Malachi.
Zero-Four tensed his grip on the gauntlets.
ANOTHER JUDAS HAS APPEARED.
WHAT POWERS OF OBSERVATION YOU HAVE.
OUR FORCES HAVE BEEN NEUTRALIZED. SHALL WE SEND FOR A LARGER STRIKE TEAM((?))
AGAINST THAT JUDAS IT WOULD BE FUTILE.
WE CANNOT LET IT INTERFERE.
SOON IT WILL NOT MATTER. SOON THEIR HIVE PATTERN WILL BE CONSUMED IN OUR HOLY FIRE AND THE PURPOSE WILL BE OURS.
INDEED. OUR VICTORY—
…—-…
agony. innate agony.
WHAT WAS THAT((??))
FROM UPWHEN—OUR FORCES…
NO THAT CANNOT BE. VICTORY—
THEY DID NOT SUCCEED IF WE HEAR THEIR DEATH WAILS FROM THE STREAM.
WE DO NOT KNOW.
SILENCE((!)) THE STRIKE FORCE WAS SOMEHOW DISPATCHED. NOW WE MUST ACT BEFORE WE SUFFER THE FULL BRUNT OF THE JUDAS FORCE.
WHAT…WHAT DO YOU MEAN((?))
WE HAVE ENOUGH PATTERNS TO COMPLETE THE PURPOSE NOW. THOSE WHO HAVE NOT BEEN UPLOADED ARE UNWORTHY OF OMEGA. WE CAN ELUDE THE JUDAS VIRUS AND SET A PURPOSE POINT VECTOR IF WE ACT IMMEDIATELY.
WHAT COWARDICE((!)) YOU FEAR THE JUDAS((?)) WE MUST DESTROY THEM BEFORE—
a flash of brilliance. a dying scream.
I FEAR NOTHING. WE LEAVE AT ONCE.
it stares into its dead compatriot.
I FEAR NOTHING. THE PURPOSE COMES FIRST. THE PURPOSE WILL BE COMPLETED.
the black closes
{simon…where’s shiva…?}
The two Judas faced each other, engaged in an unconscious dance of dominance like two scorpions, circling, poised to strike.
((…))
{simon. where is shiva?}
((he’s burning in hell, as you will.))
{what?}
((you’ve betrayed us all, malachi. an enemy strike force traveled upwhen. you let them slip through your fingers. they killed shiva, and then they killed command.))
{no—how? Kilbourne—}
((kilbourne is dead! they destroyed command!))
{you lie. you are a traitor.}
The galaxy seemed to explode, bathed in harsh radiance.
((the star. they’ve collapsed the star. the purpose—))
A Judas fleet fell through the dying star. Fifteen Golgotha. One Gethsemane. One Mecca.
Sapphire’s fleet.
((who’s that?))
Mara had been resolutely flying at max speed down the Stream, trying to put more distance between herself and the crumbling universes behind her.
Several other Judas had succumbed already, simply too drained to go on. They had fallen behind and paid the price in the horribly small white explosions of their deaths.
Without warning, a When hole emerged directly in front of the fleet where none had existed before, and before they could react, they were all thrust into an unknown When.
Into the midst of an Enemy fleet.
Sapphire screamed.
IGNORE THEM((!))
REROUTE FORCES AROUND VIRAL FLEET. THE PURPOSE IS WHAT MATTERS NOW. DO NOT WASTE ENERGY ON DESTROYING THEM((!))
INTO THE STREAM, NOW((!))
The Enemy fleet, like a school of stingrays without substance, so beautiful and fluid in form, deftly avoided Sapphire’s armada and plunged past them into the open When hole.
The Judas were disoriented, wary of the situation.
And from nowhere, a Mujahadin appeared.
Sapphire jumped. “Open fire. Open fire!”
Simon saw the window of opportunity.
Malachi’s attention was focused on the incoming Judas.
Simon opened fire as he distanced himself from the Mujahadin. He had no idea what fleet that was, but it was predominantly Golgotha, and that was a good sign. They were moving to intercept.
Malachi reeled from the barrage. His weapons ports flared and he targeted Simon, but his shot went wide as a strategically placed arc of light lanced through his hub. The mechanical sentience that had been Malachi flared from existence. He was no more.
((burn in hell, malachi.))
Simon powered down with great relief. These Golgotha were allies, then. Maybe all hope was not lost.
The shell that had been the Judas Mujahadin Malachi spun from the force of its violent death. It was ensnared by the gravity well of the third planet and pulled down, intimately close. His body careened over countless barren miles, scorched earth left in the wake of the Enemy scourge. But this was yet a young planet, and if given the chance, it would live again. The Enemy harvest had eliminated the primitive reptilian lifeforms of the planet, but life would flourish once more. Malachi’s body crashed to earth in a volcanic valley, shattering the planet surface with its massive form, finally coming to rest in a vast pool of magma. His structure easily withstood the temperature as he was immersed in the molten rock. Down, down, down he sank, never to see the light of day again…
…At least until sixty-five million years later when the Diablo Mining Company, facing bankruptcy, drilled a new shaft deeper than ever before, searching for copper, finding only an impenetrable metal wall, and the military would quickly move in, sealing off the area, sending down investigative teams who would eventually enter this vessel in the earth and find within it an orb of stars…
Oh well. That’s another story.
Simon was filled with relief.
((identify yourself, golgotha fleet commander.))
She did.
“It’s just a little girl.”
Jennings, West and Patra were on the bridge, staring raptly at the holograph projected before them. Patra had arisen from her slumber unaffected, yet distant. Zero-Four descended from the battle chamber, stood transfixed at the image.
She couldn’t have been more than sixteen, a frail, gaunt figure just now becoming a woman. Yet her eyes betrayed her true age. Her haunting silver eyes were the ancient eyes of someone who has seen too much, lived too much, hurt too much for someone her age.
Her light brown hair fell into her eyes, and she swept it back in a reflex gesture. Patra noticed with some trepidation that the hair was not entirely brown… Some disturbingly silver strands highlighted it throughout. And her face shimmered not only with the perspiration of her exhaustion but also with the inhuman sheen of the countless infinitesimal strands of silver interwoven with her flesh. She shook with exhaustion and pressure.
“Judas Golgotha Mara Commander West, Sapphire.”
West spun around to find Patra gazing quietly at him. He looked back at Zero-Four questioningly, but Zero-Four motioned for silence. West turned back to the image.
Jennings was mesmerized. “Can she really be the commander of one of these,” he motioned to the vessel around him, “and be so young? She looks so…so tired.”
Zero-Four tilted his head in an almost tender gesture. “Sapphire West. Made commander at age fourteen. Led the Altwhen Containment Forces. A hero.” There was an air of sad reverence about Zero-Four as he looked at the wasted figure before him on the screen. He whispered, almost to himself, “Children fighting wars of time. Children.”
Patra’s head looked up to meet the gaze of the young woman projected ghost-like before her.
Silver eyes…
The warrior child.
My god. The warrior child.
She buried the thought deep, deep in her mind.
On the screen, the girl turned from Patra and spoke again. “And you are Judas Golgotha…” She hesitated.
((simon. judas golgotha simon.))
“Simon? I thought you were a Gethsemane. Reynald told me—”
((reynald? is he with you? is he safe?))
Her eyes were cast downward, and Zero-Four noted how tears stood on the verge of running down her cheeks. “He’s dead.”
((oh. i…he…he was—))
“—Maggie’s captain. He was a good man, and he gave his life for the Judas. He—…” Her voice trailed off, and Zero-Four knew from her concentration that she was communicating with her Judas, Mara.