Joe and Carol King dead and the alien energy unit taken.

  While he couldn’t imagine how things could go any worse for them the second time around, he was terrified they would find a means.

  “We’ll meet Deputy Klahanie on the bridge,” he said, his voice quaking slightly. He hoped Tsi couldn’t sense his trepidation. “He’s our default systems tech. He’s not an official engineer, but he has a way with software. He got us into the ship’s mainframe and helped clean up the mess the alien, the Intellect, left behind.”

  “He’s a cutie, too,” Faith said behind him. “Just my type.”

  “I think he’s a little young for you,” Doctor Rathbone said.