Among Bright Stars... (14 page)

Shura and the cheetah obediently sat,
listened while Ungal recounted the fall of Tashdan.

“Once the war ended, and the last Kri-Skar
vanished, my wife Nin-Dagan came to claim Tashdan as well as the
technology, and power we lusted for.” Ungal became sorrowful, for a
moment in his sad state the Annunaki’s radiance diminished. “They
say the planet is haunted by a demon who calls herself ‘Ishraik’.”
The name became a fearful utterance to any Annunaki. “Dagan’s ship
reached the surface of the capital city, her sandal touched the icy
thaw that is Tashdan. In a fury the demon appeared to declare
vengeance in the name of the Kri-Skar. Under threat of death she
forbade any Annunaki to ever step onto the planet. Ishraik
vaporized my wife and her crew. No Annunaki dares go to that cursed
place!” A hard look from the Annunaki gave Shura a chill. “It is
told to me that this Ishraik resembled your species. Great wings,
and a long tail merged to that of an Adamu frame.” He considered
the idea almost in disbelief. “That is impossible of course. The
genetic keys tell me that you are a newly minted race.”

Ishraik,
Shura recognized as the
Valküri battle cry, though she did not say so. Curiosity caused the
archaeologist to have more questions, but just then a servant
entered the room. Shura gasped when she noticed the
human
girl, who like herself, wore a slave collar. In her hands the slave
girl held a platter with food and drink.

“You must be hungry,” Ungal said and lifted
a large earthenware mug off the girl’s tray. “Dayanara will see to
all your needs.”

Dayanara respectfully handed a mug to Shura,
who happily drank from it. Sweet Sumerian beer sated her thirst.
The Falcanian happily ate, though she could have gone for a piece
of meat right about now. “Goddess would you like me to choose you
an outfit?”

“Goddess?” Shura understood that her
appearance doubtless did not surprise this human, who had been
raised among the gods and their varied creations. “Yes please.”
She’d almost forgotten her nakedness. “And Dayanara,” she sighed.
“I’m not a goddess, just a woman like you.”

Ungal seemed entertained by Shura’s denials
of divinity. “Here our Adamu still serve us, they thrive at our
pleasure. We pass on the knowledge we choose to them. Genetic
engineering or robotics is not among that knowledge. Our experience
on Earth taught us to be selective with what we let humanity learn,
lest they once more rise up against our rule.” He groped Dayanara’s
brown cheek. “To this lovely creature you are like me.” He grinned
his lecherous smile. “From heaven itself, an angel that dwells in
the Garden of E.Dan to be worshiped and served.”

“Where is ‘here’ exactly?”

“Nibiru, the planetship of my race.”

[Earth: Falcanian Occupied Alaska]

“You wanted to see me General?” Arshira
asked.

“Have a seat Rika.” Shuriken deliberately
used the diminutive of her birth name.

“Sharr sent Kvaltar to begin the peace
talks.”

“Good news!” Arshira exclaimed,
relieved.

“We still might end up blowing everyone up.”
Shuriken Kra remarked jovially, hoped that Arshira picked up on his
intended humor. Luckily, she realized that he was kidding. “We
really couldn’t have done this without you Arshira.” Shuriken
praised. “I know you’ve had reservations about this build up and
the war overall.”

“I do my duty.”

“That’s why I asked you here.” Shuriken
said, looking quite delighted. “I'm pleased to have the honor of
promoting you.” He handed her a general’s star. “You're a
T’Shaak-Katar, three full battalions at your disposal.” Shuriken
pinned the new rank insignia on her collar. “Sharr's also making
you his Chief of Falcanian Intelligence, and homeland
security.”

Arshira blinked, her mouth half-open. She
had not expected such an advancement, let alone jumping a rank
ahead. “Thank you. I shall continue to serve with honor.”

Later, the newly minted General ran into
Temujin Sardur outside Shuriken's temporary office in the nearly
restored base's hallway. Both fell into step beside one
another.

Eight-feet tall, the Morningstar created in
the ethnic image of a Mongolian cut quite an impressive figure,
outfitted in an oxblood Drakorian jodtok, he wore a thick black
braid down his back. Temujin’s eyes were predatory-slits,
shockingly blue. A black Fu-Manchu mustache divided in two parts
defined his thick lips. Transformed into a Falcanian, he had been
given red-wings. Comfortably, a hand rested on his Kraris fastened
to his belt. “I hear you’re a General now.”

Arshira nodded, “Shuriken just promoted
me.”

“Sleeping with the Shotar surely helps!”
Temujin teased, watched Arshira bristle, an unmistakable deadly
glint in her emerald eyes, as if she visualized ripping off one of
his limbs, or pulling out his heart with her bare hand. Certainly
she had the strength to do exactly that. As quick as the expression
of fury erupted, it subsided, her claws retracted, replaced instead
by that dreamy wide-eyed expression Arshira always got when she
thought about Sharr. Temujin Sardur sighed, had the notion of
Arshira as his sister not already firmly taken root, the onetime
pirate might have contemplated bedding this gorgeous blonde. Her
beauty, unsurpassed, and her pedigree unmistakably impressive. The
Drakorian Field-Commander however knew to entertain such lustful
thoughts about one of his Shotar’s favorite females could lead him
to a loss of vital organs.

“Speaking of which Temujin,” Arshira began,
tasked with her new, larger duties. “Your battle group is, as of
this moment directly under my command.”

“They’re keeping all Morningstars as one
unit?”

Arshira explained: “You und I have always
been intended for the field.” She had to admit, blowing stuff up
made her feel alive. Dangerous, though such a fact could be, raw
violence had been part of her design. “The only difference is, in
who we now serve.” She had become the overseer that GenKon Inc.
meant always for her to be.

“What of Noorani then?” Temujin had been
aware of T’Kara’s mission to the 12
^th
Imam's Caliphate.
He'd watched the news, a part of him admired the Eastern Lion, and
would love to fight at Darius's side. “Is he intended for a field
command?”

“Darius has other purposes.” Arshira
admitted.

“As long as I’ve a ship and crew to command,
and battles to wage, I’m happy to be where I am.”

“To say nothing of a bounty free head.”
Laughed Arshira.

“Ah yes, that keeps me around. Sharr Khan’s
good graces, which shield me from those that would like my neck in
a noose, good motivator.” He confessed, glad to no longer have to
be on constant alert, lest he end up tried for buccaneering. The
evening that the FS-9 Raptor captured his ship, the
Golden
Horde
, Sardur had been sure he would soon die. It proved a
great relief to be offered a choice. Die, or serve the Shotar?
“Plus, at long last I have all that is best in life.”

“Und, what would that be?”

“A fleet of FS-9 Raptors to command,”
Temujin told her thrilled, he savored the power which he now
possessed. It’s what he was made for. “The wind in under my wings,
and my enemies crushed beneath my talons!” Sardur had become
completely Falcanian in such a short time.

“How is it you came to be a ‘pirate’?”
Arshira ventured. Life choices of her brethren Morningstars often
surprised her. They could be eccentric, nor were they always
militant. “You grew up on the Steppes, kinda landlocked, not
exactly a marine lifestyle, living in a yurt, herding cattle. That
does not scream Seahawk to me.”

“Herding animals never appealed to me,”
admitted Temujin. “The sea called, and I answered.” Stated the
young Morningstar rather hurt at the thought of his wasted time
chasing herd animals around on horseback. “I still wonder how I
came to be in the hands of those nomads. Not exactly beneficial to
GenKon’s plans for world domination, unless they’d expected me to
become Genghis Khan reborn, and raise a horde against the
surrounding powers. Namely, the Russians.”

“According to Nadia,” Arshira informed her
eugenic brother. “She’s learned twin Morningstar embryos were
purchased by KGB agents from GenKon. When you get past the Russian
propaganda machine, it’s clear that the Antares twins are GenKon
products.”

“They seemed to have been effective.”
Temujin had grown up close to the reemerging Russian Empire. A fact
he had always found of personal concern. Perhaps that had been
GenKon’s plan? To set two competing Morningstars at each other’s
throats? Test their mettle. “They made themselves Tzars, that is,
after they finished off the Chechen rebellion.” Sardur Could not
help but envision flying his FS-9 Raptors in an assault on Moscow.
If Nadia got her way, all Morningstar children would be fighting on
the same side, and he’d never have a chance to lead a fleet to
Russia. Yet it was a dream he savored. “It’s almost a shame, our
Queen seeks to make the Children of Morningstar one big happy
family.” Temujin’s battle prowess longed to go against one of his
own. Like Frederika, violence had also been written into his blood.
“I’d love to meet Dmitri Antares in bare handed combat.”

“Lucifer’s Children,” Arshira corrected.

Temujin raised a brow. “Excuse me?”

“That’s the actual name of the project.
‘Morningstars originated with the Korelias, und would have been how
we'd have been spoken of in all public material.
Lucifer’s
Children
however, is what appeared on the original file
outlining Uric Kreis's vision for humanity. Kreis took the
Korelia's original ideas, und re-purposed them toward his own
goals.” Frederika chuckled. “Now, the really interesting thing,
according to Nadia's mother, there's an unaccounted for storehouse
of unborn Morningstar embryos, which they are aware went missing
before they themselves exited the project. Nadia even inquired
Oberon about their location, he did not seem to know anything.” She
confessed. “That kind of scares me. A cache of new humanity, which
can be used for either good, or ill, und we do not have a clue
where they are.”

[Temple Of The Vralis]

A cup floated in mid-air, water bubbled
above it, in individual droplets.. Other objects danced in the air
of the candle lit room: jewelry, clothing, and a plate of food
teetered about all of their own accord. In the center of the room
Kheira knelt, clutched herself lost in a rapture. Around her, there
shone a halo, a sphere of pure energy pushed outward and her own
aura shined bright, pure white light.

The filtered voice asked. “Are you all
right?”

Kheira looked up, none of the suspended
objects faltered. “Tell me ‘old man’ why do you keep your hood on
in my presence? Do you think that I do not know your secret?”

“If that is so Princess,” Fafnir stated from
his place in the shadows cast by Kheira’s own glorious intensity.
“Then why do you maintain my mirage?”

“Because,” Kheira forced through gritted
teeth, a spasm of power erupted out of her. She understood that she
neared the moment of becoming, morphing into something greater. The
objects wavered in the air as she glared at Fafnir. “Grandfather,
your son who sired me, he is wrong. Our destiny lies out in the
stars. My Father has forgotten.”

Under his holographic shroud, Fafnir’s
nanometal face formed a grin. He watched the girl look off into the
distance. “What do you see?”

“A great eye searches the Multiverse.”
Informed the Vralis. “It hopes to see me, yet I am hidden in the
light Shiertar cast upon me.”

“What is this ‘Great Eye’?” Fafnir T’Skarin
inquired.

“DOOM!” She thundered at him, and placed in
her words all the metaphysical power she had at her disposal which
caused Fafnir's large mass to lurch backward. “It was a weapon,
forged by a godlike race, but in the end, this Ishallrav turned on
those who constructed it.” A spasm of power assaulted her. “It has
grown lonely, angered at life itself.”

“You speak as if it were an
intelligence?”

Kheira felt the triple iris-eye turn
elsewhere, finally she told Fafnir: “Oh, it is vastly
intelligent.”

[New York: Imperator’s Palace]

Drakorian stood to either side of him. This
had been the first time in many years he'd been back to the North
American continent.

“Come closer.” Imperator Romulus
commanded.

Kvaltar Vron stepped the few paces it took
to reach the white throne of the Imperator. “In the name of the
Padishah Shotar Sharr Khan Mingh Drakonis, I greet you.” Vron said
formally.

Imperator Romulus let out a choked laugh:
“Well that’s been a long time in coming.” He coughed into a white
handkerchief, JR Giovanni wheezed in his chair and for a moment all
in the room feared he might expire where he sat. “So you’re here to
make peace?” At last managed the Imperator over his fit of coughs.
“That also is a long time in coming.”

From beside the Imperator Gaius Trajan had
to resist an urge to groan.

“This is my successor, Gaius Trajan, it is
he who your people will in the end have to deal with as I’m afraid
that I’m not long for the world.”

“That can be fixed your Highness.” Vron
watched both the Imperator and his heir lift a brow, yet it was the
Praetorian Commander who asked what he meant by this.

“How so... What miracle do you Falcanians
possess?”

“I think you have some idea about that.”
Kvaltar didn’t delude himself about the Imperium’s Intel gathering
abilities. He noticed the Praetorian mouth the word 'Amrita' which
confirmed for Vron that they already knew of the narcotic fruit.
“It is after all why you were willing to risk genocide, wipe us out
so you could claim our island.”

Romulus nodded. “I’d thought such only a
story, an illusion to hide that massive army Sharr Khan had
constructed for these many years. Your miracle drug is real!
Genius! We were wrong to waste such as you Falcanians as
enemies!”