Slumrat Rising

Chapter 136: The Arrival of the Black Ships

They clustered around the scry together- Etenesh, Jember, Truth, and Merkovah, joined by what seemed like the entire staff of the Temple Nag Hamadi. The newscaster was stuttering, trying to explain what was going on as their brain was desperately trying to keep up with events.

The legendary Black Ships of the Shattervoid Clan hung above their planet. Each so vast, it was impossible to get a sense of the scale of them. Each so vast, yet they were still lost in the void between stars. The camera couldn't cleanly capture their exact shape- long, a sort of flattened cylinder, hollow in the middle. Their exteriors were a sleek, matte black, emitting not a hint of light.

Truth remembered Merkovah saying that the Shattervoid merged with their ships somehow. Was he not seeing dozens of Black Ships but rather the outraged extended family of a little girl?

“We still don’t know what they want or what the problem is. They haven’t answered any messages and any spiritual or physical messenger is destroyed when it comes within a thousand kilometers of the ships.”

The newscaster was speaking fast, papers flying across the desk. “They have forced the orbital stations to evacuate back to the planetary surface. The lunar colony has been, likewise, forcibly evacuated. Even the private cultivation retreats have been cleared out. Those not leaving at once… appear to have been killed. Without explanation.”

The newscaster’s head glowed gold for a moment. “It… we are now learning that a manned mission is being launched from Jeon. Jeon, as you probably know, is the country with the closest business ties to the Shattervoid Clan. We have footage from Rhakeem Balion, a tourist near the off-planet launch site outside of Harban.”

There was a cutover to a crudely captured video taken on some cheap recording talisman. The orbital lifter was sleek, white with red accents, and big windows so the VVIP’s could enjoy the view. The seven-pointed star of Starbrite was painted clearly on the side, just slightly smaller than the proud Tiger of Jeon next to it.

In a flare of blue light, the shuttle lifted from the ground. It accelerated deceptively quickly, reaching orbit in bare minutes. The newscasters nattered away, desperate to seem knowledgeable without actually knowing anything.

Everybody knew things were bad, and the strangeness of the Shattervoid was part of it. But the truth of just how bad things were hadn’t trickled all the way down.

The shuttle was picked up by an orbital camera, presumably from some imp tasked with the purpose. It carefully came to a stop just outside the atmosphere, far from the thousand-kilometer red line drawn by the Black Ships.

“We are hearing that the shuttle is carrying Minister For Trade Mun Gaebolin and Special Envoy Plenipotentiary Harnken, a close confidant of the-”

The shuttle seemed to twist in space, or rather, space twisted it. Writhing and spasming, separating into thin filaments that quickly spiraled around each other, then knotting. Truth felt a sudden, sharp nausea as his brain tried to process what it was never evolved to comprehend.

Space returned to normal. There wasn’t even dust left of the shuttle.

“I… it seems… Ladies and Gentlemen, we are trying to confirm what happened on the shuttle. Nothing has been confirmed at this time-“

“It was the Shattervoid,” Merkovah said with grim certainty. “This is their way of fighting.”

“We are hearing from several sources that this appears to be an attack. An attack by the Shattervoid. We cannot rule out deliberate terrorism or accident at this time, nor do we know what possible motives they may have-“

The news caster was sweating, his makeup melting over his face. His head suddenly glowed with a golden halo. “They are broadcasting a message!”

The camera cut back over to the ships. There was no visible change, but a voice, alien, detached, neither male nor female, still reached the planet.

“Your world is dying. You foolish, greedy people, are dying. There is no saving you. At best, only some bare few of you will survive. Living like animals in a world you no longer recognize. Living like dumb animals, groveling in your own filth. As you deserve.”

The room was silent.

“We can save some of you. Not all of you. Not even a nation’s worth. But many. Tens of thousands, from your billions.”

The black ships started spreading out, forming a globe around the world.

“The price of passage shall be equal for all. Return her. Punish those responsible. There will be no further communication. Any attempt to leave the atmosphere will be intercepted and destroyed. None shall enter, none shall leave. A total embargo.”

The ships assumed their new station.

“You have until your world collapses.”

The camera was destroyed, the scry turned to black.

The room was silent for a minute. Then- “She? Who the fuck is “She?!”

The room exploded into noise, everyone trying to talk at the same time. Merkovah, furious, swept out of the room without a backward glance. Truth trailed behind him.

“It’s Starbrite. I know, KNOW that shitheel is responsible somehow. He’s the only one who would, or could, dream of daring to touch a child of the Shattervoid clan.”

“Yep.”

“And now he has finally, officially, killed off what tiny hope this planet had for a future. This will be a dead world for millennia, tens of millennia, until its spirituality can finally regrow.”

“Yep.”

“I take some small pleasure in knowing that he will die with the planet, of course, but since I don’t for one minute believe he hasn’t some kind of escape route planned, it is a very small pleasure indeed.”

“Mmmhm.”

“I should inform you, Mr. Medici, that if you try to up your fee right now, I may throw you directly into orbit.”

“No, this is actually me volunteering something.”

Merkovah snarled out half a laugh. “Well, it is the day they announced the end of the world. What is it?”

“In your office and under the wards, Teacher. Also, remember that you have invested irreplaceable National Treasures in me, so if you hit me, it’s your loss.”

_______________________________

Truth had never really seen Merkovah in action. He could more or less judge the bounds of a Level Seven based on his own stats, but he had learned, painfully, that the stats were not to be trusted. At the very least, they didn’t tell the whole story.

For example, Truth did not believe there was a stat that covered “Nigh instantaneously summon a level four demon, and quicker still smash the fucker into the wall so hard it pulps on impact, then do that six more times until you finally feel calm enough to talk.”

Hard to imagine what the Average Starbrite Employee’s demon-pulping rating would be. On the other hand, he was now doing his best to remain unnoticeable, so standing still and playing make-believe seemed like a very good idea.

“You aren’t going to convince anyone you are a potted plant, Mr. Medici.”

“I thought it was better than just pretending I wasn’t here at all.”

“Oh, no chance of fading into the background, I’m afraid.”

That, Truth reckoned, was a damned lie. HE was the one with good reason to fear for his life. The demon goo on the wall was sort of bubbling as the lower layers dissolved back into Hell, making the higher layers or bigger chunks shift around.

“Let’s quickly recap. You lead the security detail of a natural science team transporting a box. You were ambushed, came under heavy assault by forces unknown, retreated to an abandoned farm house, were told by the enemy, an enemy that knew you were Starbrite deathsworn, that the box contained a child of the Shattervoid clan. You then proceeded to knock down several spell birds and covered the evacuation of the natural science team with the box.”

“And then I was killed and spent five years or so in a well, yes Teacher.”

“You shot down multiple spellbirds, with a standard issue needler. A sidearm.”

“Yes. I think you underestimate how effective I am with the support of the System.”

Merkovah took some deep breaths, calming and centering himself. “Now that you say it, you really were a match made in Hell when you joined Starbrite, weren’t you?”

“Loyal as a dog. Trained like one too, I have come to understand.”

“I may have done a bigger good deed than I thought, training you.” Merkovah growled. “And you didn’t think to mention any of this… why?”

“Because I was worried about this exact scenario? And if word reached Starbrite that I was alive and talking, they would vanish my sibs before turning them into school lunches in the slums?”

The growling from Merkovah reached subterranean levels. “We are going to go over every tiny detail, from when you got the mission brief to when you died. Everything you saw, heard, smelled, inferred, every. Single. Detail.”

Truth feebly waved goodbye to the next few hours. “Yes, Teacher.”

_______________________________

A few hours proved to be an overly optimistic timeline. Merkovah hadn’t been exaggerating when he asked about every single detail, from the construction of the witchcrafted puppets to the summoned ghosts, to the make and model of the attacking spell birds.

Merkovah didn’t come out an say it, but it seemed clear to Truth that he hadn’t an inkling this operation had occurred. It seemed to offend the exorcist's professional pride.

“Somebody screwed up. Badly. Because it means that someone outside of Starbrite knows that a child of the Shattervoid Clan is imprisoned or dead somewhere on this world. And we didn’t hear a peep of it.”

Merkovah had calmed down, now merely volcanic in his fury.

“Alright, this…” Merkovah clearly wanted to say something like “doesn't change anything,” but that was far too enormous a lie.

“This changes a lot. Not just what you told me, but the… accelerating chaos that will come from the arrival of the Black Ships. I don’t know how long it will take for open war to break out. It probably already has broken out in some places. Jeon will hold together longer than most, on the surface, because Starbrite won’t want his nest disturbed.”

He breathed out explosively. “I’m going to re-write your mission plan, start shifting pieces around. You are still going to be tasked with causing chaos and weakening the System Astrologica, but your… co-equal task will be discovering what happened to the Shattervoid girl. Rescuing her if possible.”

“Do you think she’s still alive?”

“I haven’t the faintest damn idea. The Shattervoid Clan is only debatably human at this point. I mean that literally, it is a question of philosophy about the definition of “human.”

Truth stared blankly at Merkovah. “Me? Things that look like me?”

“Oh really? So is Nag Hamadi a “Human?” It’s walking around in a human shaped statue.”

“Obviously not.”

“Why obvious? It looks like you.” Merkovah sighed. “This is a very old, very long discussion that I don’t care to have right now, even if I had the time, which I don’t. Let me set you a “small” project. Say a man gets a prosthetic leg. Still human? Two prosthetic legs. Still human? Balls get blown off, rendering him unable to reproduce normally. Still human?”

Truth thought about it and nodded. “Still human.”

“I agree. Now, how much of that body would have to be replaced with prosthetics for him to no longer be human? And if there is no upper limit, then I think you really have to answer the question- what is a human, exactly?” Merkovah smiled, radiating a rare, genuine happiness.

“I tell you what. Let’s table all discussion on theology until you can answer that question.”

_______________________________

Truth had only reached the door of his cell when he was intercepted by Etenesh.

“Leaving your girlfriend to process a world-ending calamity on her own is bad boyfriend behavior, Mr. Medici.” She didn’t add the little lilt to the end of “Medici.” Truth figured that put her on the high end of pissed but below furious.

“I had information directly on this that I had to tell Merkovah. He then interrogated me thoroughly.”

“Wait, really?”

Truth nodded. “I don’t mind telling you about it now, though Merkovah probably doesn’t want it to spread around.”

Etenesh sighed and looked torn. Then she extended her arms to him and gave him a look. He stepped over and hugged her hard.

“I don’t care about whatever top-secret bullshit. I just want you hugging me.” Keeping an arm around her, he guided them into his cell. He held her like he did the day after she learned of God’s contempt. Shaking, weeping. Like she would fly away. The storm passed with time, leaving behind exhaustion.

“I thought I would have more time.” She said.

“Me too.”

“Do you know when you are shipping out?”

“No. Sooner than planned by months, I expect.”

“Yeah. Sounds right.” Etenesh sighed. Silence pooled in the room, slowly rising around them.

“Do you feel obsessed with me yet, Mr. Medici?” The lilt was back, though only just.

“Sorry. I am pretty sure I…” The words caught in his throat. He tried to get them out. Now, of all times, surely now he could tell her! But he couldn’t stand it. Couldn’t stand making it real. Being that vulnerable.

“It’s ok. I can feel you, you know? The storm of you; when you stop locking yourself down. All those emotions under that cool exterior.”

“I’m cool?”

“You sure act it.”

“Really? You know you are the first person to ever call me cool, right?”

“Hah. Another first for me.”

“Mmmhmm. Another first for you.”

There was a long pause. Then a soft little sob. “I’ll take it. All the firsts. And all the words you can’t bear to say. Tomorrow night, Mr. Medici. Even if the sky falls and the seas burn, and the land gives up it's dead. Tomorrow night, I’m going to show you what you’ve been missing.”