Chapter One: Invasion
Sombr bent forward with arms pressed into his burning abdomen. Ereflur took his arm to steady him.
"Sombr?" said his sister. "Are you ill? Is it separation sickness?"
Then he turned to Ereflur, suppressing nausea by force of will, and tried to smile. "Yes, but I’ll be fine. I can stay a while longer. It’s only what I deserve, anyway."
Ignoring the pain, Sombr compelled himself to move forward.
The maze always had been his favorite place on the grounds—even when he’d been too small to see over the hedges and urged Uncle Vendrehain to give him shoulder rides. Heat shimmered over the grassy path. If the hedge had been real, the leaves would be dry and brittle this time of year; instead, they were green and unchanging. Authentic or not, Sombr was glad to be there.
Ereflur frowned and brushed his elbow with her fingers. "You didn’t know. How could you? So why do you feel responsible?"
"Because I am responsible, Ereflur." He leaned on his sister’s shoulder for support. "How would you feel if you convinced hundreds of people to live on an outpost they can never leave without dying? Hallucien is a death trap, and I led them there. Knowing I can leave, even for a short time, is worse. I know they love me anyway, but I’ll never understand why."
If I weren’t so obsessed with the Nexus System, they’d be here with their families—where they belong.
The physical pain faded and Sombr pushed away from the statue. They continued their walk, entering the next path. The center wasn’t far now.
Despite the consequences, he wondered how anyone would not be obsessed with the universe’s point of origin. How could anyone not be haunted by the oddities of both worlds orbiting the Nexus?
Still, he had learned something momentous from his research. Sombr had communed with the core of Hallucien, which turned out to be a living entity. He wanted to reveal this secret to Ereflur but he hesitated, unsure how to broach the subject.
"What a beautiful day," said Ereflur.
Beautiful indeed. The twin suns of the Nexus System, which also orbited the invisible point between the two worlds, shined their brilliant splendor on the surface of Illusio—highlighting the hedges and dispersing shadows as if they did not exist.
When they arrived in the center, Ereflur adjusted her dress to sit on one of four pseudo-marble benches, which surrounded a statue of their father, Kurin Eranahei, then patted the place beside her.
"Please sit, Sombr," she said. "You look pale."
Sombr smiled again to reassure his sister and sat on the bench.
Ereflur sighed. "It will be time for the evening service soon. The people will expect to see their Queen, and they miss their Prince. Uncle Vendrehain would be disappointed if he doesn’t see you today. Only, I know how hard it is for you."
She meant the separation sickness of course, but Sombr could not help thinking of Vendrehain’s well meaning—if annoying—attempts to steer his nephew back to the church. As a scientist, Sombr did not share his family’s religious convictions. "The Children of God’s Love" was a very peculiar sect, and not just by Sombr’s standards. Many Terrans openly scorned them, which had played a large part in the Children’s decision to leave the home world.
Sombr turned to his sister, ready at last to explain his discovery, when they were interrupted. A man in a starship uniform rushed into the center and sank to one knee before Ereflur. Sunlight reflected from the crewman’s black lightweight armor, and Sombr had to shield his eyes.
"Your Majesty," he said, after catching his breath. "The starship’s monitors have detected a large fleet entering the Nexus System! Lord Vendrehain’s attempts to communicate have failed."
The Kingdom possessed only one armed starship. God help us if we ever need to defend ourselves, Sombr thought, despite his agnosticism. He hoped they wouldn’t need to mount a defense now.
Ereflur’s eyes grew wide with alarm. "A fleet? It couldn’t be from Terra, could it? Surely they have no reason to send a fleet here."
While Sombr knew there were many on Terra who would like nothing more than to subdue the Children, regardless of the distance between them, he did not believe they had enough power to launch an invasion. Not yet, at least. But then, whose fleet was it?
"I don’t know," he said, as much to himself as to Ereflur. He stared up at the sky, waiting for something to happen.
"Perhaps another colony? One that supports the World Church?"
"No. They’re subject to their charters, all of which have connections to Terran companies. If they invade another colony, even ours, they’d lose their support." Then he snapped his head back and glared at his sister. "Wait ... why don’t you know this?"
"I do know, brother, but whoever is out there has us at a disadvantage. Even colonists might become rogues. What else is there?"
Sombr thought she was making an excuse. She still did not know how to govern a kingdom. Why had Kurin allowed his people to crown him King anyway? There had been no real kings in hundreds of years! But she had a duty to her people to learn.
He looked toward the sky again and said, "We’re wasting time! I doubt there’s anything we can do to defend ourselves, but there may be a way to negotiate."
"You’re right," said Ereflur, nodding. "I will summon the Council immediately. Will you assist us?"
"Of course—"
The air above the grounds rippled like the surface of a pond and flashed with green light. Then a large black object materialized high over the palace, large enough to blot out the sunlight. Sombr tried to determine the configuration but failed. It was long, roughly cylindrical, and covered with random green and brown ... "growths" was the only word he could summon to describe them. The surface, or what he could see of it, was porous and slimy, like the skin of a massive beast.
Both Sombr and Ereflur shot to their feet. Everything they had discussed seemed trivial—and perhaps futile—to him then.
"What ... what is that thing?" said the Queen, her voice trembling.
"Whatever it is, it isn’t Terran." Sombr kept his voice as even as possible, despite the cold tendrils curled around his heart. He had little time to wonder how it could just appear like that before more of them began to dot the sky, enshrouding their world in darkness.
In darkness. Illusio!
Large bulbous growths on the undersides of the ships began to glow—bathing the landscape in what Sombr suspected was bioluminescence. As sure as he was that Hallucien lived, he believed the invaders had a significantly, if not completely, biological technology. Those ships were alive, and something dark and malevolent occupied them; Sombr could feel it, like a vibration in the ground before an earthquake.
And he had no doubt they were invaders. Why else would an entire fleet appear over their heads with no announcement, no warning?
Aliens, he thought, straining to prevent his body from quaking.
Humans had colonized over thirty star systems since the discovery of Eldritch Mechanics, and so far no one had encountered extraterrestrial intelligence. No one except Sombr, of course, when he counted Hallucien. They had to come from very far away, whoever they were.
Ereflur’s eyes dropped and her face grew as pale as she had described his earlier. Then she attempted to smooth her dress, straightened her back, and turned her eyes toward the strange ships.
"Sombr ... we can’t fight this."
Sombr was certain that Lord Vendrehain had transmitted a distress call to Terra once the fleet appeared within the Star Core, but that did little good. Even if Terra decided to send help, which it probably would not, Sombr suspected the alien fleet was much larger and more powerful than the Terran Defense Force. There was nothing to be done, as far as he could see. Nothing could save them from this threat.
Then Ereflur did as the Children always did when confronted with impossible odds. Indeed, as they did on a daily basis anyway. She dropped to her knees, spreading her arms wide in supplication, and began to pray in that ridiculously energetic fashion to which Sombr could never grow accustomed. He knew people all over the Kingdom were doing the same, which was enough to gall him.
"Do you really believe prayer will do any good?"
Ereflur did not stop to answer him, but Sombr saw a tear emerge from her right eye and trail down her cheek. If there was little else he respected in her, she loved him and he knew it. He could not disparage that.
While she prayed, a number of large, glowing discs appeared hovering around the palace, each occupied by giant bipedal reptilian creatures whose appearance stunned Sombr. He didn’t know what he’d expected—surely nothing so recognizable. Sombr counted about twenty of the creatures, and there was variety in color. Some were blue, some red, and others green. He saw two that were brown and one yellow. They were too far away for him to make out any more details.
The one that floated in front was red. It raised its long taloned ... forepaw or hand or whatever ... as if to silence the multitude. Sombr knew that the Children would not cease their prayer to save their own lives, and he snorted. Regardless, the red alien began to speak, in a way that suggested the use of a device for enhancement and translation.
"I AM HIGH LORD FYUS, IMPERIAL PRINCE OF THE DRACON EMPIRE. BY ORDER OF HIS IMPERIAL MAJESTY NOVU, SOVEREIGN OF THE UNIVERSE, AND GLORIOUS LORD OF THE STARS, THIS WORLD, ITS RESOUCES AND ALL ITS INHABITANTS ARE NOW SUBJECTS OF DRACO. LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS AND SUBMIT TO THE WILL OF EMPEROR NOVU!"
Then Sombr remembered Hallucien’s message. He could not be sure what would happen, but it might be the Kingdom’s only chance. Kneeling beside his sister, he laid a hand on her shoulder and said, "Ereflur, I might know a way out of this."
She opened her eyes and looked at her brother. "How?"
"I learned something ... unexpected ... about Hallucien. It’s alive, Ereflur, and I spoke with it at length. It told me I could merge my mind with it and gain immeasurable powers. If I can get back to Hallucien, I’ll try it. Maybe then we can actually fight off this invasion."
"Sombr, this sounds very dangerous, if it is really possible. I don’t know..."
Sombr bit his lip to suppress the rankled reply on his tongue, then continued, "Ereflur, it’s the only way I can see. I have to try."
"But how will you get back? The aliens must have the ship immobilized, and I’m sure they’ve surrounded Hallucien’s outpost as they did the Kingdom."
"I ... don’t know, but I’ll ... figure out something. I hope."
She frowned and her eyes clouded. "All right, Sombr. I wish you Godspeed, and I’ll pray that you make it."
Sombr winced and quelled another biting reply before he could offend her. Pray all you want, sister, he thought, but I don’t believe it will help.
He nodded instead, then took off at a run through the maze. Good thing he’d been through it many times as a boy, so he knew the way. Still, he cursed his luck to be caught in the maze at a time like this.
Because he rushed, he took a wrong turn and encountered a dead end once, and nearly did three more times, forcing him to retrace his steps to the correct path. When he at last emerged from the entrance, he would have breathed a sigh of relief if he had the time. He had to reach the paved area east of the palace that served for a port on this still-developing planet. As it was, he kept pushing toward his goal.
Ereflur had said the aliens would have "immobilized" the starship. More likely they would want to destroy it, unless they decided a lone ship was not a threat. This made sense, but what he saw as he approached the port confounded him.
Starship Eranahei sat on the pavement surrounded by a glowing blue shield. Sombr knew the ship’s energy defenses were invisible, so he assumed it was the alien technology used to prevent it from flying. But when the red alien hovering over the palace spoke again, Sombr realized his mistake.
"YOU WERE ORDERED TO LAY DOWN YOUR ARMS. THE SHIELD AROUND YOUR SHIP IS AN ACT OF DEFIANCE THAT WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. DISENGAGE THE SHIELD NOW OR WE WILL ANNIHILATE YOU!"
Sombr could only wonder then who or what might have activated the shield. Certain members of the Eranahei family acting in concert might have enough power to erect a psychic shield so large, but it would also be invisible to anyone without extrasensory abilities. Which meant the "Dracons" had such talents, or someone else entirely was involved—someone unknown to both the Dracons and the Children.
Neither possibility was reassuring. The Eranaheis were only inviting retaliation if they had raised the shield. Sombr hoped no one in his family would be so foolish.
