Nemesis: Box Set: Books 1 - 3 Read online

  Even now, a thousand years later, that sense of awe hadn’t left Morena.

  Briten stood next to her at the precipice of the core. Their world ending, and the molten lava beneath them dying. Morena looked down where the ground dropped off into a cliff that fell hundreds of thousands of feet. Her eyes saw the red, churning heat below, and she followed it out, for ten thousand feet, until the other side of the hole shot up, another cliff—completing a piece of the circle.

  “It’s beautiful,” Briten said.

  He had seen it before, of course, but Lornarus had no core like this. Their world was warmed by a star, not by the core of their world. And even if they were warmed from inside their planet, it would still have been beautiful. Morena didn’t look over to him, but she appreciated his words.

  Briten stepped forward, looking like he would fall off the cliff and plummet down to the inner sanctum of Bynimian, where the lava would burn his aura to nothing but a memory. He didn’t fall, of course, as the bridge started building underneath his feet the moment one lifted to take a further step. Morena followed him, the bridge falling away as her foot left the last piece of the transparent platform. She looked down, seeing directly through the material as if it were glass, instead of a design that would protect them from the heat reaching this high up. The bridge, both falling away and building out as they moved forward, created a capsule around them—much like the balcony on which Morena met Chilras—that kept all harm from touching anyone over the core. The bridge could go further down, if needed, so that engineers could tinker with the construction below.

  They stood thirty feet out from the cliff, both looking down. Morena could tell he wanted to go down further, that he wanted to watch as the liquid earth bubbled up around him, splashing the capsule.

  “It’s dying,” he said, not moving.

  Morena didn’t say anything back.

  “And there’s no way to save it,” he said. “I’ve worked out every calculation I can possibly think of. Transferring another star’s energy to the core, rebooting it, even allowing Bynums to power it like batteries. Every theory which starts promising, ends up disastrous. The math won’t work. Sometimes it ends with the world exploding, sometimes it ends up with the world floating into a cold, dead, silence. It never ends with Bynimian surviving, though.”

  Morena said nothing. She had thought that would be the case. The Knowledge that Vars carried wasn’t as strong with her as it had been with her mother—but then again, no Var possessed the level of Knowledge that her mother had. Morena had her own strengths that helped make up for her lack of Knowledge—but some of it had shown through here. Briten worked on figuring out the problem, but Morena always knew that the solution wouldn’t lie on Bynimian.

  “Is it hopeless?” She asked.

  “No, but it will be hard,” he answered.

  Morena wanted to know the plan, but two things stopped her. She would not lie to The Council, and if she found out now, then her earlier statement to the Hindran would be a lie. She also didn’t want to come in as a team with Briten tomorrow. She wanted to be there as the Var, measuring a decision as the leader of Bynimian. She wouldn’t be his wife tomorrow and if she knew about the plan now, then that would be difficult to accomplish.

  “Are you ready?” She asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s go back,” Morena said. She suddenly felt sad, looking down at the world which birthed her and all the other Bynums she was charged with protecting. This world which had mothered them all, took such care of her people. It was dying and she couldn’t save it. She didn’t know exactly what Briten would say tomorrow, but she knew that, which was enough. She couldn’t save that which had given so much to her.

  “Okay,” he said, looking up to her. “I’m sorry.”

  She leaned forward, placing her forehead on his. They stood there like that for sometime, the world burning beneath them, slowly shutting down.

  * * *

  Seven people sat in a semicircle around Briten, with Morena in the middle. Three to her left and three to her right, The Council, ready to hear her husband’s plan.

  “Bynimian can no longer sustain its heat generating properties, as I’m sure you’re all aware. Even now, in the past thousand years, the inner temperature has cooled, and we can see the effects of this throughout the world. Large blighted areas. Ice beginning to grow across areas of the planet that have never known such temperatures.”

  “We know, Briten, please continue on to your solution,” Chilras said. Morena didn’t look over to the old Bynum but she could have tossed her into the core for such disrespect. Morena couldn’t show any emotion though, couldn’t show one way or the other how she felt.

  “Yes, of course, Hindran,” Briten said, not showing any signs that it bothered him. “Allow me just a second more, as I want to make sure we all understand what will happen when our core dies.”

  Morena leaned back so that she could see Chilras from her peripheral. The woman practically grimaced at Briten’s use of the word our.

  “Already, the world is contracting, much like a star when it dies. Not a lot, not something that is noticeable without instruments to measure, but it is contracting. The colder the core gets, the more it shrinks, thus pulling in the outer world around it. When it finally cools completely, Bynimian will crack, and fold in on itself, growing smaller and smaller until a final reaction explodes the shrinking planet outward. All life on Bynimian will cease to exist.”

  He paused, allowing The Council members to speak if they wished. No one said anything, only waited for him to continue.

  “As far as I can tell, there are no options to save Bynimian. I’ve worked out every possible formula I can, and they all fail. As you can see in front of you, I’ve given you detailed notes on my process.”

  “We’ve read it,” Chilras said, staring directly at him, not bothering to look down at the images he supplied to walk them through the other options.

  “Good, Hindran. There is one option that can work, that all the formulas say will allow our species to continue. We must colonize. There are approximately a hundred thousand other planets across the universe with dimensions similar to ours, and a radioactive core that provides heat. I’ve mapped them out as you’ll see. We’ve never had contact with any of these planets, and we don’t know if life already exists on them. It is possible.”

  Another pause, but again no one spoke. It seemed that Chilras only spoke when she shouldn’t. Morena would speak to her after about showing respect, and if she didn’t want to hear it, then Morena would take other measures to ensure her husband never experienced embarrassment like this again.

  “We need fifty to a hundred thousand ships, and we need to equip them with five Bynums each. From there, we send them to these other worlds, and once they arrive, they contact Bynimian, letting us know what they’ve found—whether or not life is there and if the place is habitable.”

  “And if there is life?” Another Council member, Jiln asked.

  “There are multiple options; Bynums can return home; they can eradicate the other life; they can wait for reinforcements to arrive; or, they can attempt to live with said life.”

  “Eradicate it?” Chilras said.

  “It is an option, Hindran.”

  “Has Bynimian ever been in a war, Briten? Do you know?” The old hag said. Morena remained leaning back, not saying anything, outward appearance showing only dispassion.

  “No, Bynimian has never been to war with another species. I’m only presenting options here, Hindran, not absolutes,” Briten said.

  “But you come to us with only one option, the option to leave our home.”

  “As I said, for the species to live, there are no other options. It is an impossibility to remain on this planet.”

  “I’ve heard you say that, but your words don’t make it so. You are an outsider, no?” Chilras asked.

  “I am.”

  “Our ways are new to you?”

  “They are.
”

  “Well let me educate you some, as the Var’s husband it is only right that you understand the culture you’ve adopted,” Chilras said. “Bynums are Bynimian, and Bynimian is us. To leave this planet, to sacrifice our home so that we may live, it’s unthinkable. You come to us with one solution, the one that will destroy our culture, the one that will send us out as refugees into the universe. We will become wanderers without a home.” She turned to look across the table at the others. “What are your thoughts? Should we send out citizens into the cold of space?”

  The other Council members remained stoic, much like Morena. She knew Chilras didn’t mean for her to speak, that she wanted to hear from the other five, but Morena didn’t care at this point. The woman was acting on emotion and Morena couldn’t tell whether that emotion was based on her hatred for Briten or her genuine refusal to leave the planet. Either way, her words were acid attempting to destroy the idea that Briten had put forth. Morena had read all of his calculations; she looked at every piece of documentation Briten supplied, and Chilras could sit here with cold rage, but it didn’t change the fact that Briten was right.

  “If we don’t send them out, they’ll die here in a hot explosion,” Morena answered.

  Chilras found her eyes. “Says him. Our own have not had the chance to look at the numbers.”

  “Hindran, you said that you did look at the numbers just a moment ago. I’ve looked at them, and am I not one of ‘our own’?”

  Chilras said nothing.

  “Given that I am probably considered a Bynum, despite your dislike of it, I say that the numbers add up perfectly. I find no flaws in them whatsoever. So I ask, what else can we do to keep our entire species from dying?”

  “We will need to discuss the matter in private,” someone said to Morena’s left. She didn’t look over, but kept staring at Chilras, unwilling to release the look the two shared.

  “There is no need to argue out here,” Jiln said. “Morena is right; we will discuss your findings and solution. We thank you for your effort, Briten.” The rest of The Council stood then, all of them obviously eager to avoid the power struggle between Chilras and Morena. Morena didn’t move, though Chilras slowly stood, most likely knowing what it would look like if she sat staring at the Var.

  They walked off, heading to a private room, one even Morena could not enter.

  * * *

  “I should kill her,” Morena said.

  Briten laughed, his voice echoing out across the large hall.

  Morena wasn’t laughing; she wasn’t joking either. She was seriously considering having her tried for the disrespect Chilras showed both of them. It was unheard of, for a Council member to speak to a Var or her husband in such a manner. It was a disrespect that the citizens would rip her apart for, if they had seen it. The Var kept the world safe, it moved the world forward, and for someone to show such contempt—it couldn’t be tolerated.

  But that was only a piece of this, one that the Hindran could die for, but ultimately inconsequential.

  Morena knew what was happening back in that room, the one that she couldn’t enter. No Var had ever entered that room, not even Morena’s mother, who The Council positively adored, even after her blessing on Morena’s marriage. Behind those doors, Chilras was railing against Briten’s plan, building an unholy union between emotion and logic that would cloud The Council’s judgment.

  “They’re not going to let us do it,” she said, not looking at Briten, but pacing along the large hallway. The vaulted ceilings were transparent, allowing the artificial light that streamed down from the atmosphere to filter inside.

  “I knew it was a long shot,” Briten said. “I knew the pushback I would get. I should have been more forceful, but…it wouldn't have mattered. They would claim I was an outsider trying to dominate their society.” He smiled, leaning back in his chair.

  “You’re not the least bit angry?” Morena asked, the fury inside her abating slightly.

  “I’m sad, Morena. They’re sentencing a few billion Bynums to death. There’s no anger at them for that stupidity, just sadness.”

  “No anger? They’re murderers. They’re ending my bloodline. They’re sentencing a planet to death.” She couldn’t believe what he was saying, found herself actually turning her rage onto him, thinking that perhaps he deserved some of it too. Her planet was going to die and no one seemed to care, at all.

  “What is my anger going to do? I can’t change their minds with it. I can’t fix the situation with it. Look at you, all of your anger and you’re still not able to get in their room and convince them I’m right.” He looked at her, holding his eyes the same as Chilras had. He wasn’t challenging her though; Briten never did that. He never had to. He looked at her as an equal, and yet as someone who would acquiesce if needed, because that was his position on this world. Guilt seeped in to her anger, dulling it. How much had he given up for her? How much had he sacrificed so they could be together?

  His sacrifice had been greater, would always be greater. He would acquiesce because he lived on her world, with her people and her customs, instead of his own where he would have ruled. He sacrificed much of his own life for her.

  “I’m sorry,” she said as she stopped pacing. “I just don’t know what to do. They’re going to come back and say we’re not moving forward with your plan. They’re going to search for other ways and there aren’t any. How long do we have Briten?”

  “The rate of cooling will increase, so perhaps another million years or so.”

  She looked down at the floor. It wasn’t that long, not if they were to find another home before then, not if they were to evacuate the entire planet. Morena might be dead by then, Briten too, but if they didn’t start now—start soon—it would be too late.

  “What do I do?” She asked, looking back to her husband.

  “You’re the Var. Not them. It is your role, your duty, to protect your people—it is their duty to make sure your decisions are the correct ones. There’s no one making sure their decisions are correct, though.” Briten stood up and walked to her, wrapping his arms around her, but not pulling close, keeping his distance and looking into her eyes. “You have to determine the best choice, Morena. Not me. Not them.”

  18

  Present Day

  Things were not as good as they could be and Morena had no one to blame but herself. This world was different, and she hadn’t adequately tried to understand it before she acted. Their plan had been to send five people out, five Bynums to discover other planets. It wouldn’t have been enough. She needed more of her kind to back her up, because she felt the pressure growing around her. She thought Bryan did too, though he didn’t say anything. There was a sense of happiness permeating their shared mind when she got off the phone with Bryan’s girlfriend—this Julie. The happiness didn’t stem from Morena though; Bryan owned it. Morena hadn’t performed well, hadn’t convinced the girl that everything was fine, and she would most likely talk. Most likely tell the other people that had been causing the ‘phone’ to vibrate. The more people that thought Bryan wasn’t all right, the more likely it became that Morena would need to reveal herself before she was ready.

  She couldn't mess this up. There wasn’t enough energy left to find another home for her and Briten. There wasn’t enough information either, from what she gathered from the library. This species knew virtually nothing of the universe and there had been no time to program her ship when they left Bynimian. If this world didn’t work, Morena could think of no other options. She couldn’t make it back out of this atmosphere, and even if she did, what would they do? Float in space again endlessly, hoping that by some miracle they might hit another planet.

  No. This had to work. This planet had to be the one.

  This species knew more about their own planet than they did the universe, but it still wasn’t much. The planet was unique in that it had both a star warming it, and the internal core seemed to give heat as well. The problem was, what she didn’t under
stand, was how much heat? No one knew, though they had guesses, but she couldn’t base the future of her species on a guess. Or rather, she didn’t want to.

  The star’s warmth did nothing for her, nor would it do anything for any other Bynum. They evolved to rely on heat from below, not above.

  “When will they be here?” she asked Bryan, not needing to say who she was talking about.

  “A couple of hours.”

  Morena had gone to school today, gleaning from Bryan through a little more arm twisting that if she didn’t, she would most definitely be noticed. Now she sat in his bedroom brooding over what came next. Over when his parents would get home and what they would say. Morena had managed to keep from talking too much, feigning illness last night, but she thought it wouldn’t work again. Tonight they would ask questions about the day at the library, and Bryan probably would have been able to explain it all away—but Morena was finding it hard to convey emotion with this body, finding it hard to converse naturally. So the conversation would lead to more suspicion which would lead to more conversation, and the cycle would continue until Morena had no choice but to reveal herself.

  Which caused a whole host of problems.

  “What are they going to want to know?” She asked.

  “Where you were. Why you were there.”

  “Can you teach me to talk to them?” Morena said.

  The pause was long as she waited on his answer.

  “I don’t think so,” he said finally. She listened to his words and felt his mind, trying to understand if she would need to hurt some part of his body again. She didn’t think so, though. She thought he was telling the truth, that the pause had been him really considering whether or not it was possible. “You’re too different. Your brain, or whatever, isn’t connecting fully with mine, so everything you say is coming off stilted. Robotic. I don’t know how to teach that.”