Symphonies of Valor Read online

  Symphonies of Valor

  Book Three of the Entrent Saga

  C. S. Harte

  Star Publishing

  Copyright © 2018 by C. S. Harte

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, live or dead are purely coincidental.

  ISBN: 978-1-947721-06-7

  Version 1.0.0 (12/21/18)

  For my Maria.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Also by C. S. Harte

  About the Author

  Reader Circle

  1

  Captain Meomi Hana stood at a crossroads within the abandoned, cavernous underground city of Raena — a city carved by an unknown hand into the heart of an ancient mountain. Her options were to go westward toward a flashing yellow light in the dreary distance, or eastward in the direction of the obsidian pyramid and a possible escape from the nightmarish planet of Caelora. Surrounding her was Captain Khoan Thorne of Fleet Special Operations Division; Ensign Rayfin Manalo, her loyal subordinate and only other surviving crewmate of the CMS Cerberus; and Bast, a complete stranger until a day ago whose origins and intentions remained shrouded.

  The flickering lantern light called to Meomi like sirens luring her to treasure. Inside her mind, a compulsion manifested into a sing-songy voice, repeating the same chorus over and over. Fear the night. Run. Run. Run. Find the light.

  Illumination poured into the city through massive slits in the city’s domed roof. Meomi looked up to see broad beams from the Caelorian sun quickly shrink into slivers. Night was coming. Daylight ticked away with every moment of indecision and with it, the only force capable of holding back the irrepressible hunger of the Calfars — monsters in every sense of the word with an insatiable appetite.

  “Which way, Captain Hana? We can’t stay here,” said Captain Thorne.

  “The light is 2.371 kilometers from our current position,” Bast added. “I agree with the captain, we cannot stay here.”

  “I vote to go east toward the city gates and out of this hellhole,” Rayfin said. “And we need to double time it out of here.”

  The lantern light was the most curious oddity on a planet filled with them. According to Bast, a long-extinct alien race constructed many sprawling cities on the desert planet of Caelora, but never moved into them. Yet the light continued to flash in a non-random pattern which Thorne suspected to be Morse code.

  Meomi fixed her stare on the blinking. With her eye movements, she used the image enhancement feature of her Tempest exo suit to magnify the area around the light. She scanned the surrounding structures — empty stone buildings with the same russet color profile, similar to the mountainous walls of the city — looking for clues to who or what could call out to her team. Nothing. No signs of life except for the flashing. Meomi turned around to see impatient stares trained on her.

  A distant, guttural roar reverberated through the cavern, amplified by the city’s many curved, stone surfaces. “The Calfars,” Bast said in a nonchalant tone as he lifted his chin to the slitted roof. “They are waking.”

  “Captain?” Rayfin’s voice shook as he spoke. “Which way?”

  An intense itch crawled up Meomi’s arms, irritating enough for her to consider taking off her Tempest exo suit to relieve her suffering. She fought against the urge while the voices in her head came back. Without fully realizing it, she walked west.

  “You’re not really heading for the lantern are you, Captain?” Rayfin asked. “It has to be a trap. Kerosene and lanterns don‘t exist here! I’m OK with not solving every mystery we come across.”

  Before Caelora, Meomi and her team were captured and thrown into a hidden Mimic prison on the jungle planet Dressa. There, they discovered thousands of missing or presumed dead Fleet Officers. With their ability to create uncannily accurate copies of organic life, Mimics impersonated many captured officers, infiltrating and positioning themselves to collapse the Commonwealth military from within. Her team escaped captivity by traveling into a pocket universe, a technology Mimics have long possessed.

  “We’re heading west. To the light.” The words came out of Meomi’s mouth but didn’t seem to originate in her mind. There was a surreal quality to this moment, like she had experienced this point in time before. She distinctively remembered the uncertainty of her previous decision with a tinge of regret. That concern was not present this time around, instead replaced by an originless confidence. Her legs took steps to the light without her full awareness. “I think…” She stopped resisting the voices. “There are people there. Fleet sailors. I don’t know why, but I know they’re there.”

  “How can you be so certain?” Thorne asked.

  “I can’t explain it, but trust me.” Meomi gently touched Thorne’s shoulder. “This is how we can keep everybody alive.”

  “I trust you,” he whispered.

  Rayfin raised his eyebrows at the interaction in front of him. “Um, did I miss…”

  Deafening screams slashed through the city. The toxic sounds rebounded against the mountain walls, forming a sonic wave of horror.

  The lantern light flared in brightness as if beckoning Meomi and her team to hurry.

  “Stim packs!” Thorne yelled. “Everyone, run!”

  Meomi navigated through her visor’s Heads-Up Display and instructed her exo suit to deliver a combat stimulant.

  Bast fired up his suit’s jetpack and blazed toward the five-story building housing the lantern.

  Rayfin activated his speed neuromod and sped after Bast.

  Meomi trailed the group. During her sprint, she caught a disturbing visage of a young boy with white hair in the windowless frame of an empty building — Inoke, the fallen fifth member of the team whose body mysteriously disappeared during their first night on the planet. Meomi almost stopped and turned around, but her rational mind wouldn’t allow it. There was no logical way for Inoke to be here in Raena. She kept the vision to herself.

  The lantern went dark after the team reached the source. Everyone froze in place as they oriented to the uneasiness of the gloom mixed with ghostly echoes of Calfar screeches.

  “Night vision,” Meomi said to the team. She watched her heart rate increase in the corner of her HUD while her eyes adjusted to the new visual mode.

  “That can’t be a good sign, right?” Rayfin asked. “The light disappearing?”

  “Has anyone found an entrance? I don’t see any doors,” Thorne said while surveying the building.

  “My drone completed a scan of the structure.” Bast held out his palm. A holographic projection appeared showing the wireframe layout of the building. Two floors, 8,742 square meters each. Dozens of r
ooms on each level organized in a maze-like pattern.

  “Are the wires crossed in your drone?” Rayfin asked in a voice just below shouting. “Why would anyone design a building like that except to confuse people?”

  “We don't have a choice. It's still better to be in there than out here with the Calfars,” Thorne said, leaning close to the projection. “If your blueprint is correct, there’s a door 30 meters to our left.”

  Rayfin ran to the spot where the opening should be. “I don’t see it…” He gasped and tilted his ears toward the wall. “Wait… I heard something.”

  Everyone knocked along the exterior until a click sounded. Suddenly a section of the wall slid backward and to the side.

  Greeting the team was two Fleet Officers — one male with salt and pepper hair, the other a female, much younger with shiny, ebony hair. Both wore Fleet captain uniforms with the captain’s insignia pinned to their collars. They looked disheveled but otherwise healthy.

  “Come in quick!” The man ordered with a slight hint of a Russian accent. “The nightmares outside are worse than nightmares inside!” He tapped his temple as he spoke.

  Meomi covered the rear while the others went inside. She heard the cries of the Calfars growing louder. They were getting close.

  “C’mon, Captain,” Rayfin said, gesturing her to follow the team inside.

  Suddenly, another voice appeared in her head telling her to not go inside. This one was softer, quieter, male. She seemed to be the only one to have heard it.

  "Captain?" Rayfin pulled her inside.

  "I…" The room spun as Meomi entered. She was the only one to feel the dizzying effects which passed after a few seconds. "Thanks, Ray."

  "You alright, Captain?" He wrinkled his forehead.

  “Everyone, quiet,” said the Russian captain cutting off Meomi. He tapped a panel, and the door sealed shut.

  After a moment of silence where the team stared at their mysterious saviors, a second opening appeared when another wall panel slid to the side. Beams of light pooled into the room as the gap widened.

  “Electricity?” Meomi asked while her Tempest suit automatically disabled night vision. She waited for her eyes to adjust before taking in the scene — fluorescent ceiling lights, sterile corridors, and complete silence. The makeup of the building interior was incongruous with the exterior. While the outside walls were made of stone, the inside had metallic panels like in an industrial laboratory or military base.

  “You said there was no power source on this planet.” Thorne glared at Bast.

  “This is the first time I have encountered artificial light on this planet, Captain Thorne.” He replied without a hint of unease.

  “Follow,” said the Russian captain.

  “Wait,” Meomi said while planting her foot down. “Before we go on, who are you?”

  “Please, they can hear and smell us inside this room. We need to move deeper into the base,” said the female captain. Her voice sounded soothing, almost motherly.

  Scratching and clawing noises came from the exterior walls.

  Thorne nodded at Meomi.

  The team followed their hosts down a series of twists and turns into a room with drab gray concrete walls. In the center was a mahogany table with four matching wooden chairs.

  “Have a seat, please. You all must be tired,” said the female captain.

  As they sat, a force field rose up between the hosts and the guests.

  Meomi reached for her hand cannon.

  “This is for both our safeties,” said the Russian captain.

  “Why don’t we start with introductions.” The female captain approached the force field. “I’m Anina Massi, Captain of the CMS Endurance.”

  “And I’m Sergey Dova. Captain of the CMS Discovery.”

  Rayfin introduced himself first, followed by the rest of the squad.

  “Endurance and Discovery…” Meomi whispered to herself. “Why do I know those ships?”

  Thorne sent Meomi a private comm. “They’re lying. Both ships were destroyed years ago. And the previous Captain of the Endurance was the infamous Fleet traitor, Jonas Barick.”

  Meomi’s eyes opened wide at the revelation.

  “Is there something wrong, Captain Hana?” asked Anina with a soul-penetrating stare.

  2

  Meomi gritted her teeth inside her helmet. Her pulse rate skyrocketed to 204 beats per minute. A wave of heat crashed against every part of her body. Lies and mistakes. She made a critical error coming here. While not entirely confident it was a trap, Meomi wasn’t convinced the humans on the other side of the shimmering force field were going to help. One thing was clear. Both Captain Massi and Dova were lying.

  “The force field looks similar to Fleet tech,” Thorne said over private comms to Meomi. “That shouldn’t be possible in this universe. It would imply that Fleet has been here for some time and working with Mimics.”

  The voices in her head lied to her. She closed her hands into a fist, angry at herself for listening to them. Her stomach churned as the realization hit — she may have just doomed everyone on her team. A migraine coalesced in her skull, starting with a constant prick in the back of her head before expanding into a hammering knock.

  “Are you alright, Captain Hana?” asked Anina with a frown. “You seem… unwell.”

  Meomi slowly removed her helmet, giving time for the pain and anger to subside. “I’m fine,” she said with a stoic face. “I’m just surprised to find other humans on this planet.”

  “How did you get here?” Thorne stood in front of Meomi, forcing the attention on himself. “Are there more people here? What is this place?”

  “Don’t know,” said Sergey. “Not many answers yet. One night we in bed, then poof… We here. That is all.”

  “That’s similar to the story of other abducted Fleet Officers,” Thorne said to himself but loud enough for others to hear.

  “There are others?” Anina’s chin raised. “Is that what happened to your group?”

  “Many others — thousands,” Thorne said. “We’re a recon squad sent to investigate the missing Fleet personnel. During our mission, we were captured. Our escape led us here.”

  “Where is here?” Sergey asked.

  “We haven’t figured out that part yet,” Anina added.

  “You don’t know?” Rayfin asked. “This planet is inside a pocket universe. We’re not in the same universe as Earth anymore if you can believe that.”

  Meomi expected to see a look of shock on their faces, similar to how she must have appeared when she first discovered the existence of pocket universes. Yet, neither captains seemed surprised nor the least bit concerned at the revelation. “It’s true…”

  Klaxons blared inside the room.

  Bast immediately drew his rifle as did other members of the team.

  “It is OK,” Sergey said, gesturing for everyone to lower their guns.

  Anina tapped her wrist, and a floating holographic panel appeared in front of her playing an infrared video stream of the exterior. A mass of Calfars huddled near the entrance, some clawing at the walls, others sniffing the air. “It’s just the oversized reptilian people again. They must have caught a whiff of your scent.” She closed the floating panel.

  “Give a little time,” Sergey said. “They go away.”

  “I have never seen the Calfars give up on prey before,” Bast said.

  “Calfars? Is that what they are called?” Anina asked. “How do you know this?”

  As Bast explained his story to their captors, Meomi held a private conversation with Thorne. “A lot of things aren’t adding up. Not their past stories, not this facility, not anything.”

  “I am at a loss for an explanation as well,” Thorne said.

  “Do you think they could be Mimics, disguised as humans?”

  “To what end?” Thorne sighed. “They would be better served infiltrating humans in a universe full of humans, not this planet.”

  “At the very le
ast, they have technology and power. Maybe even a means of communication. If we can’t find a way back, maybe we can send for help.” The idea of reaching help made her stomach flutter with hope. “If we can just get out of this barrier…” Getting imprisoned seemed to be a consistent problem for Meomi. No matter the course taken, the same obstacle appeared over and over.

  “Agreed,” Thorne said, popping Meomi out of her bubble of thought. “Our goal should be to escape — from here and eventually off this planet. I still think the black pyramids represent our best chance of returning to our own universe. If given the opportunity, we should resume our original plan.”

  The itchiness in Meomi’s limbs spread to her torso. She desperately wanted to take off her exo suit and claw at her body. Instead, she settled for a combat stim injection which dulled her neuroreceptors. Meomi closed her eyes as the chemicals coursed through her veins. Visages of Inoke’s face appeared on the back of her eyelids followed by the nagging feeling she had forgotten something.

  The klaxons sounded again, this time with accompanying flashing orange ceiling lights.

  “Perimeter breach!” Sergey shouted.

  “Stay here,” Anina said. “The force fields will protect you.” She and Sergey hustled out of the room.

  “This facility is no longer safe,” Bast said. “I strongly suggest we find a means of escape.”

  “Escape sounds really good,” Rayfin said. “I’m 100% all for it. We should start right now.”

  Thorne ran his gloved hands along the energy barrier creating a radiant streak of colors. “I’m open to suggestions.”