The two rolled along the ring, punching and grabbing each other in the process while the light of Sirius A in the distance shined down upon them. Pierce saw cracks form on his helmets visor, he was losing the fight along with air, heat, and the pressure he needed to stay alive in space. The computer in his EVA suit played an alarm notifying him of his impending doom as the fists of the overload drilled into his helmet relentlessly.
Their fighting brought them to the edge of the habitat ring. This is it, he thought, and braced himself for a move that might bring him to his end, rather than his opponent. Their bodies rolled off the edge as the artificial gravity pulled them downward. Pierce quickly reactivated his magnetic boots, it caused his feet to instantly cling back onto the sides of the ring. The overlord, however, was seemingly oblivious that his boots had been damaged, and continued to fall.
The overlord’s body more or less fell off the ship, despite having fallen out of range of the gravitational pull of the habitat ring. The speed the overlord’s body traveled at was equal to the speed of one falling off a cliff on Earth. The overlord’s body continued to spiral out of control, away from the Carl Sagan at said speeds, and would continue to do so, until someone, or something, stopped it. The undead grunts it was mind-controlling slumped over, now out of range of his psionic mind.
Pierce laughed as he looked down at the overlord now lost to space, its arms and legs flailed and danced about in a panic. “Give Sir Isaac Newton my regards.” Because he’s one deadly son of a bitch.
35 FOSTER
The Architect’s ship
SC-149 AKA Meroien far orbit, Sirius C system
May 22, 2050, 05:43 SST (Sol Standard Time)
Tolukei’s firm hand rapped Foster’s arm awaking her from her brief nap and reminding her of the situation she was in. She had been placed back in the cell she and Mavron shared as he slept on a hard bed adjacent to hers. Marduk and Tolukei stood next to each other as they waited for Foster to rise up from her rest.
She looked directly at Tolukei’s face as she came to, there were no signs of regret in it for the actions he did. She frowned and pushed his hand away. “Never thought your kind would betray us like that,” Foster said.
“If you knew how Radiance treated Muodiry, you would understand. Many of the Javnis Muodiry were either forced into exile or pushed into the arms of heretics since our existence was considered to be sacrilegious.” Foster replied with a snort. “You see, we had psionic powers before the Aryile arrived at our home world, it was believed that psionic gifts came from the three Radiance gods, who lent it to the Aryile, who began to spread it across the galaxy.”
“And you having it before them contradicts that,” Foster said. “Then again, this whole system does, doesn’t it? Radiance ain’t made it this far out, yet these folks not only got psionics but can do tricks Radiance and Hashmedai psionics can’t.”
Their bickering woke Mavron. He remained silent as Marduk held up Foster’s EAD once again. This time EVE’s hologram appeared above it flickering rapidly suggesting that he still did not finish fully copying her program.
“As I said, it will only be a matter of time before I copy and reprogram your ship’s AI to suit my needs,” Marduk said.
“EVE, terminate all functions authorization: Foster, gamma, romeo, one, niner, two, one,” Foster bellowed her security override code.
EVE’s glitchy hologram remained and looked at Foster. “I’m sorry, Captain, I can’t do that.”
“I must admit, your species is not as primitive as I thought,’ Marduk said. “This AI is one I’ve never seen in the thousands of years I’ve been a god.”
Foster gritted her teeth as Tolukei forced her to kneel in front of Marduk. “Have you considered your god’s offer?” Tolukei asked her.
“It’s been brought to my attention your cell mate gave you your first engram experience,” Marduk said. “You’ve seen the truth now. You know I’m not lying, I can, and will make you a goddess, just accept my terms. Help me continue my role as king of the gods and leave this pitiful cage I’ve been trapped in.”
“You ain’t gettin’ shit from me. So, let’s just skip to the part where you threaten to kill me.”
Marduk grimaced. “So be it. Tolukei.”
“Yes, my lord?”
“Prove your loyalty to me, kill her. Her body will serve as a reminder to her crew what will happen if they continue to defy me.” Marduk looked at Mavron. “Kill him too; I have no further use for this advocate of Tiamat.”
Tolukei gazed down at Foster, then back up to Marduk. “What about the Nereid and Pierce? Were we not supposed to use her to bargain for them?”
“Bargaining was nothing more than a courtesy to them. I have a partial copy of their AI and we know the Nereid and Pierce are somewhere on that ship. We will get what we want no matter what. She chose to forfeit her life and you will be the hand that will end it. Do try to preserve most of her body, we need her people to identify her.”
Tolukei’s psionic grip flung Mavron away from his bed. His body crashed into Foster’s and then began to hover above the floor, Foster’s paralyzed body joined him. She felt no fear, no regrets, and no worry about what will happen in the aftermath. She wasn’t going to allow herself to return to Earth as a tool for Marduk, while forcing everyone else she knew and cared for to suffer. Death was a better option.
“Any last words, you two?” Tolukei said.
“Haven’t thought of any, wanna give me a few minutes to do so?”
“Do not bother.” Tolukei smiled at her. “For this is not the end!”
Tolukei’s cybernetic-augmented body flowed with bright glowing light. Shades of blue and purple radiated away from his implants and then vanished as his fist hit the floor, sending a thundering three-hundred-sixty-degree telekinetic push that sent everyone in the room flying backward, including a confused Marduk.
Tolukei grabbed onto Mavron and Foster once again, only this time it was a protective grab as his body along with Mavron and hers dematerialized into a bolt of blue light, a jump port, which took them into the midsection of the ship. Their reappearance placed them inside of a darken corridor, directly in front of a patrol team of Marduk’s undead grunt soldiers and their overlord master.
Tolukei maimed and tore their bodies limb from limb, making it pointless for any overlord to continue to mind-control them. His augmented hands glowed orange as he rapidly created and flicked a small purple plasma orb into the chest of the overlord, vaporizing a hole in it. Tolukei picked up and offered Foster one of the laser cannons the grunts had used, a piece of the grunts arm was still attached to it. Otherwise it was still operational via a thin switch on the inside of it as she recalled from the brief glance of the insides she saw earlier.
After confirming that the weapon was usable, Foster aimed it to the back of Tolukei’s head and entered a steadfast stance. “Is it customary for humans to try and shoot the person that rescued them?” Tolukei said.
“You gots some 'splaining to do, mister.”
“As tempting as it was to ally myself with him and free the rest of the Muodiry, I wasn’t going to. I pledged my service to you and your crew, and I will continue to do so.”
“Right . . .”
“Marduk is no god; he is a madman with powers and technology he does not fully understand.” Tolukei continued to speak as he stepped further down into the corridor. “Now, if my plan is to be of any success we must flee this ship back to the Carl Sagan at once.”