Nataw said, “Of course. We need you… I’ve been waiting for you to say something like this since all the arguments started.”
Then he stopped and looked over at Kee and Lee, asking, “Right?”
Kee looked up toward Nataw, “I know it’s hard for you. We all have friends among Destroy. If it could possibly happen, we’d like to end this without fighting any of them. We also know that’s unlikely.”
Govan nodded. “I’ve had my own visions. I know it’s unlikely, but hearing you say you see value in their lives is good. The less we kill, the better..” Continue reading Engine: Part 11 →
Nataw sighed. “I’ve been doing what I always do. After the visions came and our whole race went mad, I left. I couldn’t convince anyone in Destroy that killing the younger races was unnecessary, and so I went out to see them before they disappeared. I’m not much of a fighter, you know.”
With a grunt that edged into a growl, Govan said, “It’s not a question of convincing. We all saw what happened. In universe after universe, lesser beings evolved, grew powerful, and sought us out to destroy us. Some of us were even helping them do it, betraying relationships that predate universes. What were we supposed to do?” Continue reading Engine: Part 10 →
From where she stood next to Nataw, Kee smiled. “You met him in the future, and he chose not to kill you. I think Govan will be reasonable, provided we’re talking to the version of him who spared you. If we’re about to talk to a version of him that doesn’t know anything about that, it could become messy.”
“Great,” I thought back to her.
Continue reading Engine: Part 9 →
I don’t know how long I talked. He’d ask questions on human culture and sometimes small details about Lee or Kee’s actions or statements. When I did remember them, he’d nod slowly as if it meant something to him.
I couldn’t be sure that was a good thing.
He’d found the story of The Thing That Eats particularly interesting, both because I’d been able to tap into Lee’s power when creating a sword and because of Amy’s spear. She’d stabbed the Thing and seemed to be at least as responsible for killing it as I was.
He’d been at least as interested in the fact that the Bloodspear could absorb me, asking a series of questions that amounted to, “But how much of you do you think it could absorb? Do you think it could reach into other universes?”
I held up my hands, “I have no idea. I’m not in any contact with other versions of myself except when I meet them.” Continue reading The Portal: Part 10 →
“Now,” Govan continued, “how are Lee and Kee? Those aren’t their real names, by the way, but I know who you mean. Is Kee still pushing the younger races to develop while Lee does… whatever he does? I haven’t seen him in quite some time.”
Here’s a funny thing: Stapledon had a track meant for street-level heroes and for those heroes whose strengths lent themselves to espionage. I’d taken exactly one class in that track—the required one: Managing Dual Identities.
From what Haley said, higher-level classes focused more on skill development in reading people, verbal misdirection, and extracting information from conversations.
In retrospect, I could have used more of that. I made a note to pass that on to Isaac Lim if I survived. Continue reading The Portal: Part 9 →
I could hear nothing. I could see nothing. Even the Artificer connection, the in-between space Artificers and Ghosts used to communicate across interstellar distances, was quiet.
I sensed only motion, and that it was downward.
It may have lasted only moments, but it felt longer. I checked my suit’s CDPS (Cross-Dimensional Positioning System) stats and found nothing. Zeros showed in every box where it didn’t instead say, “Error!” Continue reading The Portal: Part 8 →
The presence of Artificers pervaded everything. Though the Ghosts might have confused my senses, I doubted it. The Ghosts remained unnoticed unless they wanted to be. Artificers, except for Lee, Kee, and other members of the Live faction, had no reason to learn stealth.
Too powerful to be threatened by most beings, they emanated power without hesitation.
I sensed them on both sides, even from within the Rocket suits. Continue reading The Portal: Part 5 →
The Legion of Nothing: A Series of Online Superhero Novels (Updates Monday and Thursday)
