Goddess of the Galacticide Episode 48 - Counterplay
- Bert-Oliver Boehmer
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
“Will this death be painless?” asked the young woman.
“I imagine we will feel nothing,” said Rige Khuksos, sitting on the cold floor of the blast chamber, next to the cargo specialist who discovered the bomb. And next to the bomb itself.
“But it will be worse than death: we will become irrelevant. No longer connected to the universe on a fundamental level.” Rige sounded convincing, even to herself. She did not understand at all how the destruction would manifest. Did the other young woman—the one who sent the bomb here—know what was going to happen? Maybe Linuka Omga just assumed that the weapon designed by the galaxy’s oldest and most advanced nemesis was going to be terrible enough to eradicate her enemies.
“Why are you still here?” asked the cargo specialist.
“I might be a politician, but I hate pointless gestures. And running from this is pointless.” Rige smiled. “I could ask you the same.”
“Oh, the bomb can’t harm me, I was irrelevant all along. ‘Cargo Specialist’. Fancy name for moving boxes, they said. Many of my peers signed up with the Fleet during the convoy recruitment campaign. Commercial space freight was not glorious, but I didn’t want to leave home.” She pointed at her display, reading out streams of data from the scanners she had inserted into the bomb container. “This here, how many humans have seen anything like it?”
“You can count them on one hand,” said Rige.
A screeching noise cut through her head. Was this the end?
Footsteps closed in. “Assembly Member.”
“High Inspector Byiv, you are back. Your blast door needs lubricant.”
“You had mentioned a Linuka Omga as responsible for the bomb, Assembly Member?”
Rige nodded. A peculiar question.
“A person by that name has just been detained in the passenger section of the spaceport. Preliminary identification shows she is accompanying the Regent of Aloo Dash.”
The numbness lasted uncomfortably long. Ironically, this was how Rige imagined the causality weapon’s effect. Nothing makes sense; an inability to grasp the meaning of events.
“Linuka Omga is here, on Omech Chaa?” Before the inspector could respond, she added, “And the Shaajis.”
Rige shook her head. Yes, Linuka Omga wants to bring her here to have the girl join the Assembly. But why send a causality bomb at the same time? Was she immune to the bomb’s effects?
“Good news, Cargo Specialist, we all live another rotation. High Inspector, call me a transport to a nearby pickup point. I need to see the two visitors at once. Keep both arrivals detained. No one talks to them, understood?”
Rige jumped to her feet. It was imperative for Linuka Omga to be greeted by a friend, not some datgi dadaa immigration officer, or worse—another Assembly Member.
***
The personal transport smelled like spaceship; the faint ozone and dry ethanol arriving passengers brought with them. Fortunately, the driver understood the concept of being in a rush and navigated the maze of the layers of Ngee Dakeedwem spaceport at hair-raising speed.
Rige stemmed her feet against the divider, the seat belts designed for burly body types unable to keep her small frame tied to the rear seat. She tried to focus on what she was missing. Linuka Omga sent a threat to press the Assembly into compliance with her demands: a seat for Vriishany. But then she does not allow any time to react. Rige hated being rushed.
Sweet Iihe Et, god of the solar sailors!
The immortals’ strongest ally was time. Deliberate moves, well-planned, long-term strategies, plans unfolding at a scale and pace mortal humans could not afford. Linuka Omga—being immortal herself—understood this. She did not want the Assembly to react to her threat; she wanted to show herself, with the causality bomb in hand, and make her demands. To be met now! Not after deliberation, opportunities to weigh all the options, voting procedures. Now!
Why would a multi-aware being create a rush? Fewer possible realities to consider? Pure spite, out of deep hatred for the Assembly? No, this was a deliberate move—with the goal to gain an advantage.
Rige was still missing something. The most powerful girl in the galaxy, the most powerful weapon in the galaxy, but still reaching for higher ground? Why?
“Terminal 3. Passenger services. We’re here,” said the driver.
“Already?” Rige reached for her transic clip.
“Didn’t see that shortcut coming? Few people know that tunnel, left over from the terminal restoration.”
Didn’t see it coming? Rige clicked her transic a few times.
“Lady, this is five times my fee.”
“You deserve it,” said Rige. “You were brilliant.”
Rige had missed the man’s shortcut, but he gave her the missing piece. She touched her temple implant.
“Gameng? Yes, I know what time it is. You need to do three things for me, right away.”
***
Unlike the driver, the immigration officers recognized her attire and insignia, showering Rige with half-sentence assurances about the well-being of the detainees and lukewarm excuses of the ‘we couldn’t know’ variety all the way to the detention interview room.
The door slid open and Rige huffed a “You stay here” under her breath.
She stepped into the room and heard the door close. Rige had entered the stage—alone—to secure the survival of a 900-orbits-old idea. Her performance would determine if the Assembly was allowed to persist. If she played her role well, she would win it all, but she had to fool the only multi-aware born human who ever existed.
Her eyebrows raised, accentuating her eyes widening, recognizing both Omgas: Linuka and Vriishany, casually seated as if awaiting nothing more than a connecting flight. The girl—innocent. The young woman—secure in her power.
Rige’s mental effort kept her pupils dilated when she softened her gaze. Now, the smile, lifting her mouth corners ever so carefully. Now the arms, while slightly leaning forward, widen the gesture, palms visible. Eye contact steady on Vriishany. Now, the words.
“Revered Shaajis, welcome to Omech Chaa!” Eyes to Linuka. “Lady Omga, what a pleasure to see you again. It is my distinct pleasure to greet both of you.”
Linuka Omga rose, but did not respond. Was she canvassing the multitude of realities she had access to? What were the other Riges doing? Such a powerful ability. One Linuka Omga feared she no longer wielded alone. When they first met, Linuka had congratulated Rige for using the insight of their multi-awareness program. The older Omga girl believed the Keyframe program had been successful, maybe supported by the accounts of the marines she had freed.
The rush. Linuka Omga wanted the Assembly off-balance. Because she feared her significant advantage was shrinking with every spin. Push her demands before the Assembly could predict her every move.
“We have prepared accommodations for the night,” said Rige, “so the Shaajis will be refreshed for her great day tomorrow.”
“A great day. Did you hear that?” asked Vriishany, hopping up and down while dragging on Linuka’s arm.
Linuka squinted at Rige. You are only as powerful as you believe you are, my girl, thought Rige. Your realities didn’t prepare you.
“The immortality rite. You will love it, Shaajis. It is a very old ritual, and you will be at the center of it.”
“Tomorrow?” asked Linuka Omga, slowly.
“Yes, we thought you would be impatient to get this completed. Or did you want extra time while we decide what to do with the artifact?”
If Linuka Omga was catching on to anything at all, then it was the disappointment of her well-laid plan being dismembered on the butcher block of predictability.
Come on, girl, ask me why we are not worried about the alien artifact you sent us? Your bomb?
Linuka inhaled sharply, and her gaze broke from Rige’s. The shimmer of unsuppressed rage no longer pierced through. Rige held her smiling grimace steady, masking the realization that the young Omga’s focus dulled because she was looking elsewhere, consulting a multiverse of next steps, counter-moves.
When her eyes cleared, she said: “No.”
The corners of Rige’s mouth dragged down. “Oh?” was all she had.
“No,” confirmed Linuka Omga, “we don’t want to wait. Since everything is prepared, we’d like to go through with the immortality rite tonight.”
It seemed a counter-move had emerged from the vastness of opportunity.
Rige’s grimace collapsed. Linuka’s eyebrows raised.
“Now!”
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