Graysal is surprised when we show up at the security base on our own. He’s there with Rivers, Noviik, and two soldiers. Anger is being held inside a force bubble. They still haven’t decided what to do with her.
“Eminence! It isn’t safe!” says Graysal. “Somehow news of the most recent attack got out, and a riot has started in the encampment. Skarsians and Siderians are attacking Volparnians and Taseans. And it looks like a vigilante group is heading towards Ashvattha – whether to protect or attack it…”
Graysal doesn’t finish. He’s too stunned by the sight of Captain Suzanna Noviik raising her projectile weapon at my head. This time, I plan to turn the bullet to dust, leaving the weapon intact.
Except the chamber is empty.
She fires. I’m just fast enough to pull Tara out of the way. A very solid projectile slams into the wall behind us.
I’ve a better idea. I slightly decrease the amount of oxygen in Captain Noviik’s bloodstream, causing her to faint.
“I can’t believe it,” Rivers says. He crouches, pulling the gun from her hand. “I’ve met chik-henns that were more political than Suzanna.” He inspects the weapon. “That was a nullet,” he says. “But how did she recognize you?”
And then, far faster than Suzanna, Rivers is pulling the gun on me. He’s got incredible combat reflexes – but fortunately, so does Graysal. As Rivers fires, Graysal boots him in the chest, and the shot goes wild.
“I’m sick of things screwing up on my watch,” says Graysal. But before he can recover the gun, one of the soldiers punches him in the face. The other scrambles for the weapon.
The oxygen trick worked well on Suzanna. I replicate the effect on the soldiers. As they fall, Graysal staggers to his feet. “What the hell is going on?”
I turn to him. “Graysal, I need you to answer a question. What’s your ethnicity?”
“What? Wait, who are you, anyway?”
“My name is Rand. I’m the 44th emanation of Ashtara. Suzanna knew that, by the way. I met with her earlier to borrow her Thoughtful 45 app. That’s probably how the SongLuminants figured out I wasn’t just a normal Cu’enashti.”
“SongLuminants?” says Tara. “What the fuck, Ash?”
“Lieutenant Graysal, please answer my question.”
“I’m Siderian. Second son of a second son of a second daughter of the Great House of Enkaar. I had no inheritance to speak of, so I joined the military.”
“You’ve got Dolparessan blood?”
“From my father’s side. What does that have to do with this?”
“Excuse me,” I say, grabbing a cabinet. This is tricky, but I distinctly remember Cüinn’s analysis. After a moment’s concentration, the cabinet transforms into the equipment I need.
“Rand, would you mind telling me what’s going on?” asks Tara. “How did Suzanna get nullets?”
“Most likely, the SongLuminant had them. I forgot to tell you. I encountered one earlier. It didn’t seem that important at the time. Of course, at the time, I didn’t think our allies were the ones trying to kill us.”
“Why do the SongLuminants want to kill us?”
“Good question. Want to ask her?” I gesture at Anger. “She was a puppet, you know, a distraction. At first, she was sincere. The SongLuminant just possessed those Volparnians, as it’s possessing her now.”
“Can’t you figure it out, Ashtara?” she says.
“Champions of the Skylight Spin. But revenge seems like such a petty motivation. And I trusted the Vent Lords when they said you’d behave yourself after you murdered my wife.”
“What?” says Tara. “The SongLuminants?”
The SongLuminant possessing Anger addresses her. “I suppose I might as well tell you. Your colony is in shambles – which is what we wanted, whether or not the rioters succeed in destroying this tree. When we made the original attempt to destroy the Matriarch, we had initially intended something much more subtle. Suicide.”
“You mean to make my death look like suicide? No one would believe that,” says Tara.
“If you did it in public, surely they would. And the likelihood that Ashtara would be able to stop it was greatly lessened – the one person he wouldn’t see as a threat was you.”
“But it didn’t work,” I say, “just like it didn’t work on Graysal just now – because they’re descendants of Cu’enashti, and, as such, their consciousness incorporates a certain amount of nul-energy.”
“And that’s exactly why we have to destroy this colony. The Nau’gsh are one thing – as you can well attest, you aren’t the most mobile species in the galaxy – but humans are quite another. They’re an infestation. The cockroaches of the universe. Knowing what you know, we can’t allow the human-nau’gsh hybrids to spread beyond the Domha’vei.”
“I don’t get it,” says Graysal.
“The location of Sealeesh,” I tell him. “Both I – as Lucius – and Suzanna have been there. That’s the reason that Lucius couldn’t possess the K’ntasari, by the way. He thought it was just because he was inexperienced, but it was because they also have nul-energy incorporated into their consciousness. This whole thing is because the Champions of the Skylight Spin feel like their security has been compromised. They can’t possess anyone with our pattern of consciousness – and so we become a threat to their world.”
“Shouldn’t we stop the rioters?” says Graysal.
“Easier said than done,” says Tara. “Anyone without Cu’endhari ancestry can be possessed by the SongLuminants.”
“Nope,” I say. “It’s easy. And it’s done.”
“Teleport,” says Anger. Her voice is an icy fury, so different from the hot rage of the original child-saboteur.
I place my hand on the black box I’d created. “The scanning technology was easily modified. It was capable of operating from a distance, as demonstrated by the recall mechanism. So I set it to scan anyone who breached the perimeter around Ashvattha and send them back to the encampment.” I open the door of the shed. “Time for you to organize the troops, Graysal. Everyone that’s still up at the tree is loyal.”
“How do you know that?”
“I stole the idea from Lord Danak, but in reverse. It can’t scan people with Cu’endhari sap for the same reason the SongLuminants can’t possess them. So the people remaining can’t be used by the SongLuminants. We just need to get the others in lockdown at the encampment.”
Tara indicates the unconscious Rivers and Suzanna. “We’d better lock them in here.”
“But short of quarantining them all, we can’t get it under control,” says Graysal. “If the SongLuminants can possess anyone without Cu’enashti ancestry, there’s no way to stop them from being potential risks.”
“There’s no way for us to stop it,” I correct him. “But we should only have to wait it out about sixteen standard hours. I had my Thoughtful 45 app running the whole time. Once he finds out, the whole universe will know. I don’t think that the other SongLuminant orders will be happy about this, let alone the Eer-gaaani.”
Graysal takes command, after making certain that Tara and I are secured in her stateroom. Now everything is clear, and yet, I still feel a sense of regret. I clasp her hand within mine. “They hated lying to you,” I say. “They fought amongst themselves about it. But the emanations thought it was about avoiding an intergalactic incident with the SongLuminants. They had no idea how high the stakes really were. The truth was that Ashtara was always one step ahead of us all. It wasn’t so much that he didn’t want you to know. It was essential that you didn’t let anything slip to me.”
“I understand,” she says, but she looks so sad.
“Tara!” I blurt out. “I can’t lie to you. I literally can’t lie to you. So if you ever need the truth about something, you should ask me.”
“Thank you, Ash,” she says. “There’s one entry left in my journal. Do you want to read it?”