The Chalice (3 page)

The room  filled as more and more breeders entered, jostling each other intheir eagerness to rejoin the living. Brothers all. The only remaining descendentsof the last great bastion of the once-powerful Chiagan-Se.

He caught sight of a new face and breathed a sigh of relief. Mordaq, hisbodyguard, pushed through the crowd, elbowing the m illing bystanders out of theway. W hen he reached Tegan, he knelt, head bowed.

“You are well?” he m urmured.

“Get up, old friend.” Tegan rested a hand on the shoulder of his long-time companion. “The time for honoring me died with our people. From  now on, we’re the same, you and I.”

Mordaq’s eyes lifted, flashing with golden sparks of fire. “I’ve protected you all

my life. It is my honor and privilege. Do not deny me m y place.”

“Your place is beside me, not in front or behind. We’re entering a new age and

who knows what lies in our future. I would rather we go forward as equals, not as

master and servant.”

The bodyguard frowned, perplexed. “Your father would not be so lenient.”

Tegan’s heart constricted. No, his father would not have been, but the old ruler

was among those who’d perished. His mother soon followed, traveling the path of light to the stars. ‘Twas the same for all but these brave few—those selected as breeders. He grimaced. The loss of so many others was too painful to bear.

“My father is not here to argue the matter. The decision is mine to make.”

Warmth replaced the angry sparks in Mordaq’s gaze. “Don’t be so hasty to

make such a decision. I m ight just take you up on it.”

“I hope you do.” He stepped to a raised dais, preparing to address the

assem bly.

A hush fell over the crowd. Every eye centered on him, waiting for him  to

speak.

“W hat say you, Lord?” A voice called.

More voices joined in, eager to be heard.

“W hen do the Chalices arrive?”

“Have we word?”

“How long?”

“W hat does my Chalice look like?”

Tegan raised his hands, signaling for silence. The throng stilled, waiting

expectantly for him  to speak.

“I’ve not received word from  the seekers, but the ships m ust be near or we’d still be in stasis. The tim e for our awakening was set to occur when the seekers were within our star system . Only then would we be roused from  our slum ber. I waited to greet you before accessing the com munications center. My hope is that the answers we need will await us there.”

“We need to know if the Chalices survived,” a voice called. “And how soon ‘til

we depart for the new world?”

“W ill they like us?” another man asked.

“I wonder the same,” Shagal admitted low. “We know nothing about the females, or if the seekers even found a com patible species. We could be in for a distressing surprise.”

Voices clam ored to be heard, strident in their dem and to be acknowledged.

Mordaq’s fist banged on the step of the podium . His head swiveled, gazeshooting daggers. “Quiet,” he bellowed, stalking towards the watchers. “Showrespect for your Lord.”

Tegan waved him  back, sympathizing with the crowd’s confusion. “They have a

right to be heard.”

He m otioned for silence, pausing until the clam or subsided. “Patience, myfriends. I would know as well if the ships returned safely.” He scanned thesurvivors, taking note of the gross disparity between the two representativecastes. “How many were lost?”

Vaux, a tech specialist, stepped to the front. He looked sad, overwrought.

“Twenty seven pods failed. Of those, only five were Warrior class.”

Shagal and several others cried out. The younger man dropped to his knees,burying his face in his hands. “The artisans and scholars were few in num ber tobegin with. To have lost twenty two is unbearable.” He raised pain-glazed eyes. “W hy so many?”

“The power grids to that sector shut down. We’re still running tests to find out what went wrong.” Vaux’s voice softened, consoling. “If it’s any comfort, they died a gentle death.”

“Do you have names?” Stricken, Shagal wiped m oisture from  his eyes. His gaze

slid away. “Was my cousin amongst them?”

Vaux nodded. “I weep with you,” he m urmured low. “Your loss is shared by

everyone here.”

Shagal moaned, pounding his fist on the floor. “Borok was a kind and beautifulsoul. He deserved so m uch more than to die thus.” Despairing, eyes closed, hewailed to the heavens. “I should have been the one. It’s not right that he died.”

“Your loss would have been as grave,” Tegan remonstrated, attem pting to soothe the younger man’s anguish. “Don’t castigate yourself for being among the living.” He gripped Shagal’s shoulder. “Be strong. Keep Borok close to your heart. Let his goodliness live within you.”

Shagal sniffed, inhaling before he replied. “W ill our suffering never end?”

“Someday, m y young friend—someday.”

Tegan bent his head, offering a prayer to the Gods for the lives of those friends

departed. As one, the gathering bowed.

He voiced a final blessing, taking a deep breath. “I won’t delay your wait anylonger. Perhaps the answers we seek are in the comm unications center.” He

sm iled, conveying a confidence he didn’t feel. “Be strong.”

As he left the cham ber, he could feel the eyes of the entire assemblage focusedon his back, the weight of their expectations settling on his mind with aresounding thud. W hat would he tell them  if the news was unpleasant? Thevariables were and had always been against them , but they had no other choicebut to follow the path they’d taken. No! That wasn’t true! His heart cried out forrevenge— revenge against the destroyers. Fury surfaced in a boiling rage. Hegnashed his teeth, aching in every cell, reliving the final battle and his people’sultim ate defeat. Millions perished beneath the heavy fist of the Deg’Nara, thesoulless ravagers of their world. Nothing outlived their destruction. Food grewscarce, starvation ran ram pant. Intergalactic transport ships were destroyed anddeep space com m unication lost. Escape became im possible. Afterwards, of those

still standing, every woman, child, the old and the feeble were butchered and the survivors were forced to watch the horrendous slaughter. The few remaining Chaigan-Se m ales were allowed to live but without hope, and only slow death as their end result.

The Deg’Nara, those m iserable bastards, departed for their own system,laughing as they delivered the final blow—a planet-wide blast of energy,destroying the already unstable environment. Left with nothing, the Chaigan-Sefled to underground com m and bunkers, awaiting the return of the deep spaceoutriders, vengeance burning their souls as they vowed retribution.

Two outriders and one lucky freighter made it back and only the wisdom  of thebrave crewm en saved them  from  further annihilation. Too depleted to launch acounterattack, they em barked on their present path. Using what few rem ainingresources they had, the Chaigan-Se outfitted the transports and sent them  intothe void, seeking compatible females willing to relocate as future m ates. Twohundred revolutions ago. Of those left behind, straws were drawn amongst thefertile breeders. Most would live but the less fortunate faced certain death. Thestage was set. Now they awaited word.

Chapter Two

Traumatized, Kara lifted her head a bare inch, peeking through strands oftangled and gooey hair. She was in some sort of low-domed structure. No doors,just a big round room . The walls and ceiling were a pale m ottled green, slick andshiny, like polished granite or marble, lined with hundreds of pods just like theone she’d been in. They didn’t look like anything she’d ever seen before.

To her right, a tiny redhead, short hair pasted to her scalp, sobbeduncontrollably. To her left, a young woman, dreadlocks covering her brown face,cursed a continuous string of colorful epithets. Unwilling to draw attention toherself, she rem ained motionless, listening to the cries of the others.

Nothing but female voices. She digested the fact, storing it for later. With herlim ited field of vision, all she could see were naked fem ale forms, and those shecould see ranged from  the palest cream  to deep brown. Like herself, all werecovered in a film  of slimy goo.

The dreadlocked girl caught her eye. “W hat’s this shit?” she growled, lips

twisted in a snarl.

“I don’t know,” she whispered, cold tremors racing up her spine. “But I’d like

an explanation.”

The sobbing grew more intense. The red-haired girl was working herself into

some major hysteria.

“Shhhhhh,” Kara hissed. “Shut up.”

More sobbing—growing louder.

“Shut the fuck up,” Dreadlocks growled. “Or I’ll…”

The girl’s head whipped. She peered at them  through swollen, red-rim m edeyes. “Or what?” She grimaced, full lips trem bling in her elfin face. “Hit me? Yersilly threat dinnae scare me right now.”

Irish? The accent was so thick, it was hardly understandable.

Kara leveled a glare at Dreadlocks. “She won’t hit you. Just try to be quiet so I

can think.”

“W hat’s there to think about? We’ve been kidnapped and I ain’t sitting still for this shit.” Dreadlocks rose her feet, angry sparks flashing from  her chocolate brown eyes. “Hey, assholes, com e out and face us,” she yelled, shaking her fist at the ceiling. “And where’s my clothes?”

More irate females stood up, em boldened by her audacity, scream ing in unison.

Reluctantly, Kara forced herself to stand, adding her voice to the m ilieu. Waryat first, and then in a group crush, the wom en joined in, stomping their bare feetand howling. The room  soon resounded with the force of their fury.

Kara screeched as loud as she could, drawing courage from  those around her. Feet thrum m ed against the floor, voices shouted with earsplitting zeal. The noisewas electrifying!

A warm  spray of liquid hit her full in the face. She gasped, shocked. Maybe thecreeps were poisoning them ! She squealed, dropped down and covered her headwith her arm s. Women all around her did the sam e, all except for Dreadlocks. Thepressure increased, a deluge of water-like substance washed over her. Felt likewater! She took a tentative lick. Tasted like water! But even som e poisons had notaste. Knew that from  chemistry.

“Dinnae kill me!” Irish shrieked. Crouching down, she rocked back and forth on

the balls of her feet, wailing in terror.

“You a dum bass or something?” Dreadlocks snapped, arm s akim bo. “Wouldn’t have gone to so m uch trouble if that’s what they’re planning.” She flipped her head back, rubbing at the goo covering her skin. “We’re getting a shower,” she announced, seem ing pleased. “Cleaning this shit off.”

“You think?” The gunk was disappearing. Kara followed Dreadlocks’ lead and wiped at her skin and hair, scrubbing at the crap. Didn’t take long to dissolve— whatever it was.

The downpour continued for several m inutes and then slowed. Small covereddrains opened in the floor, drawing off most of the liquid. Hot blasts of airfollowed, drying up any remaining m oisture. Felt good to get the m uck off.

Silent, the women waited for something to happen— anything. Minutes tickedby. Kara shifted from  foot to foot, restless, breathing in small pants. W ish I knewwhat the frick was going on.

A voice began scream ing. “Oh my God! There’s a dead girl in here.”

Another voice from  the other side. “Another one over here!”

She stum bled towards the screamer. Above her, a mum m ified body floated inits glass-encased cage. Ancient and rotting, it was hideous and terrifying. Tearswashed her face, dripping down her chin. Trem ors rocked her body. Whatever thiswas, some had not survived.

A cranking sound, like a rusty old motor, broke the silence. A portion of wallslid open and dank, m usty air wafted in from  the dark interior. As she stared, thewalls lightened, illum inating a long passageway.

“Human females, please exit the cham ber,” a cold m etallic voice instructed.

“Any dalliance and you will be punished.”

Kara groaned, her knees started shaking, bowels loosened. Some of the

women started forward,

“Eat shit,” Dreadlocks yelled. “We ain’t going nowhere ‘til we get some answers

—and some clothes!”

“We fight you,” an Oriental girl yelled, hands chopping. The stylized martial

arts display continued for several seconds. She stopped, posing, arms flexed.

Maybe she’s a Ninja, Kara thought, hopeful. Delicate chain tattoos circled thegirl’s m uscular upper arms. A peach blossom  decorated one slender ankle andnear a dark slanted eye, a tattooed teardrop drew attention to her highcheekbones. Grim  and determ ined, she glared at the exit.

“Ja! Ve fight you,” a blonde Nordic type called. Statuesque, she towered over the mishmash of smaller females, large globular boobs swaying as she shouted. “Ve vill fight!”

“Human females,” the voice droned on, “please exit the cham ber. Any dalliance