The Black Stars (3 page)

GAS waited a dramatic beat, then nodded. “Very good.” A storm was picking up outside, the barren reddish landscape blurry with fine dust. “One of our spies has discovered a piece of intelligence which indicates the Tremist are working on some kind of secret project. The nature of this project is unclear, but I believe it may revolve around some kind of weapons program. Normally there would be no way for us to verify this, but the intelligence sector is certain this project is taking place
inside
the Rhadgast school on Skars. We need to be aware if they plan to violate the treaty.”

“The Tremist have been nothing but cooperative so far,” Mason said. And then, as an afterthought, he added, “Sir.” Tom kicked his leg.

It was true. The Tremist and humans were getting along famously, when you considered the circumstances. Earth had been stolen by the Tremist and transported to their solar system, to orbit the Tremist sun they simply called Renshas, which translated to “sun” in the Tremist language. Earth had adjusted, for the most part, since the calculations had been perfect. Tidal and seismic activity had not returned to normal, but that was because both planets were now affected by each other's gravity. The presence of Skars had overcompensated for the lack of the moon. But if the rumors were true, Skars hadn't completely adjusted to Earth, either.

Standing on the surface of either Earth or Skars, the other planet appeared like a tiny glowing marble in the night sky, smaller in appearance than Earth's moon, which was still back in the Sol system. In between both planets, Tremist and humans were working together to assemble a new planet-sized cross gate, which would allow Earth to return to its rightful solar system. Unfortunately, they were still
years
away from completing the gate.

Tremist were not allowed on Earth, and humans were not allowed on Skars, but the races mingled and conversed and traded and learned about each other on humanity's largest space station, the Olympus, and on the Tremist's largest space station, the Will. Both stations were parked midway between the planets, near the shipyard that was currently building the new gate. It was the unofficial line in space, and, so far, both sides were respecting it. There was even talk of visits to each other's planets in the coming weeks.

But still there was tension. Both sides had been at war for too long. It didn't matter that they had a joint ancestry and had originated from the same planet. Too many lives had been lost, on both sides.

GAS looked like he was about to have a stroke. “And how would you know they're cooperating, Stark? What information are you basing that on?”

“Nothing specific, sir, just a general observation. Forgive me. But may I ask what intelligence you have? How reliable is this?” He was careful to keep his tone neutral.

“Reliable,” GAS said. “But I can't tell you where it came from. Don't ask again.” He put his palms on the desk, clearly out of patience now. Mason wondered how he'd ever made it to the top of the ESC with that attitude. “Stark, you have an open invitation to the Rhadgast school. You are ordered to go there and enter the school as a student. Once there, you will report on everything you see with
this.
” He held up a small disk-shaped piece of black plastic. “This communicator is quantum-synced to the one I carry on my person at all times. It is completely untraceable. While there, you will investigate anything odd you come across. If you discover proof of a project or weapon that violates the treaty, you will report it at once.”

Mason couldn't believe his luck.
Come and find us, if you want to learn the truth about your parents,
the Rhadgast had told him, pressing the purple gloves into Mason's hand.
I've found you,
Mason thought now.

He didn't ask what would happen if they were caught, or if the treaty crumbled while he was on Skars. He didn't care. Or rather, he was too excited by the possibilities to really consider the risks. He was going no matter what, so the risks didn't matter.

“Uh, sir?” Tom said.

GAS turned his dark gaze upon Tom.

“Why am I here?”

“Because you're going with him,” Grand Admiral Shahbazian replied.

 

Chapter Four

 

Tom began to splutter something incoherent, but Shahbazian cut him off. “I've been in contact with the Tremist King himself. I expressed my concern about Mason going alone into a strange new world, and he conferred with the Rhadgast. A committee decided Mason is allowed to bring along one of the crew who helped save the Will. And I have picked you, Tom.”

Tom was suddenly a shade paler. “Why me? Why not Jeremy Cane? He's a better fighter.”

Mason glanced at his friend. Tom wasn't the type to back down from a challenge, but not much time had passed since the death of Tom's mother, Captain Renner, at the hands of the Tremist. Tom would maintain peace with the Tremist, as was his duty, but to work side by side with them?

Shahbazian didn't look thrilled that Tom had forgotten to use
sir.
“Because I don't need a fighter, Cadet Renner. I need someone with guile and brains, someone who will stay cool behind enemy lines.”

Mason couldn't tell if that was an insult to their friend Jeremy, who was one of the smartest and bravest cadets he knew. It better not have been.

“What about our studies?” Tom loved school almost as much as Stellan, and he planned to get perfect scores for the next six years. It would guarantee he graduated as an officer. Tom looked at Mason in a near panic. “What if we're there for months? Or years! We won't be able to graduate.”

Shahbazian actually grinned, or almost did: the corners of his mouth twitched in unison. “Son,” he said, in a different, gentler voice. “I am in charge of the whole show here, and I don't intend to let this harm your future with the ESC. This is an incredible risk. You will be the first boots-on-the-ground soldiers since this whole thing started. I don't want to send cadets to Skars. Of course I don't. But this is our only option. And as the best the ESC has to offer, we're going to take the risk.”

“They killed my mother, sir,” Tom said. Mason suspected this was the real sticking point, not some silly classes.

Shahbazian was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded. “I know, Thomas. But the two of you are going to do your duty, all personal feelings aside. Isn't that right?”

“Yes, sir,” Mason and Tom replied together.

“Great,” Shahbazian said, leaning back in Headmaster Oleg's chair. “I'm glad I have your approv—” The chair was ancient and creaky and almost slid out from under him. He slammed his hands down on the desk to steady himself, glaring at the boys, as if they were the cause. Mason snorted but somehow kept his face placid.

“Your ship leaves in thirty minutes,” Shahbazian said quickly. “Dismissed. I expect your first report this evening.”

Mason and Tom stood up together and walked for the door.

“Boys,” Shahbazian said.

They turned. Shahbazian tossed them each one of the black quantum communicators. Mason caught his, then immediately slid the disk into the secret compartment in the heel of his boot. Tom did the same.

“Good luck,” Shahbazian said. “And be careful.…”

*   *   *

“Tell me you're not a little excited,” Mason said, once they were in the hallway. “Not even a
tiny
bit excited. I dare you.”

“Oh I'm excited, all right,” Tom said. “It's been a dream my entire life to visit the Tremist homeworld with no backup and be expected to go to
Rhadgast school.
Mason, have you forgotten that one time lots and
lots
of Rhadgast tried to kill us? Wait, it was much more than one time.”

Mason hadn't forgotten. He dreamed of their blank, featureless faces, which pulsed with violet light. The Rhadgast were once thought to be wizards of some kind. To this day, they were legendary among the ESC. Mason would never forget the first time he saw one inside the gravity-free bay aboard the Egypt. The Rhadgast had flown through the air like a shark swims through water, firing off electrical blasts from his gloves, his black robe lashing around him as if the fabric were alive.

The memory sent a chill down Mason's spine, and for a moment Mason wondered if anyone would notify his sister, Lieutenant Commander Susan Stark, of his mission. He shook it off as their escort arrived.

The guard of six walked them to the shuttle bay, where they would take a shuttle to one of the bigger ships in orbit. They were not permitted to visit their lockers or to speak to any students they passed in the hallway. Their absence would be noted, of course, but that wasn't Mason's problem. Oleg could always say the two boys had been expelled, or suspended temporarily, for as long as the mission required. Mason had the disciplinary actions to back it up. Or maybe they'd go a different route entirely and publicize the mission as another step toward lasting peace. Either way, it wasn't Mason's concern.

Five minutes later, they were strapped into a shuttle. Fifteen minutes later, they were in high orbit above Mars, docking at a country-class vessel (identical to the one Mason was briefly captain of) named the Bolivia. Thirty minutes later they were in the new Earthspace, a quarter of the way across the galaxy. An hour after leaving Headmaster Oleg's office, they were aboard one of the Bolivia's shuttles, heading for the Will. Like Olympus, the Will was a ring-shaped tube. But unlike the Olympus, it had many rings inside one another. At the very center, inside the smallest ring, was a pod containing an artificial forest that Mason assumed was like the surface of Skars.
I guess I'll find out soon enough
, he thought.

The crew of Mason's shuttle was two members of the ESC intelligence sector. But they weren't normal intelligence analysts or number crunchers. These were true spies, known as Reynolds, named for the famous captain Joshua Reynolds. Like the Tremist, Reynolds always wore masks to conceal their identities. Their masks were featureless except for the two circular lenses over their eyes, which glowed softly with pinkish light.

They didn't speak to either cadet for the entire trip from the Bolivia to the Will. The shuttle coasted toward the Will slowly, giving the Tremist time to scan the ship and make sure it wasn't packed with explosives. The Will was still undergoing repairs from its encounter with the Fangborn ship, though the job was nearly finished. Only a few sections were open to space, the levels exposed, tiny worker pods crawling all over them like ants repairing a hive.

Finally, the shuttle connected to the Will with a bang and a hiss as the air pressure on both sides equalized. The door at the rear of the shuttle slid open, revealing a group of four Rhadgast.

Mason's heart rate skyrocketed. Tom threw him a panicked look. The two Reynolds were tense in their seats, looking back over their shoulders. The Rhadgast remained motionless, waiting. Two of them wore purplish gloves and masks along with their black robes, but the other two had gloves and masks that were a dark red, the color of old blood. It reminded Mason of the Tremist King's powerful armor. Mason had never seen a Rhadgast in red before—he'd never even known they existed.

You're going to be seeing a lot of these guys,
Mason told himself. He hadn't laid eyes on a Rhadgast since the one aboard the Will had given him the gloves. His reaction now was involuntary, that was all. The two masks pulsing violet brought Mason back to the Egypt, and the gravity-free bay, where he had risked his life to save his fellow cadets.

What have you gotten yourself into, Stark?

“Go,” the Reynold pilot rasped through his helmet speakers. The circular lenses over his eyes flickered briefly with white light.

Mason and Tom unbuckled their harnesses with thick fingers, keeping an eye on the Rhadgast the entire time. They crossed onto the Will, and the shuttle door slammed shut behind them. Yeah, the humans and the Tremist had a long way to go.

The nearest Rhadgast—one of the red ones—finally spoke. “Greetings, young rhadjen.”

“Greetings,” Mason said. Tom just stared with wide eyes. Mason wanted to remind him that they had faced several Rhadgast along the way and won every time. So Rhadgast school should be a piece of cake. Yet Mason knew it wouldn't be.

The red Rhadgast used both hands to remove his mask. The seal broke with a sigh, and then his face was revealed. The face was human, although pale and nearly translucent. Mason could see the purple veins in his neck, which branched up and across his cheeks. His hair was long and deep red, and a smile came to his face easily.

The red Rhadgast stuck out his hand. “How is it the humans do it? A handshake, it is called?” Mason went to shake his hand, but the red Rhadgast pulled it back. “But wait. If you're going to come with us, it's best to learn how we greet each other.” He made a fist and held it out. Mason lightly tapped it with his.

“We do that sometimes, too,” Mason said, and he would've smiled if it hadn't been for the other three Rhadgast looming over them.

The red Rhadgast's eyebrows shot up. “Perhaps we have more than just appearances in common! How about that. My name is Reckful. I am of the Blood. Before we take you to see the king, we must remove your gloves.”

The closest purple Rhadgast snorted in disdain and muttered something in the Tremist language. Reckful frowned at him but said nothing.

Mason's gloves were currently retracted. “How did you know I was wearing them?”

The red Rhadgast only smiled.

Tom blurted out, “Excuse me, the king is here?”

Mason and Tom had met with the king before, and it wasn't always a pleasant experience. In fact, it had never been pleasant. But Mason wanted to give peace a chance.

“Reck,” said one of the purple Rhadgast.

“Yes, yes, we're late. The gloves, please.”