This story does have several gay main characters. If this offends you, go read your bible instead. There will also be incidents of violence and/or sexual situations in various chapters. They are a part of the story. If you don't like them, don't read.
Author's Note - As some readers have noticed, the first few chapters of Shapers' War started slower than before. Things are starting to speed up now, but will continue to skip forward in time a lot. This story takes place approximately 500 years after the end of the last chapter. For those trying to keep track, that is 800 years after Chapter 2, 880 years after Chapter 1 (Shapers' War). Of course it also makes it a little over 900 years after the start of The Wreckers.
Because of these jumps, there will be many things that have changed in the general setting of the story. I have worked most of these changes into the story, but a few will be stated at the beginning. In this case, the most important thing to note is that the Ackeland Confederation (as the descendants of New Phoenix now call their country) has entered into a mutual defense treaty with the Southern Alliance (made up of Australia and New Zealand). The Outer Colonies bear allegiance to the nation(s) which sponsored them, but are largely independent and help each other out as necessary.
The Shapers' Republic (as it is now called), is a closed society. No outsiders are allowed in, and no people are allowed out. By Chapter 10 of 'The Wreckers' less than 5% of the Earth's landmass was still above water. At the time of Shapers War 4, that has been increased to 20%.
Shapers' War Chapter 4 - New Enemies
J'Stan sat down in his chair, and let out a deep sigh. He remembered these times from his first stint in a Navy, and nothing had changed in the last nine hundred years or so. These days he seemed to lose track of just how much time had passed. Those early days of his life often felt like a dream. Of course, back then he'd spent many a night dreaming of where he was now. He chuckled softly at the thought that dreams can come true.
'Enough musing,' came the distant thought from Adam. 'Get back to work, buddy boy, or I'll come out there and spank you!'
'Promise?' J'Stan sent back with a chuckle that made the people around him look at him in his chair.
"I take it you are having a conversation with Adam?" B'rel said. The red-haired, still bright-eyed, young man said from his spot next to J'Stan's chair.
"Why else would I be laughing, Mr. B'rel?" J'Stan said, voice firm as he could make it.
"Because we're screwed and we know it?" B'rel said, quoting an oft spoken joke between them.
"After 500 years, I'd think you'd come up with a better tagline, young man."
"Maybe you should have failed me back then, when you had the chance, sir."
"Don't tempt me," J'Stan said threateningly, then burst out laughing. The men and women around him joined in on the laughter. They'd been with him long enough now to know that it was alright to joke on the bridge of his ship.
His ship. J'Stan's smile continued to grow as he looked around the tight confines of the bridge. Directly ahead of him was Stellar Navigation and Helm. To his right were the Sensors and Tactical stations, to his left the three Engineering stations. Aft of him were the Damage Control and Communications sections. B'rel sat next to him in a duplicate command station, complete with control boards. Over the heads of his Navigator and Helmsman was a panoramic view of the stars ahead of them, and the giant shape of Jupiter. Europa was little more than a small dot at this distance, but would soon be bigger.
"Begin initial braking sequence, Helm. Three minute burn on main retro thrusters," J'Stan ordered, beginning another port call on one of his favorite colonies.
The ship shuddered a bit as the retro thrusters fired, pouring energy out to slow their approach speed. Numbers rushed through J'Stan's head as he calculated the power being thrown out by the quartet of thrusters around the bridge windows. He could visualize the boxy ship, which looked a little like an old Atari video game cartridge, slowing in its approach. He lamented the fact that he'd waited all this time to really learn real mathematics.
Five hundred years ago, his head would have been swimming, lost in the calculations being duplicated on his helm readout. Now he just felt a little dizzy. His mind counted the seconds out, as did the board in front of him, and they matched perfectly.
"Cease burn on my mark.......mark!" he ordered. On cue, the engines cut out and his ship continued on its course at its new speed. Also on cue, the bridge access door opened behind him, admitting a now familiar presence.
"All cargo is ready for unloading when we reach our destination, sir," the middle aged man said when he reached a spot between J'Stan's and B'rel's chairs.
"Very good, Lieutenant Commander Zindel," B'rel said. It was his duty as J'Stan's First Officer to take the report.
As the supply officer, and distant grandchild of Margaret Zindel handed his report pad to B'rel and left the bridge, J'Stan sighed again.
'Still mad about Jenna getting her first command before you, eh?' J'Stan sent mentally to B'rel. Jenna was also a descendant of Margaret Zindel, but was gifted and a former classmate of B'rel. Classmate and rival.
'No!' B'rel answered the same way. 'It has nothing to do with that. The man is a pompous ass. I thought Jenna was anal retentive, but he's worse. Are all the Zindels like that?'
'Yes, they are,' J'stan answered mentally, smothering another chuckle. 'Which is why they make the best supply officers...and scientists. Jenna Zindel is one of the best researchers I've ever seen, which is why she got the exploration ship.'
'Of course. I wouldn't have wanted that kind of ship anyway. Give me one of these babies, now. That'd make me happy.'
'A jumped up supply ship!' J'Stan laughed aloud. The truth was, there were only two useful types of ships in space. Supply/Transports and exploration ships. Supply/Transports also doubled as warships, complete with weapons. Fortunately, none had ever been used for real.
"Begin second deceleration burn on my mark....mark!" J'Stan barked aloud. At his command, the upper port and lower starboard engines began their second full power burn. Like the first burn, this one shut off at his command perfectly.
"Very good, crew," he complimented them. They were good, and he always made sure they knew how much he appreciated it. "I'm happy to announce that this time, we'll be staying on Europa for a whole week. Holiday routine for all!" The cheer at that comment resounded off the bulkheads, making him smile. He'd always enjoyed hearing that himself. Holiday routine meant that the only people required to be on ship were those on duty. With a four section rotation, that meant six full days of liberty for everyone.
Of course, he still had a hard time getting used to eight-day weeks. Three hundred and fifty years ago, some astronomers had made a disturbing discovery. The Earth's rotation around the Sun had been altered by all the events it had been through. The new calendar had resulted in an 8 day week, and several hundred more days per year on the calendar.
"Mr. B'rel, you have the conn," he said, standing up from his chair and heading for the bridge access.
"I have the conn, aye, sir," B'rel answered in the age-old tradition.
J'Stan paused by the Damage Control stations, and looked at the displays currently up there. Both fusion reactors showed at full power. Reclamation processors normal, all pipes and conduits operating normally. All green. For a ship over fifty years old, it was a pleasant sight. Just as he was about to leave through the door, a call from the communications officer stopped him.
"Commander B'rel, sir. Emergency message from Europa!" Lieutenat Martha Sanders said. Good discipline. Even though he was on the bridge, B'rel had the conn and the report should go to him.
"On main screen!" B'rel ordered as J'Stan stayed where he was. The middle viewport turned opaque a moment before the image of the Europa Governor appeared.
"Any ship out there, do you read?" said the older man on the screen. His hair had already turned white, and his smaller frame announced him Europa-born. Europa gravity was only 4/5 of earth normal, and natives tended to be lighter boned.
"We read you, Governor," B'rel said. "This is the ACS Trepidation. What is the nature of your emergency?"
"Last night, we started having some severe quakes. They caused minor damage to the buildings in three of our cities. Today, our atmospheric sensors have detected a drop in atmospheric pressure of over 3 parts per thousand."
As the Governor went on, J'Stan sent a thought to Adam to get his attention, and moved back to his chair and sat down. He nodded slightly for B'rel to continue, but he wanted to be in the view of the Governor. This sounded interesting.
"What have the Guardians done to help?" B'rel asked.
"That's the problem. They're gone," the Governor said, his voice cracking a bit.
"What do you mean, they're gone?" J'Stan broke in, sending a mental apology to B'rel. His tone was sharp, and hard.
"I mean what I said, sir," was the Governor's response. He recognized J'Stan, and his face showed more fear. "When the quakes started, the first thing we did was look for Guardians Beerston and Staffley. They were nowhere to be found."
"Have they ever left without letting someone know?" B'rel asked, concern in his tone.
"Never both of them, sir. They've always made sure at least one was here at all times. We're still small, only fifty thousand people. But they've done a good job by us."
"Very well, Governor," J'Stan said, feeling consent for his plan from Adam. "Prepare to receive visitors. Guardian Morgan and myself will be there shortly."
"Thank you, sir!" the Governor said, relief showing on his face before the signal ended.
"Sir, are you sure you want to leave now?" B'rel said cautiously. "It will be another day before we achieve orbit, and it's nearly impossible to teleport back to a moving ship."
"I have full faith in your abilities, B'rel," J'Stan said before concentrating on moving from the bridge of his ship to the Administrative Building of Europa. He also decided to change from the Guardian's uniform he normally wore to the more formal uniform of a ship captain. It was a dark blue jumpsuit, with the silver eagles of his rank on each shoulder. On the sleeves were brown and white disks indicating he was a Guardian as well. Relunctantly he added the newest items above the Guardian Disk. A short gold bar with four silver bars above it indicated he'd been a Guardian for nine hundred years. It was bad enough they made the years part of the uniform, but to credit him at nine hundred always made him feel old.
Moments later, he was standing on the platform designated for public transport. It was down the main street from the Europa Administrative Building, which reminded him of the first such building in New Phoenix. It was a four story, wood building, reminiscent of early western American architecture. The fact that it was standing on the spot where Adam and he had often made love here only made him smile more.
Most of the colony residents were what he would call prudish. If they had known that Adam and he had used that spot for their lovemaking, they'd probably raze the building down and build a new one elsewhere. He always had to suppress the urge to tweak their noses out of joint. At least the spaceport area was a little more relaxed than here.
The platform he was standing on was elevated slightly, so he walked down a short flight of steps to the street. There was some rubble in the street, likely from the quakes the night before. The usual reddish hue from Jupiter offset the scene eerily as he made his way over to his destination.
When he passed people in the street, they stopped what they were doing and looked at him. Most looked immediately to his sleeves, and on seeing the Guardian Disk and year bars, smiled and greeted him warmly. Their reactions made him feel a little guilty about disliking the year bars, but he simply smiled back and returned their greetings.
He could feel Adam still en route from Earth. They'd long since figured out the actual time delays in their travel methods. Teleportation was almost instantaneous over short distances, but took longer over the distances between planets. It'd be another few hours until Adam arrived. In the meantime, he'd meet with the Governor and begin laying the groundwork for the investigation into what had happened.
He approached the Administration building and walked in through the main double doors. Like the original New Phoenix building, this one had a reception counter in the small lobby. Oddly, there was no one there. It didn't matter though, J'Stan knew where the Governor's office was. He may not have been there in almost a hundred years, but Europans were so conservative they rarely changed things.
He made his way up to the third floor and around the corner from the stairwell was the office he was looking for. He entered through the doorway and found himself in a small reception area, also devoid of people. This time, though, he could hear raised voices coming from deeper inside.
"I tell you we are asking for trouble!" a voice J'Stan did not recognize was saying. "I recognized the man in brown and white. That was J'Stan! First Head Guardian! He comes in here and not only will he help us out, but he'll also take the opportunity to ruin our plans!"
"I sent a distress call!" this voice was the Governor's. "I can't very well call back and say 'Never Mind', can I?"
"No, but you can say that you don't need his help. Just Morgan's, whoever that is," the first voice said.
"Unlike you, I've studied a little of the history of our planet," the Governor said, scorn dripping from every word. "Guardian Adam Morgan is the creator of this colony, here. He's also the lover of J'Stan. He alone is bad enough."
"So what do we do?" the other voice nearly whined.
"We keep calm," the Governor said, voice lowering, forcing J'Stan to strain to hear. "Don't even think about things while they are here. Just let them do what needs to be done, and leave as fast as possible. Things will work out."
J'Stan chose that moment to open the entry door and slam it shut. He could hear scurrying from the conference room, and the Governor's flustered face appeared in a doorway. When he saw J'Stan, a smile grew on his face and he crossed the polished wooden floors quickly, arm stretched out for a handshake.
"Guardian J'Stan!" he said warmly. "It's good to see you in person. We weren't expecting you so soon." The other man stepped out of the conference room also smiling. He was of medium height, and had reddish-blond hair and a well-groomed beard of the same color. Both men were dressed in conservative suits, dark brown in color.
"My ship is less than a day out, Governor," J'Stan said, shaking the man's hand gently. "The teleport over such a small distance is short, compared to the trip directly from Earth."
"Ah," said the second man. "Most of our staff is still out taking surveys of the damage. Apologies that no one was here to meet you, sir."
"None needed," J'Stan said, putting some humor into his voice. "Europa has always been my favorite of the colonies. I remember the first habitat five hundred years ago, and am always glad to see how strong the ecosystem here has become."
"Five hundred years ago?" the second man said incredulously. "The colony was only founded three hundred years ago!"
"Yes," J'Stan said, not able to resist twigging them a little. "But Adam and I started this place long before that. By the way, who are you?"
"I'm sorry," the Governor said hastily. "This is our Chief Enforcer, Barsit Newell."
"Good to meet you, Enforcer Newell," J'Stan said as he shook the man's hand. "The problems you're having are some of the things we struggled with when we first started out."
"Amazing," Newell said. "I'd love to hear more about those first days."
"Perhaps after we've taken care of the immediate problems," J'Stan said.
"Would you like to join us in the conference room?" the Governor asked. "We're fully wired for communications both inter-planetary and intra. We're expecting reports shortly from the other cities, and from the teams here in Clarkestown."
"That would be ideal," J'Stan answered, then continued to speak as he followed the men into the large conference room. "Guardian Morgan will deal primarily with the environmental problems you are facing."
"Ah, and when do you expect him to arrive?" Enforcer Newell asked.
"Should be another couple of hours," J'Stan answered. "If something happens before he gets here, I'll deal with it as best I can. Adam's the one who did most of the work on this place and is much better at this sort of work than I."
"So, you will be..." the Governor inquired.
"Looking into the disappearance of the Guardians assigned here," J'Stan answered, anger tinting his voice.
"I already have a team on that," Newell stated, inserting a hint of finality to his voice.
"I'm sure they're doing as good a job as they can, Enforcer Newell," J'Stan responded, his voice as strong as steel. "However, I have resources they do not. Furthermore, the disappearance of Guardians is a matter for Guardians to handle. Your Colony Charter states that as clearly as the Ackeland Charter does."
"Of course," the Governor said in a slightly patronizing tone, with a sharp glance to Newell. "We will abide by the Charter, but shouldn't a Guardian be summoned from Ackeland to handle this? No disrespect intended, but you're also a ship captain."
"None taken," J'Stan said smoothly, suppressing an urge to slap both men. He leaned forward, arms on the table and gave both men his sternest look. "I will make things clear for you. I am the most senior Guardian you will find anywhere. The Board will only confirm my authority here. My ship will be here within a day, and land at the spaceport outside Clarkestown. I fully expect to have things resolved before they arrive."
"That soon?" the Governor said, astonishment showing on his face.
"After nine hundred years, there are few things that pose difficulty in solving...or finding out," J'Stan said, his tone warning them.
"Uh, of course, sir," Enforcer Newell said nervously. "I'll assign my staff to assist you."
"Fine," J'Stan said shortly. "I'll just need one person to show me the last known location of the Guardians assigned here."
Whatever Newell was about to say was cut off by a screen on the wall flaring to life. A striking young woman appeared on the screen. Her dark hair was tied back in a bun, and her face was streaked with dirt. Her eyes were sunken deep in their sockets, and the hazel eyes themselves spoke volumes of her state of mind.
"Come in, Clarkestown!" she was saying, voice on the edge of panic. She seemed to relax when it became obvious she had reached someone. Relief practically flooded her face when she saw J'Stan standing there with the Governor.
"Go ahead, Enforcer Pashton," Newell said in an authoritative tone.
"Sir!" she said, tearing her eyes away from J'Stan. "The team from the Academy finished setting up the reserve sensors a few minutes ago. As soon as they were activated, they started warning of an impending quake. Estimate is an hour from now."
"What is the condition of Bowman?" the Governor asked.
"Bowman is the second largest City, about 1,800 kilometers from here," Newell said in a side whisper to J'Stan.
"I'm familiar with the layout of Europa, Enforcer. But thank you," J'Stan answered the man while the woman on the screen looked down, off the screen at something before answering.
"We've assessed the damage to buildings here pretty well. Most stood up fully, but there was some damage. Several people were injured but are being treated in the local hospital. The sensors indicate this will be a fairly massive quake, about 7.2 is being projected at the moment. We don't have time for a full evacuation. People are gonna die unless something's done."
"There's not enough time to wait for Adam," J'Stan said firmly, drawing everyone's attention to him. "I will be there in a few moments, Enforcer Pashton."
"I'll have someone waiting at the platform when the other Guardian arrives," the Governor said.
"Not necessary. Adam will know where I am, and go there as soon as he arrives," J'Stan told the man. "I have a communicator with me. Signal me on frequency 336 if anything else comes up requiring my help. Especially when you get a report in from the other city, Halen."
"As you wish," said Newell in a neutral tone.
"Later, then," J'Stan said as he focused on the location of the woman who'd made the report and was still on the screen. He appeared in a building off the central square of Bowman in time to see the woman turning off the communication station she'd been transmitting from.
"Sir, Enforcer Guinevere Pashton at your service," she greeted him warmly.
"Guardian-Captain J'Stan of the ACS Trepidation," he introduced himself. "It's nice to receive a warm welcome from someone."
"Governor Krasas and Enforcer Newell weren't too friendly, I take it?" she half-asked, half-stated.
"You might say that," J'Stan answered with a small chuckle.
"Well, they don't like Guardians too much. Beerston and Staffley were a bit on the overwhelming side for their taste. You know how, um, conservative most Europans are?"
"You might say that. Last time my partner and I were here we offended a few people by holding hands while watching Jupiter set."
"Ha! Thanks be I was born on Earth. My family migrated here when I was still in my mother's womb. I was actually born on the trip here. Anyway, the Guardians assigned here made a point of showing affection and offending just about everyone they could."
"I've been tempted a few times myself. Some of the people here are worse than the most rabid Morganites," J'Stan said, finding himself liking this woman. "Even being a recent arrival, you're still refreshingly unconservative, Enforcer Pashton."
"Thank you for the compliment, and please call me Gwen," the woman said, a smile forming on her dirt-streaked face. "My family immigrated here to find more room. We're actually quite big. My great-grandfather's brother was a Guardian and I met him a couple of years ago before Beerston and Staffley relieved him here. He told me this was not the most favorite assigment in the rotation."
"I'll probably want to talk to you more about them, and their disappearance, but later. For now, let me see the readings from your sensors."
She nodded at him, and turned towards a portable computer set up on a table in the room. At the same time, three more people came into the room. All of them were just as dirty as Gwen, and they stopped in surprise at seeing J'Stan. She briefly introduced them as her squad leaders, and tapped some keys on the computer.
The holographic display appeared above the keyboard, showing the readings from the sensors they had placed around the town. J'Stan moved to the table, and used the computer controls to adjust the holographic view, and recalibrated some of the sensors to scan at different bandwiths.
"You're familiar with this equipment?" one of the squad leaders asked.
"Of course. I designed them," J'Stan said offhandedly.
"Oh," the same man said, eyes widening a bit.
What J'Stan saw was disturbing. They were right in that a massive quake was coming, but had underestimated its strength. Even more distressing was he could see that these quakes were not from natural causes. A key tectonic plate had been shifted about five hundred meters from where it should be. He knew every plate, and the position it should occupy for the next thousand years. This was definitely caused by someone gifted.
"I see what needs to be done to prevent the quake," he told the people in the room. "However, my doing it is going to cause smaller quakes. I won't lie to you. There may be more damage from the smaller quakes that will happen. You may want to have your teams ready."
"We need to announce it over the local radio and television stations," Gwen said confidently. "How long can you give us?"
"About fifteen minutes is all," J'Stan answered honestly. "Can you meet me in the square outside when you finish the broadcast? I'll want you there in case I need anything done."
"Why can't you do it here?" one of the other squad leaders asked.
"Fewer distractions from stuff shaking," J'Stan said simply as he made his way out of the room. Gwen had nodded her assent and was moving back to the communication equipment to make her broadcast. The squad leaders followed him out, giving orders over the small headsets they all wore.
Like all the cities on Europa, Bowman featured a town square which normally hosted a Farmer's Market. Debris still littered the area from the earlier quakes, and there were few people around. All of them stared at him, though. He ignored them as he reached the center of the square and sat down on the cobblestone. He folded his legs to sit Indian style, reaching out with his mind at the same time.
As he used his mind to begin feeling the tectonic plates far below him, he also worked his way through all the steps necessary to move the errant plate back where it belonged. He barely sensed Gwen approaching him until she was almost within arm reach. Distantly he noticed that she was now wearing a sidearm and a headset like her squad leaders.
"Good," he said to her. "I'm glad you're alone. There's something you need to be aware of, and I need your help."
"What is there that I can do?" she asked calmly.
"This is going to take most of my attention," he told her, wishing he was willing to read her mind without permission. "During that time, I'll be vulnerable. These problems are not natural, and are probably related to the disappearance of Staffley and Beerston."
"Which means that you need someone to guard your back."
"Yes."
"And you trust me?" she asked, a bit of surprise in her voice.
"Who else is there to trust here?" he asked her.
"No one. I'll guard your back, sir," she said confidently.
"Very well. If something happens, shoot me in the leg. That'll grab my attention without causing me too much harm," he told her.
"If that's what you want," she answered, a grim smile on her face.
"Do it, Gwen. I'd rather have the pain than die," he told her.
"As ordered."
"Good. I'm going to start now," he told her, already pushing his attention back to the ground below him.
J'Stan let his mind drift back down, under the surface of Europa. He let small fingers of power grip the tectonic plates he wanted to stabilize, and began wrapping the others in stronger lines, preparatory to moving them. He was barely conscious of the people beginning to drift into the square where he sat, and were held back by Gwen Pashton.
Screams rang out as the ground began to shake a little. He had started the movement process, but was minimizing the impact on the surface. The crowd around him was growing more and more upset when the shaking didn't stop after a few minutes. Now it was a little stronger, but still weak. Some of the buildings were swaying a little, and an occasional bit of plaster would float to the ground.
The crowd reached their breaking point after only 20 minutes of the gentle shaking. Several of them surged forward towards J'Stan, ignoring the warning of the lone female Enforcer. Before the crowd had crossed half the distance, she drew her sidearm and fired a shot at the feet of the leaders. The bright blue beam of the blaster melted a portion of the cobblestone when it hit, and the leaders of the crowd surged backwards.
"She can't get all of us," screamed one of the men in the front.
"But I can get you," Gwen said as she shot the man, vaporizing his chest. The crowd surged back. Most of them had never seen violence before, and they now realized they could be next. When she waved her blaster at them again, they took off running in any direction as long as it was away from her.
When they were out of sight, and she was sure she was alone, she vomited on the cobblestone and looked at the corpse with misery in her eyes. The shaking beneath them had stopped, even though she didn't realize it. She felt a hand on her shoulder and surprise filled her face when she recognized J'Stan.
"If you're lucky, it never gets easier," he told her, nodding towards the corpse. "I take it that was the first time you've done that?" His only answer was a nod of her head.
"May you never have to do that again," he told her, wishing it with all his heart. "But I thank you for watching out for me."
"I told you I would, sir," Gwen said, her voice still shaky.
"Well, I think I've got things settled. There won't be a big quake now, and the aftershocks from my work should settle down in a few hours." J'Stan said to her, a bit of weariness made it into his voice.
"Good, why don't we go back to the HQ then?" Gwen said, her voice regaining its strength.
The two of them made their way back the building, and were going upstairs when a familiar presence made itself known in the back of his mind. Love warred with relief at the sense of Adam being close by. A second later, Adam was there, in the stairwell, hugging him close.
"You're here," J'Stan said simply, as Gwen spun around, weapon in hand. She relaxed when she saw the intimacy between the two men and smiled. She could only see the back of Adam's head, covered with his trademark black hair, as he kissed J'Stan.
"A year is too long," Adam said softly to J'Stan. "I'm gonna start showing up at all of your ports-of-call."
"You're more than welcome to, love," J'Stan said softly. "Come on, I want you to review the logs."
The three of them finished climbing the stairs, and Gwen quickly called up the information from the sensor logs. Adam reviewed it while leaning over the table, his head almost touching J'Stan's. Gwen stood further back, just watching the give and take comments between the two.
"Not bad for a novice," Adam said at one point.
"Novice!" J'Stan exclaimed playfully. "I seem to remember the fact that one of us wasn't even a glint in their pappy's eyes when the other was..."
"Getting his rocks off with every cute boy he met," Adam jumped in.
"Hey!" J'Stan shot back. "Just because you're jealous that I've gotten to know a few hundred..."
"Few HUNDRED?" Adam again interrupted. "More like a few THOUSAND. I swear if I'd known what a slut you were..."
"Well, someone managed to reform me," J'Stan interrupted this time, a loving look on his face as his eyes met Adam's.
"Amazing," Adam said, not letting the joke end. "I only had to bond you so that I'd know instantly if you ever cheated on me."
"Hey!" J'Stan said, a look of hurt actually on his face for a moment before he joined Adam in a fit of laughter.
Their humor was interrupted by the entry of Gwen's squad leaders. Stealing furtive glances at the two men, who resumed their study of the sensor logs, they reported the condition of the City. Except for minor injuries, and the one death, the City had fared decently. No more deaths, and only a few minor injuries. Gwen quickly dismissed them with orders to maintain a curfew for the next day.
When the men were gone, J'Stan and Adam stood up from the computer terminal they were using and faced the young Enforcer. They had managed to patch into the sensors from the other two cities on Europa, and were not happy about what they had found. Gwen took one look at their faces and walked over to an alcove to pour herself a glass of water. Both men shook their heads when she motioned the picture towards them in a silent question.
"So, I take it that I'm not going to like what I'm about to hear?" she asked.
"No," Adam said shortly.
"Absolutely not," J'Stan answered, feeling Adam giving way for J'Stan to lead. This was more his arena after all.
"How well do you know the Governor and Enforcer Newell?" J'Stan asked her after pausing for a few minutes.
"As well as anyone of my station could," she answered hesitantly.
"Which means `not much'," J'Stan stated flatly. Her nod was all the confirmation he needed. "Well, it looks like we have a little mystery here, and some things I've overheard lead me to believe they know more about his than we do."
"What do you mean, what mystery?" Gwen asked with her eyebrows furrowed.
"A couple of things here," Adam started to explain. "The tectonic plate that was shifted here was done by someone with our abilities. The readings from the other City indicate a hole has been bored into a plate deep under the crust. That hole is causing major instability there and will soon erupt into a major quake. There's a similar hole under Clarkestown that will result in similar problems. These were all propagated by someone who knew what they were doing, and who had abilities similar to me."
"Add to that," J'Stan took up the narration. "We have two missing Guardians, and the satellites appear to be malfunctioning. This all adds up to something happening here that is less than savory."
"What do the Governor and Chief Enforcer have to do with this?" Gwen asked, fear showing on her face.
"I overheard them talking when I first arrived," J'Stan said. "They were anxious about hiding something from us, and having plans ruined by our arrival. Why? I don't know yet."
"But you intend to find out?" Gwen asked more than stated.
"Yes."
"So, what do you want from me?"
"I need you," Adam said firmly. "While J'Stan goes back to investigate the disappearance of the Guardians assigned here, I'm gonna go check out that other hole, see what I can do there. Like J'Stan did, I have to concentrate on the task at hand and need someone to watch my back. Do you mind?"
"Gladly," Gwen said. It was apparent that she'd rather do that than accompany J'Stan back to the capital.
"Thank you," J'Stan managed to say before his head rang from a mental blow. His defensive reactions flared up for a moment before he realized it wasn't an attack. Turning back to the computer, he typed in some rapid commands, cursing when they were blocked by a security layer. A few backdoor codes, known only to a few Guardians bypassed the security, and he was now linked to a commsat in orbit.
"J'Stan to Trepidation," he said urgently, ignoring the look of surprise from Gwen. "Come on, Trepidation, respond, please!"
`Calmly, love. They don't need to hear their captain on edge, do they?' Adam chastised softly over their bond.
"We read you, Captain," came the voice of the Trepidation's communication officer. "Stand by for Commander B'rel."
"B'rel here, sir." B'rel's voice was accompanied by a picture forming on the holographic display. J'Stan took a deep breath at the sight. A haze of smoke was being cleared by ventilation fans. Several people on the bridge appeared to have minor injuries and one station on the port side appeared to have been blown by an electrical overload. B'rel's normally immaculate uniform was also in some disarray.
"Report, Commander!" J'Stan said very sharply.
"Things got pretty interesting here a minute ago. We've sustained some minor damage, and one casualty," B'rel said calmly.
"What was the cause?" J'Stan said, dreading what he was about to hear.
"We came under a two-pronged attack, sir." Now, there was a hint of anger in B'rel's voice. "It appears that you weren't the only one to realize battles in space wouldn't be like those old movies you showed. The main attack came from inside the ship, and the other was launched well out of sensor range.
"The attack from within the ship was carried out by Mr. Zindel. He took a blaster and came in to make his regular report. As he approached my chair, he pulled his weapon and fired it into my back. Fortunately, I never liked him and always had my guard up. The blast blew out part of my chair, but didn't hurt me. Unfortunately, our tactical officer was a little zealous in my defense and blew him away. We won't be able to question him."
J'Stan's face clouded over at hearing this, and a deep rage began to build within him. First, the colony, now his ship, and his favorite student. Adam was trying to calm him down, but he wasn't listening.
"Continue your report," J'Stan said to B'rel through clenched teeth.
"Well, at the exact same time as the attack on me, our sensors detected a mass of objects in the vicinity. Sciences and Tactical were both distracted and missed it. Our first warning was the automated collision alarms sounding. I reacted on instinct, flung up my own shield around the ship. It's a good thing I did.
"The attack consisted of a couple hundred steel bearings traveling at high speeds. Two made it through our standard shields before mine went up. They passed through three decks before exiting the ship. Damage Control got the holes patched before we lost too much atmosphere, but we will need to recharge upon arrival at Europa. My shield blocked the remainder of the hits, but they knocked us off course from force reaction."
"Good job, Commander," J'Stan said as he was exhaling the breath he'd held. "I trust you've already sealed Zindel's quarters and put the ship on security lockdown?"
"Yes, sir," B'rel answered. "I sealed the quarters myself. I assumed you'll want to look at them when we get there. I also sealed his office and other workspaces. We'll be arriving four hours ahead of schedule. I had a secondary course plotted, and increased the travel curve. We'll burn three times as much fuel during slowdown, but any attacker will need to be within sensor range to grab us."
"Unless they get your coordinates from someone on board," Adam interrupted, ignoring the look from J'Stan.
"Already considered, Adam," B'rel said. "No communications are being allowed without my approval, and all bandwidths are being monitored just in case. We expect to have most of the damage repaired by arrival, and the rest we can get done shortly once we're grounded at the spaceport. How are things going there?"
"As well as can be expected, B'rel," answered J'Stan, relief in his voice. "I concur with your actions and authorize any fuel expenditures necessary to expedite your arrival. Further, any contacts on sensors are to be interrogated immediately. If they don't check out perfectly, you are to track and engage if possible. My compliments to you and the crew on handling things very well."
"Understood, sir,." B'rel said, confidence now filling his voice. "Trepidation out." J'Stan let the image fade, and the computer resume its tracking of seismic activity. He was relieved that B'rel had handled things so well, but upset over events in general. Until now, no Ackeland ship had ever come under attack. He fervently wished he'd been there, or even more, that it had never happened.
J'Stan and Adam thought about the situation, and the problems they faced as one, each providing his own input into the final analysis. They were silent for several minutes before Gwen shifted a little in the uncomfortably quiet room. Both men turned towards her, having forgotten she was there.
"Do any of your people know where the Guardians who disappeared were quartered?" J'Stan asked her.
"Of course, I can have Lieutenant Mickham show you their home," Gwen answered, then paused a moment before continuing. "Do you think these events are related?"
"Definitely," Adam answered.
"The big question at this point is how are they all related, who's behind them, and how they fit towards the ultimate goals of the perpetrators," J'Stan said with fire in his voice. "Call Mickham up here, Gwen. I mean to get going now."
She spoke into the radio she wore and Mickham arrived a few moments later. She spent just a few seconds ordering him to assist J'Stan, before J'Stan took the shorter man by the arm and led him to a corner of the room. A few whispered words got the information he needed and the two disappeared from the room.
They reappeared on a well-kept cobblestone street in front of a good-sized home. Hedges obscured most of the home, which was set back about twenty feet from the street. A fancy scroll-worked iron gate stood at a break in the hedge. J'Stan followed Mickham through the gate and up into the home.
Everything inside was neat. It fit the style and feel of Victorian homes in the old United States. Wood paneling covered the lower walls and gleamed in the reddish hued Europan daylight. The occupants had left it neat, and the house appeared well-kept. A curt order left Mickham standing at the entrance while J'Stan explored.
To his surprise, it appeared the two Guardians weren't lovers. The kitchen, downstairs bathroom, living room all pointed at two occupants, but did not point to intimacy between them. This was confirmed upstairs where J'Stan found several bedrooms, two of which showed distinct signs of occupation. This was going to take more work than J'Stan had hoped.
He moved into the larger bedroom. From a few personal items in the room, it appeared to have been occupied by Staffley. He sat down, cross-legged, on the bed and began to enter a meditative state. He did this now, more than sleeping, and it worked as well for what he was about to do. View the recent, the past.
This was different than trying to travel into the past. That always resulted in disaster. Instead, he reached out with his mind and felt the currents in the room, the imprints, physical and mental, left by the room's inhabitants. It took a long time to gather things together, and to make sense of them. Outside, night came and he still had not moved beyond the point of collecting things in.
He was so engrossed in his work that he'd lost track of Adam's work on the other side of the planet. A moment later he realized Adam had already taken Gwen to Halen and was working on the problems there. He'd also lost track of things going on immediately around him, so he did not hear the boots on the steps. His attention was jolted back to the present when a disturbance brushed the strands he was collecting, and a beam of energy struck him in the chest.
With an irritated sigh, he let the hours of work go and returned his attention to the world around him. A beam of energy was crossing the room from the doorway, hitting J'Stan square in the chest. The figure in the dark doorway seemed to be fiddling with a dial on the side of the blaster, turning the power up. The beam grew stronger for a moment as J'Stan stared at the figure in the doorway.
"Don't you think it's obvious by now that it won't work?" J'Stan asked after a minute of it. At the same time he reached out and converted the blaster's atoms into harmless air.
"IMPOSSIBLE," screamed a voice that J'Stan knew.
"Not really," J'Stan said quietly, getting off the bed and crossing the room towards the now trembling figure. "Did you really think that I'd leave myself so vulnerable, Enforcer Newell?"
"But, but you needed protection in Bowman!" the Chief Enforcer said, his voice trembling.
"No," J'Stan said patiently, grabbing the man by the arm and leading him towards the bed, where he sat the man down and loomed over him. "I let you think I did, hoping to draw something like this out. Too bad, I liked Gwen."
"She doesn't have anything to do with this!" the man shouted, trying to rise from the bed, but held down by J'Stan's will.
"Yes, she does. Right now she's firing her weapon into Adam with much the same effect," J'Stan said calmly, getting ready to take the easier method of finding out what happened.
"You, you..." Chief Enforcer Newell began, but his voice drifted off as J'Stan entered the man's mind. Like many overly zealous people, the man's mind was a midden. Intimidations, bullying, rape filled the man's thoughts and memories, and at first J'Stan had a hard time sorting through them. Finally he reached what he was looking for.
The man was part of an anti-Guardian movement on Europa, as was the Governor. They'd decided to get rid of the Guardians here and had snuck in the house while the two slept, and killed them. It made him mad. He'd only met the two once, and he hated the fact that despite all the efforts he made, some Guardians just did not understand the full nature of their abilities. If a gifted person truly believed they were invulnerable to such attacks, then they were.
Which is why Adam had handled the attack from Gwen in a similar manner to J'Stan's. Adam was receiving every bit of information that J'Stan was ripping out of Newell's mind, and he was feeling the same things Adam was getting from Gwen. The attack wasn't by her. She was being controlled, from somewhere else. The whole thing felt very similar. When a memory welled up of a prisoner in a cell back at the founding of New Phoenix, grief welled up in Adam, then faded away.
A moment's thought had J'Stan disappearing from the home, leaving behind a gibbering madman on the second floor, and the blasted body of Mickham. He reappeared next to Adam, and his hand reached out to grasp his lover's. Before them stood Gwen, wrapped in invisible bonds created by Adam.
As one, Adam and J'Stan moved their minds deeper into hers, probing for the controlling agent. It had to be someone close, and someone wanting them dead. They found nothing except for a slight trace. The trace led off in a direction off-planet, towards the Southern Alliance colony on another moon of Jupiter, Io.
Adam continued his probing of her mind while J'Stan sent a quick warning off to B'rel by thought. Adam found nothing else in her mind. Whoever had assumed control had gone so far as to wipe her memory. Some of it could be recovered, by Guardians on Earth, but most was lost forever. Sadness filled both men, and a rage.
Moving as one, they both teleported from the site they were at back to the Governor's office. The man was shouting into a communication screen, nearly unintelligible when they appeared. While the transmission winked out as soon as they appeared, they were able to catch the image of the person the Governor had been shouting at before their arrival.
Shock immobilized both men and they barely pulled out of the Governor's mind when an outside force moved in. It wiped the Governor's mind like Gwen's had been wiped. Still, they had already read the man's memory and had no more use for him. They now knew who was behind the events here, and that knowledge left them flabbergasted.
A stirring of air in the room announced that they were no longer alone. Before them stood the person they had seen in the Governor's mind. Grief, rage, startlement, uncertainty filled them and neither of them was able to react for a moment.
"I should have known you two would have been here to spoil everything. Well, you're too late this time. There's very little you can do to save Europa, or any of the colonies for that matter," the man said, his voice bringing back memories of happiness, joy, and pain.
"Dav..," J'Stan began, his throat clutching shut for a moment before he could continue. "David, you're alive!"
"Of course I am, Justin," David Baxter said. He stood there before them, dressed in fatigues from a military long since dissolved. His dark hair was cut short like it had been when J'Stan had first seen him almost a millenium ago. "But it's David no longer. I took a page from your book, dear boy, and changed my name."
"So, what is your name now, old man?" Adam said, scorn filling his voice as realization sunk in that the man standing before them now was not the same man they had known for so long.
"D'vad," was the simple answer.
"Fine, then. D'vad. Why this? What are you trying to do here?" J'Stan said, his voice on edge. His mind was on edge too, and only Adam's firmness was keeping him from hysteria.
"Making you pay," D'vad said, his voice filled with rage and eyes flaring with pain. "It's your FAULT, and you will PAY for it!"
"What's my fault?" J'Stan said, taking a step back from the madman who wore the body of an old friend.
"You KNOW!" D'vad roared, his voice exuding power so great that the walls around them blasted apart and screams could be heard from other people in the building.
"Henry?" Adam said softly.
"Of COURSE!" D'vad said again, his voice destroying more walls so that the red light of Jupiter filled the spot where they were standing. The building shook and began to collapse, but the three men stood where they were, now floating above the ruin of the Administrative Building.
"I know how it feels to lose someone like that," J'Stan said. "I lost the twins, remember? You don't have to do this."
"How is this making us pay?" Adam said on J'Stan's heels. "How does the danger to these colonists make us pay for something that's not really our fault?"
"NOT YOUR FAULT?" D'vad shouted, his voice now blasting buildings around them. People were running away from them, panicked screams filling the streets. "OF COURSE IT'S YOU FAULT. You! Adam! You were in charge of the operation. If you hadn't been so cocky, so self-assured about your abilities, you'd never have let that disaster happen.
"And YOU!" David continued, facing J'Stan now. "If you'd never gone back in time to save your precious twins the first time, that stupid kid would never have done it to save his stupid ass twin."
"That still doesn't justify you endangering, and killing all these people on Europa," Adam said softly, closing his eyes as guilt filled him. D'vad's statements had some truth in them.
"After nearly a millenium, you're still holding to the belief that these scum are worth something?"
"Yes," J'Stan said softly, overcoming his grief and shock. "We are all humans, and all life is precious."
D'vad's laughter shook still more buildings down, crushing more people. "This! This from Justin the Devourer! Justin the Wrecker! The man who killed millions, then billions over two pretty little toys he used to have."
"They were not toys!" J'Stan said, his voice shaking with rage. He glowed now, a golden color almost as bright as a sun and the energy struck out, hitting D'vad square in the chest.
"Nice!" D'vad said as the glow disappeared and he stood there unharmed.
"Unfortunately for you, I understand what you've been saying all along. Except you got it wrong about one little thing. There is one thing that can kill us, the same thing that killed Henry." As D'vad said the last, he grinned an evil smile and disappeared. In his place he left a crack, a tear in reality.
Through that tear, a mist drifted out, hungrily reaching out to J'Stan. J'Stan stood there for a moment totally at a loss for words, or action. A shield came into existence at the last possible moment, and Adam mentally shook J'Stan out of his shock. Without word, or direct thought, they acted in unison.
Adam crafted his shield to hold the mist in, and J'Stan began to work on closing the tear. Except he couldn't even begin to repair it. No matter how hard he pushed with his mental needle and thread, he couldn't even begin to make his repair. To make matters worse, the mist was about to break through Adam's shield. He shifted from his repairs and reinforced Adam on holding the shield. With a small part of his mind, he reached out and filled B'rel in on everything that had happened.
The short message B'rel sent made both of them almost lose the shield totally. Io was gone. A communication satellite in orbit was showing a world covered in mist where nearly eighty thousand people had once lived. Worse still, signals were now coming in from other colonies showing similar devastation at every off-world colony of the Ackeland Confederation, Southern Alliance, and even the Shapers' Republic.
As they floated in the air, holding the mists back with every bit of effort, J'Stan and Adam looked around them. The capital was a scene of devastation. Most of the buildings around them were destroyed. People were fleeing the city as fast as they could, and in the far off spaceport, the few ships there were already lifting off.
The mist redoubled its effort against their shield. They could feel its malevolence, its hunger for life to consume. It was only a matter of time before it broke the shield. Long before any help from the Guardians or Lords Council could arrive, it would break through and kill them, and the rest of Europa. They had no choice.
Tears filled their faces as they prepared to do what must be done. Another ounce of strength diverted to order B'rel to gather the ships escaping Europa and escort them to Earth almost let the mist break out. Hands clasped together, J'Stan and Adam Morgan winked out of Europa, headed home. Tear drops fell from the spot they had occupied only to be consumed by the mist. A few hours later, there was nothing left of the colony on Europa. Just a grey-blue mist that hungered for more life to feed on.