Hellhole Inferno Read online

  Though the Xayans were ostensibly his allies here on Hellhole, he remained tight-lipped, suppressing his anger toward the two Originals. They had kept tremendous, dangerous secrets from him—involving a threat that could obliterate this entire planet. The scope of what they had hidden held extraordinary repercussions for him and for the entire Deep Zone.

  Encix and Lodo remained silent while the General continued to look out the window, pondering how he should confront them and demand answers. He was certain the aliens still had more to reveal.

  A groundcar rumbled up outside and discharged its passenger, a tall, shapely woman with shoulder-length auburn hair: Keana Duchenet, arriving for the scheduled meeting. The Diadem’s daughter looked outwardly unchanged, but she shared her consciousness with a resurrected alien personality, Uroa, whom she had awakened from the slickwater pools. Keana was only one of many hundreds of converts who had taken on alien lives and memories. Together, Keana-Uroa was one of the most powerful of the “shadow-Xayans,” possessing high telemancy skills.

  Though he was frustrated with the aliens and their unknown agenda, General Adolphus needed every possible ally in order to face enemies from all sides. But he also needed to trust these strange creatures if they were to fight side by side to protect this planet.

  Ever since the Deep Zone had broken away from the corrupt Constellation, General Adolphus had commanded a motley army of cast-off humans. They manned patched-together warships from the old rebellion, as well as hundreds of newer vessels seized during the Constellation’s failed attacks. In addition to his traditional tactics, Adolphus made use of Xayan telemancy, which had enabled him to defeat Commodore Percival Hallholme.

  Yet he had hardly been able to celebrate after the Commodore fled back to Sonjeera in disgrace. Despite their help, he now knew the aliens did not share the same goal as he, and Adolphus realized he had never really commanded them at all. For the Xayans, this was no more than a coalition of convenience, a means by which they could achieve their evolutionary and spiritual “ascension,” their racial destiny called ala’ru.

  Summoning his force of will, though he did not know how effective it would be against the implacable Xayans, the General turned from the window to face the two unusual visitors. “You failed to tell me that you had another terrible enemy of your own. You kept that information from me, even though you’ve known for some time that the Ro-Xayans are out there, and that they still want to destroy you. You could have warned me, warned Candela. We could have saved many of those people before the asteroid impact.”

  Encix said in a flat voice that masked any recognizable emotion, “If we had achieved ala’ru before they found us, it would not have mattered.”

  “After the Ro-Xayans destroyed Candela, you told me they also bombarded this planet with an asteroid centuries ago.” He felt his skin grow hot. “You didn’t consider that information relevant?”

  Lodo sounded just slightly contrite. “We have revealed everything to you now, General Tiber Adolphus. We are certain the Ro-Xayans are aware that we survived their first attempt to exterminate us, and they will surely come back to finish annihilating our species.”

  Encix added with greater urgency, “Our only hope is to achieve ala’ru before it is too late! All the more reason for us to convert more of your people, awaken more Xayan lives from the slickwater pools, and increase the collective power of our telemancy.”

  Adolphus clenched his jaw. “I am no longer certain I can trust you.”

  The hidden enemy, the Ro-Xayans, were a splinter faction of the alien race that swore to prevent the wondrous evolutionary ascension toward which most Xayans strove. The rogue faction had wrecked their home planet and nearly wiped out their own race rather than let their rivals win. Such a betrayal angered Adolphus—especially now that his human colonists were caught in the middle of an ancient feud he could neither prevent nor understand—but he also resented that Encix and Lodo had not been forthright.

  Keana-Uroa was ushered into the conference room by a member of the General’s staff. The Diadem’s daughter stood straight-backed, a far cry from the naïve and giddy noblewoman who had first come here to Hellhole without a clue about how to take care of herself. Now, she wasted no time with pleasantries, showing the power of her human personality as well as the alien who jointly inhabited her mind. “We must seize every possible defense, General. This planet will be caught in a vise between the Army of the Constellation and the Ro-Xayans, two enemies who wish to see our complete destruction.”

  He turned to her, keeping the hard edge in his voice. “My defensive planning is hamstrung when my allies withhold vital information from me. The Xayan presence in your mind understands about the Ro-Xayans—I know it. Tell me what you know. All of it. Otherwise I have no way of properly preparing.”

  He wished Sophie could be here to advise him, because she gave such wise counsel, and he enjoyed her company—but she was at Slickwater Springs, tending to the only other surviving Original alien, Tryn, who had been seriously injured in the backlash of a telemancy attack before the destruction of Candela.

  More aloof than angry, Encix said, “We are not required to share all information with you.”

  “I require it.” He could not penetrate the alien’s large, black eyes, nor could he crack her unreadable expression. “When you asked, I agreed to help support your race’s goal to achieve ala’ru. I allowed willing human volunteers to immerse themselves in slickwater to reawaken your race. You should be helping me protect this planet, but instead you exposed us all to an even greater threat.”

  The two Originals remained inscrutable, and the frustrated General turned to the Diadem’s daughter. Keana nodded, said, “I anticipated why you wanted me here. Yes, I have spoken with Uroa in my mind, debated him, and finally convinced him. Even I didn’t know the broad strokes until now, but I forced my companion to reveal some of what he knows.” She glanced at the two Original aliens; Encix seemed angry with her, but Keana apparently didn’t care about that. She focused on Adolphus. “Weeks ago, when Cristoph de Carre and I were in the museum vault, Lodo abruptly destroyed an artifact stored there, a telemancy enhancer. At the time, he refused to explain why he did that, but now I know he wanted to make sure the object wouldn’t attract the Ro-Xayans.”

  “That effort failed,” Lodo said. “The shadow-Xayans had already used too much telemancy, and it could not be hidden. When Tryn and her seed colony unleashed their burst of telemancy to destroy the Constellation stringline hub, she attracted the Ro-Xayans directly to Candela. It was a shout they could not ignore.”

  “And you see what happened!” Encix said, sounding oddly shrill. “Two asteroids smashed into Candela, destroying everything there.” Her voice became more urgent. “Therefore, we must achieve ala’ru before the same thing happens to this planet.”

  Adolphus scowled. “My people live here. I would rather prevent it from happening at all.”

  Keana closed her eyes and heaved a long, deep sigh before she journeyed into her inner realms. “I will learn what I can, General.”

  * * *

  A bubble of stillness formed around Keana as she blocked off distractions inside the Elba conference room. She sensed reluctance from her internal companion Uroa, but she was persistent and forceful, and he finally surrendered to her pressure, clearing a mental pathway so she could see facets of his life and thoughts that had previously been unavailable to her.

  Centuries ago, before the asteroid impact eradicated the Xayan race here on Hellhole (except for those who used extreme measures to preserve themselves), Uroa had been a powerful representative, working with Zairic, Encix, and many others in their all-consuming drive to reach ala’ru. Now, however, Uroa was also part of her. Keana had resurrected him from the slickwater pools, and he wanted to survive, just as she did. And they needed each other to do so.

  She went deeper into her own mind, into his preserved memories, as if soaring into the farthest reaches of space. Far ahead, she saw a pinpoin
t of light, growing brighter. The alien’s telemancy was guiding her into his original life. As Uroa now lived in her body, Keana saw herself as an invisible observer in his. Through inhuman eyes, she looked skyward, part of Uroa, resigned to his fate, the fate of the Xayan race, and everything he knew. In the image she saw, Uroa was surrounded by thousands of other Xayans, their large, soft bodies crowded together, their antennae twitching as they shared an all-consuming fear in their last moments. Every one of them knew what was coming—a gigantic asteroid like a cosmic sledgehammer hurled by the telemancy of vengeful Ro-Xayans.

  Seeking their own route to survival, Encix and a group of six Originals had sealed themselves in preservation chambers buried kilometers beneath the surface, hoping to be awakened someday. The rest of the Xayan race, though, gambled their future on unproven slickwater, pools of psychic energy that would store their personalities, their memories, and possibly their souls.

  But with time so short, only the most prominent Xayans were allowed to store their lives in the pools, individuals chosen by the great visionary Zairic. Not all could be saved—only the best and the brightest of the race, so that one day they might reawaken and continue their racial mission. The selection process had involved judgment calls and politics, and Uroa had not agreed with all of the decisions. Still, when it came to the moment of crisis, he, like the others, seized his only chance.

  A bright spear of light, the deadly asteroid ripped through Xaya’s atmosphere, guided by their own prodigal cousins. At the last possible moment, Uroa and the last Xayans on the shore plunged into the quivering pool of silvery liquid, which was already a teeming reservoir of lives. They dissolved away their bodies and sentience, hoping that the slickwater might survive the impact.

  After the strike mortally wounded the planet, the Ro-Xayans had departed, leaving their world for dead. Centuries passed, the human colonists arrived, and an unsuspecting explorer stumbled upon the pools.…

  Though Uroa’s memories survived, that last horrific moment was still very much of a death, and the Xayan civilization would never again be what it once was. But the resurrected lives did not want to rebuild the past; rather, they were focused on reaching ala’ru. And with the hybrid vigor made possible by their symbiosis with human partners, their evolutionary leap seemed more achievable than ever.

  And still the Ro-Xayans would do anything to stop them.

  Emerging from her vision, Keana opened her eyes. General Adolphus was staring hard at her with his arms folded across his chest, waiting. Only a moment had passed. When she spoke, her voice was rough and grainy, controlled by Uroa. “We understand your need to defend this world against human enemies from the Constellation, but we are so close to our sacred destiny. Ala’ru would eliminate the Ro-Xayan concerns, and your enemies as well.”

  In a rush, Encix added, “Yes. Now you understand, General Tiber Adolphus. We must bring more converts, create more shadow-Xayans, awaken more of our stored lives from the slickwater. We have one last chance to achieve ala’ru in time.”

  “The Army of the Constellation will attack us soon,” Adolphus said. “I am sure of it.”

  “My mother will not wait,” Keana-Uroa agreed, this time in her own voice, then the voice changed back to Uroa’s. “But the Ro-Xayans may get here first.”

  3

  When the wondrous pools were discovered on Hellhole, Sophie Vence had seen a business opportunity. Filled with alien lives, marvelous experiences, and almost magical powers, the slickwater attracted the desperate and the curious.

  At the time she was already one of the most powerful women in Michella Town, managing supplies for the settlers who arrived on stringline haulers from Sonjeera. But the slickwater pools offered something much different, enticing pilgrims to saturate themselves with alien lives and memories.

  Sophie was never tempted to do so herself, and neither was Tiber Adolphus, but he had made an agreement with the surviving Originals to allow the resurrection of their race in exchange for their help in protecting the planet against the Diadem. Sophie had established a settlement at the nearest three pools, first a rough camp and then a rustic resort she had named Slickwater Springs. As the numbers of shadow-Xayan converts grew, Sophie had constructed outlying bungalows and a larger lodge building to accommodate them all.

  At the resort she neither encouraged nor discouraged the volunteers; immersion had to be their own decision. When acquiring an alien partner personality, they would gain wondrous insights, abilities, and memories, but they also surrendered part of their humanity. The converts spread the word, proselytizing about the wonders they had experienced, the abilities they acquired.

  With the threat of the Constellation military and the even greater danger of the Ro-Xayans, however, increasing the number of converts had become more important than ever.

  Even so, she had no intention of joining them. Sophie had already lost her son Devon to the mysterious waters, and she did not want to lose herself or her close relationship with Tiber Adolphus.…

  In the brightening morning, Sophie climbed a steep trail on the shady side of the ridge that bounded the valley containing the slickwater pools, to where she could reach a sunny vantage. She wanted some private time, quiet time, away from the people at the bustling lodge complex. It was worth the exertion.

  Catching her breath, she reached the top of the ridge and gazed down at the three mirrorlike ponds that were surrounded by boardwalks, fences, tents, bungalows, and the main lodge building. From here, the slickwater looked so placid, so tempting, but Sophie knew how many changes those alien pools had brought to the already struggling planet.

  Events seemed frustratingly beyond her control. Soon she would head back to Elba to be with Adolphus again, but for now she had her private suite inside the main lodge. She couldn’t be everywhere, no matter how much she might want to be. Back in Michella Town, she had other people to manage her warehouses and distribution operations, and many assistants helped run Slickwater Springs.

  From the top of the ridge, still feeling the burn of exertion in her legs, she saw people milling about below. From a distance they all looked human, although many of them had the eerie alien eyes, a spiraling unnatural shimmer that indicated they shared their minds with a resurrected Xayan.

  The converts had used telemancy to build an ever-growing settlement nearby, a separate colony that featured bizarre alien architecture, surrounded by a burgeoning forest of alien red weed. But many of the shadow-Xayans remained behind at the slickwater pools to help shepherd the new converts. Their odd behavior made her uneasy, though she had been forced to swallow her doubts when Devon became one of them.

  Even now that her son was gone, Sophie allowed shadow-Xayans to remain in the camp, so long as they assisted with running the facility. The numbers of converts grew as urgency and anxiety swept through the DZ. The people were afraid of bloodthirsty Constellation reprisals, such as the Black Lord’s massacre on Theser and the Ro-Xayans’ planet-destroying vendetta that had wiped out Candela. Sophie and the General knew that the alien telemancy might prove to be their only salvation.

  But undergoing that change wasn’t for her.

  From the top of the ridge, she looked across to the adjacent valley, which held a strikingly different settlement—and this one concerned her in an entirely different way. The rapidly constructed, fenced-in camp held thousands of Constellation military prisoners taken from the Diadem’s retaliation force led by Escobar Hallholme. All those starving soldiers had surrendered after months of being stranded in space, and the General didn’t know what to do with them.

  Sophie had to ensure their safety, and provide them with food and shelter until the conflict was resolved—even though they were responsible for the deaths of Devon and Antonia. The camp was supposed to be just a temporary situation, but even so, she found it emotionally difficult to be fair to the prisoners. This made her try harder to do the right thing, the legal and moral thing, to treat them as respected prisoners of war.


  She didn’t want those responsibilities, didn’t like the corner she’d been backed into, but Adolphus had asked her. She had given him her word, and he was counting on her.…

  Her moment of solitude was brief. Sophie saw a man climbing the trail toward her, recognized him by his long blond hair as the veteran Peter Herald, who helped her run Slickwater Springs. Though he was now a shadow-Xayan, combined with an alien presence named Arnex, he had proved to be invaluable at the lodge and camp. He moved up the steep, difficult trail at a brisk and easy trot.

  An officer in Adolphus’s first rebellion, Herald had been injured, his lungs scarred—and he had been one of the first humans to enter the slickwater, hoping to be healed. The effect on him had been dramatic, erasing all signs of his debilitating injury. Ever since becoming a shadow-Xayan, Peter Herald had moved with new vigor and grace, although no number of years could erase his ingrained military bearing.

  Reaching the top of the ridge, Herald greeted her in a strong voice that was much different from his former raspy, pain-wracked whisper. A faint, otherworldly shimmer spun in his eyes, and he was barely even panting. “I watched you struggle up the slope, Sophie Vence. You’re overburdened with responsibilities. I promise you will have far more energy to complete your duties if you immerse yourself in the slickwater. You’ll be amazed at how good you feel … if you allow yourself.”

  She turned away, wishing he would stop pressuring her. “No thank you, as I’ve told you many times before. You, and all shadow-Xayans, promised you would not coerce me.”

  Herald seemed more disappointed for her sake than for himself. “I will continue to use gentle persuasion. The benefits are obvious, and I am hoping to make you reconsider.”

  Emotions welled up inside of her, and she lashed out at him. “The slickwater already took my only son from me! I don’t want to be like you, or like any of the shadow-Xayans.” She started to say something more, then stopped herself. Many people shared the blame for the loss of Devon and his girlfriend Antonia Anqui … not just the slickwater.