Goddess of the Galacticide Episode 6 - Words Like Weapons

Episode 6

The workshop door slid open and a metal ball was hurled into the room. Linuka Omga’s feet were swept from under her. Her silicate protector, Raar, had pulled her body away from the device, putting his massive hulk between her and the explosion. An explosion that never came.

The little sphere stuck to the metal floor with a ‘clunk’, then emitted a whirring sound.

“Intel grenade!” said Commander Cha Dzeeny.

Linuka knew nothing of this device; however, she was certain the marines about to storm through the open door braced for trouble. She looked around. Nobody was armed or had assumed any defensive posture. She held her breath and waited for the realities to split.

“We surrender!” said Lotnuuk Rrupteemaa.

Coward, thought Linuka. But then, what was her glorious plan? Resist? She had ordered her mutineers to stand down herself. Lotnuuk Rrupteemaa simply continued being reasonable. Linuka hated the pale politician, no matter if he was right or wrong.

She exhaled and felt her defiance deflating along with her lungs.

“Don’t shoot!” was all she had to add.

Not long ago, Linuka would have given her life willingly. But she didn’t want to die there, in some on-board workshop, end her path with a meaningless death. The ‘intel grenade’ seemed to confirm their promise of surrender. Six marines in combat armor entered the room, their automatics at the high ready.

“Let go, Raar,” thought Linuka, “they’re not the enemy.”

The Traaz’ emotions showed no agreement, but he released her from his tight protective grip. As soon as the armed marines had formed a semi-circle facing the illustrious group of reality travelers and mutineers, a familiar uniformed man stepped into the workshop.

“You’re under arrest for mutiny, aiding or abetting mutiny, false official statements, and I’m pretty sure the Assembly will throw in some treason and conspiracy charges as well,” said Kpuush Vrre, captain of the battle cruiser.

His face was even, but Linuka saw fury in his eyes and his right hand resting on his holstered sidearm. His eyes scanned the group until his stare stopped at Commander Cha Dzeeny. The captain approached the ringleader, their faces nearly touching.

“You.” The captain’s face lost the stern discipline and twitched with loathing. “What have you done with my ship?”

Cha Dzeeny opened his mouth, but the captain was faster. “Don’t you dare answer! I don’t want to hear excuses, reasons. Nothing could justify this!”

His head turned to one of the armed marines. “Take him out of my sight!”

The captain, seemingly done with Dzeeny, watched his former marine leader being shackled and pulled out of the room. Me-Ruu, Raar and Rrupteemaa were next. He did not approach them with quite the same vigor. Unable to look down on the tall immortal, the massive Traaz or the hovering Isonomih core, he held his distance. Orbits of conditioning to revere the Assembly Members, to fear the rock monsters and intelligent machines, could not be overcome, not even by the rawest anger.

“You’ll have a lot to answer for, Assembly Members!” The captain’s gaze scanned the room. “Where is the fourth? Assembly Member Chaada?”

“My dear captain,” said Lotnuuk Rrupteemaa. “I imagine you have many questions, and we have many answers, none of which are simple, I am afraid. For now, I would advise you to do what you must, and follow due process by temporarily detaining us.”

“DETAINING you? You took control of my ship, you’ll be…”

“Let us refrain from accusations we might, shall we say, ‘regret’ in a few spins from now.” Ice in the Assembly Members’ voice cooled the captain’s zeal. He had raised his hand, pointing at Rrupteemaa, but fell silent. He might command one of the Levy Fleet’s most powerful vessels, but Lotnuuk Rrupteemaa wielded the collective power of the galactic government by the tone of his voice and tiny gestures.

“One of your questions, however, I would like to have the answer to myself.” Rrupteemaa turned to Linuka. “Where is the fourth Assembly Member, indeed?”

There it was, thought Linuka. Child, where is your father?

“Assembly Member Kel Chaada has chosen death in order to fulfill our mission,” said Me-Ruu.

Raar’s graphite-like skin smoothened, the spikes vanished. Did he come to terms with the sad truth?

“The Kubuu Ksiw killed him?” asked Rrupteemaa.

The Kubuu Ksiw, thought Linuka. A sophisticated term for ‘the Dark Ones’. “That’s not what he said! He has chosen death. Chosen! Held together the illusion trap until the last moment, to die alongside the enemy, you puygo!”

Lotnuuk Rrupteemaa’s eyes narrowed. Just like Linuka would weigh the different realities she could see, he browsed through his options in his mind. She was multi-aware, but he had hundreds of orbits of experience with this kind of maneuvering. He swiftly transitioned from meek surrender to asserting dominance over the captain. He swiftly went from promises of ‘lenient treatment for everyone’ to watching Cha Dzeeny being dragged out of the room without hesitation. ‘Don’t trust Rrupteemaa!’ had been her father’s last words in this reality.

She inhaled. His eyebrow raised. The realities split. He would question her about her father’s death, try poking holes into her story, seeding doubt. How could the great Kel Chaada succumb to the enemy, but his stupid daughter walk away unharmed? Did she leave him behind, like a coward? Ran away in panic, like a child? He would twist her words until he was close to the truth, but all everyone heard was lies. Linuka’s lies. She had killed her father. Raar felt her thoughts. He would not trust Rrupteemaa, but keep the doubt alive for the sake of not wanting his friend dead. He would believe anything at this point, if it opened a possibility for her father being alive. No matter how remote. No matter if Rrupteemaa had said it.

In some realities, the Traaz would remain passive. Not intervene. One danger resolved, one point for Rrupteemaa. Me-Ruu was unarmed, and Isonomih cores without their battle harness posed not much of a threat to armed marines. Two points for Rrupteemaa. Her mutineers were unarmed and helpless in all the realities. In the chaotic ones, they resisted, but only to die in the uneven fight.

He opened his mouth, his thin, cracked lips forming a word. Linuka closed her eyes. The realities split at a frantic pace, and the visuals were overwhelming. Her consciousness looked to the edge of the cone of existence, the wild lands, where the fringe events twisted reality. Rrupteemaa was immortal, but his body remained sensitive to primitive physicalities like choking on saliva for no better reason than a misguided swallow. Despite swallowing a hundred million times during his long life, the elderly man had only choked a few times, coming close to death perhaps once. This chain of events was fringe, built on improbabilities, hiding in a fog of likely scenarios.

Rrupteemaa swallowed before he said his carefully chosen words. Linuka opened her eyes, having found the reality she had been looking for, ready to strike.

“I apologize, Lady Omga, for being so insensitive. This whole getting arrested business must have struck a nerve. I am distraught to hear that Kel Chaada, the champion of the galaxy, has died, even if it was a hero’s death.”

Linuka could not believe her ears. Another fringe reality. One where Rrupteemaa praises her father. Improbable. Unexpected.

“My dear captain, maybe you can find it in your heart to escort the young Lady Omga to a comfortable place for her temporary detainment, until this whole matter can be cleared up. Maybe your personal quarters would be a good idea.”

Linuka should feel relief. But did Rrupteemaa sense her planned assault on his mind, on his perception of reality? The wily old immortal had feared only two humans in history: her father, and her mother. Perhaps he chose not to unleash this genetic legacy of challenging the Assembly. Maybe he also didn’t want to die a meaningless death in some ship’s workshop. The realities had collapsed into one.

One where a Captain Kpuush Vrre grudgingly escorted Linuka to his quarters.

Rrupteemaa had praised her father as a galactic hero, but he had called Linuka ‘Lady Omga’. Her mother’s name was feared, but not liked, among Levy Fleet crews. He had made certain they’d respect her enough to treat her well, but not like her enough to support an escape. She sighed. Despite the Võmémééř’s horror, they had a clear agenda, and could be killed using nano mines. Men like Rrupteemaa could turn a smelly workshop into a minefield using only words and a faked smile.

Linuka had powers, but no idea how to wield power. She needed to learn. She had lived her whole life in the same house with the galaxy’s foremost tactician, but not once asked her father about the art he had mastered. Now he was gone. She did not hide her tears from the captain.

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