Epic of Aravinda 1: The Truth Beyond the Sky (26 page)

Everyone did, and when a part of the planet’s crust slid back again a few minutes later, they descended upon the Vakragha like invisible ghosts descending upon unaware prey.

Yantrik and Asha dove under the planet’s atmosphere, fast and low, taking out dozens of cannons as Zahn set in a course to enter the planet through a large opening nearby. Once he finally got a glimpse of the core through the opening, an alarm sounded throughout the ship.

“Zahn, we are being exposed to intense radiation emanating from the core of the planet. It’s a modulating wave of energy, and exposure will likely overload the cloaking cells, revealing our location. Wait—I’m detecting a swarm of fighters heading toward our position. This radiation must also prevent the swarm from staying cloaked, as well.”

As Navika finished relating this, Zahn saw a swarm of the small angular fighters in the distance open fire on him.

Dozens of narrow, green bolts of plasma flew toward the ship, and Zahn evaded as many of the bolts as possible and returned fire. He felt a rumble as a few bolts impacted onto the ship. On an impulse, he raced toward the planet’s northern hemisphere, his cloak recovering in moments.

Meanwhile, Asha and Yantrik were dealing with their own challenges. Whenever they passed over an opening, the surface cannons saw them, demanding immediate evasion. In the process, Asha’s ship sustained a direct hit, and her shield strength was instantly cut in half. However, they had already destroyed a good number of cannons, and Darshana’s aim was better than she had anticipated. She had destroyed almost as many as Asha had.

In the midst of their evasion, Zahn contacted them.

“Navika is detecting intense negative energy emanating from the wormhole inside the planet which disrupts the cloaking field,” he said. “We aren’t safe above the shafts. I was attacked by a swarm, but I was able to find cover. Wait… I’m detecting a massive vessel emerging from one of the shafts. It appears to be a Vakragha flagship. I’m going to try and find another opening on the other side of the planet. Be vigilant.”

Zahn knew he was racing against time. He flew Navika over the northern tip of the planet and beyond, to the other side of the world. In the far distance, he was relieved to see another gap in the crust opening up, and no ships were in sight.

And then, he heard the vile voice once more.

“I will devour your heart, Avanian.”

Once again, the voice was horrible and revolting. Like a vile whisper inside of his own mind, it was so clear that Zahn glanced around the cabin, but no one was there.

“No,” Zahn said aloud. “I have a surprise for you.”

“Not even the Tulari can help you. Your journey has been in vain. Your failure is inevitable.”

“What? How do you know we have the Tulari?”

“The Amithyans told us. They have a hidden base on Taarakalis. They have deceived you.”

“Liar! The Amithyans helped us save my mother. They are from a Transcendent World. They would never deceive us, and you will not succeed in enslaving Avani!”

“I am Razakh, Autarch of Hataaza Darad, and I will take what I may. The Amithyans led you to the Nirananda pulsar because they sought your death.”

For a moment, Zahn wondered what it would mean if that were true. Is it possible the Amithyans had lied to them? No. It wasn’t logical. But if this Vakragha was the overseer of Hataaza Darad, that would explain his determination.

Had he overseen this wormhole as it grew? That was too much of a coincidence to be pure chance.

“Your inner conflict is ironic, Avanian, since we are no different than you in the end. You, too, are a devourer of life. Yet you refuse to see this truth.”

“I am not a devourer of life or an enslaver of it, and I don’t believe your lies! The Amithyans were generous and kind. They would never deceive us. Their identity
is
Truth!”

“You delude yourself just as every other childish species does. You devour life, just as we do. We have witnessed this. We devour on a grander scale, but we are both violators of Free Will. Under our control, your race will learn this and other terrible truths of the galaxy.”

“No! We must eat to survive, and we do not enslave our crops. We cultivate them, and without them we would die.”

“How do you know that we have not cultivated your world, as well? Your world is ripe for harvest now, Avanian, and the harvest is inescapable.”

As Razakh finished saying this, Zahn noticed that the shaft he’d seen open up earlier was going to close before he would reach it, and no other openings were visible.

“Zahn,” Asha said, “my ship has sustained another direct hit.”

Zahn forced himself to push the Vakragha’s words out of his mind for the moment.

“Are you both okay?”

“Yes, but I have to fall back. We’ll do what we can from a greater distance.”

“Just be careful, Asha. I can’t lose her again.”

“I won’t let that happen, Zahn.”

Asha’s ship pulled up and headed back toward the eighth moon. On their way, they noticed that the flagship was no longer anywhere to be seen, so in the middle of her retreat she briefly moved the ship in front of one of the shafts before dashing away again. She knew it was risky, but she also knew that the information could prove crucial.

It did. Inside, she saw that the wormhole was now filling about half of the volume of the hollow sphere. From the readings, Asha was amazed to learn that the entire planet had been reduced to a mere shell, and she could see a superstructure on the inside surface of the sphere that was keeping it intact. All along the superstructure was a network of cones that had small points like needles protruding from them.

On the far end of the hollow sphere, she saw a glimpse of a massive black vessel that light itself seemed to fall into. She knew at once that it was the flagship Zahn had mentioned earlier, and it was heading to an opening on the other side of the planet.

Asha learned all of this once her ship was safely behind the moon. All of that information had been gathered in the split second she had dashed in front of the large opening.

“Zahn! The flagship is about to exit on the far side of the planet. Are you there?”

“Yes, but I don’t see it. I’m waiting for this shaft to open. I’m detecting a vessel right behind it, but it’s the only opening I’ve found on this side of the planet. I’m going to wait out of view of the shaft and keep my cloak intact as long as possible. Wait. It’s opening now.”

“We’ve got to go back to that opening,” Darshana said. “We’ve got to take the flagship by surprise. Zahn needs us.”

“When did you become a tactical officer?” Asha said.

“This will give Zahn a chance to launch the Tulari into the wormhole. Trust me.”

“And how are we supposed to hit the flagship? There’s a wormhole between us and it. Even if we could fire off a volley and escape before getting hit again—”

“Tell Yantrik to break off his attack,” Darshana interrupted. “He needs to get into position above that opening. Asha, remember the superstructure over the inner sphere that’s holding the planet together? He should be able to reflect his fire off of that inner sphere.”

“I’ll be there in under a minute,” Yantrik said over the comm.

“What?” Asha was stunned. “How did you hear us?”

“Darshana left the comm on, and I’m glad she did. That’s a pretty smart idea. In fact, I’m going to try it. I’m going to fire a volley at the superstructure at different angles. One of these shots has got to hit ‘em.”

“Be sure to take into account the wormhole’s gravity,” Darshana said.

“Already have.”

As Yantrik’s ship raced by the opening, he fired about a dozen shots into the massive hollow sphere. Just as Darshana had predicted, most of them bounced off of the inner surface of the sphere and a few headed toward the flagship which was halfway out of the planet now. Only a few would have a chance at impact.

But, to Yantrik's relief, one of the shots made contact.

“Great job, Yantrik!” Darshana said.

Back on the other side of the planet, Zahn was already in position, indirect of the shaft so that his cloak stayed intact. Navika detected a faint flash of an impact beyond the shaft, and Zahn knew that it was his opportunity to open fire.

In moments, he got into firing range and launched two white-hot bolts of plasma toward the flagship, impacting on what Zahn guessed was the command pod of the ship, though the shape was so dark that he couldn’t be sure.

The ship returned fire toward his general direction, so he dashed back into an area above the planet that he knew was safe. Yet, as more sections of the crust opened up, Zahn had to focus more on where he was flying than where he was aiming.

Dozens of small fighters poured out of the shafts now, raining green plasma down upon him. A moment later, a section of the crust slid open under him, and he knew that his position had been revealed. With all of his focus, he evaded the oncoming wave of fire, pushing the ship’s impulse drive to its limits until, to his relief, the shaft under him closed a few seconds later.

But it wasn’t enough.

One of the green bolts of plasma impacted onto the ship, causing an alarm Zahn had never heard to sound throughout the cabin. The sound gave him a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Somehow, that last bolt passed right through our shields.”

Now that Zahn had acclimated to the mindcap, they could have entire conversations in mere seconds now.

“The impulse drive has sustained a direct hit. I’m sorry. You must manually disable it.”

“What? Why?”

“The impulse drive is not responding to my attempts to restart it and is entering a cascade failure. Perhaps the combination of you pushing the impulse drive to its limits and the wormhole's exotic radiation signature created—”

“Stop theorizing! What do I have to do?”

“You must manually disable it within the next forty-two seconds, otherwise the impulse drive will implode from the inside, critically fracturing the hull and depressurizing the ship. I have created a lighted path along the wall to guide you.”

“What about evading the flagship?”

“Without the impulse drive, evasion is impossible. Go!”

Zahn got up and ran to the central node of the ship which was now filled with a thin white smoke. He coughed and felt lightheaded. Through the smoke, he could barely discern a series of glowing dots leading to one of the three rooms he hadn’t entered before. He stumbled over to it, and the door slid back.

Instantly, he was hit with a wave of hot air, and his eyes were nearly overwhelmed by what he saw inside. Strange cylinders and clusters of spheres connected by thousands of narrow tubes covered the floor and walls. On the far end of the triangular room, where it came to a point, was a large cone which contained a rapidly spinning pool of energy. Three cables were connected to the back of it which led down into the floor.

“Remove the green cables,” Navika said. “Twelve seconds.”

Zahn grabbed all three of the cables with both hands.

They wouldn’t budge. He pulled again.

“Eight seconds.”

He heard a hissing sound coming from the cone, and a white vapor filled the room.

He pulled has hard as he could. “5…” Then, he realized that there was a locking mechanism that he had to rotate slightly before they would detach. “3…” He unlocked them as fast as his hands could move.

“Come on! I have not come this far to fail now!”

“1.” He pulled all three with both hands and closed his eyes.

To his relief, they came loose, causing him to tumble backward. As he tumbled, he smacked his head on the hard crystal floor, and a wave of nausea came over him. The room spun around him, and his vision became blurry.

“Zahn, the flagship is nearly in range. Zahn, are you all right?”

For a moment, Zahn thought he saw the radiant figure.

Was this how it ended? Was this how he was going to die? Surely, he had drifted above another shaft and was completely exposed by now. Without an impulse drive, there was no way he could get into position and shoot the Tulari into the wormhole now. His plan had failed.

He
had failed.

Somehow, he thought he could smell the Ashraya beach within the cabin, but he knew this was impossible.

He blinked his eyes and was stunned by what he saw. Above him, he thought he saw the radiant figure shining through the smoke, reaching down to him.

A hand pulled him up to his feet.

His vision became clear, yet no one else was there. Had he imagined it? Zahn wasn’t sure what was real anymore.

A new strength came to him. He knew what he had to do, and as he walked back to the command bay, a vile voice filled his mind once more.

“Do you see the truth yet, Avanian? Have you accepted your parasitic nature? Acceptance is your only choice. Without your impulse drive, you are powerless in space. Your friends are surrounded on all sides. If you allow me to collect you and your weapon, I will let your mother live.”

Zahn ignored the voice and sat down in the command chair.

“There you are! I was beginning to get concerned. You have successfully prevented the cascade failure, and we continue to cruise at near maximum impulse speed. However, the Vakragha flagship is heading toward us, and we will arrive above another open shaft in less than a minute, completely exposing us once again.”

“Understood.”

Zahn contacted Yantrik and Asha.

“My impulse drive is out,” Zahn said. “And I can’t maneuver. I only have one option left. I want you to know that I love you all. Each of you has changed my life, and for that I am forever grateful. Now you must all clear away from the planet as quickly as possible. I’m going to destroy this base, one way or another. Mom, I love you. Tell Dad I love him, too. Can you do that?”

“Zahn! Just wait a minute. What’s your status?” Asha said.

Zahn didn’t respond. He was high above the planet now, still speeding away from the evasive maneuvers he’d done earlier. Far below him, a section of the crust opened up. In moments, another swarm of small fighters flew out of the planet and headed straight for him.