The Black Gate (The Messenger #11) - J.N. Chaney Page 0,12
more than distant cousins at this point, but even families argue. That’s why we’re both pointing weapons, right?” Dash asked, his tone neutral.
She stared for a moment. “Okay, so you’re not one of them. And you look human. Doesn’t mean you’re a friend, not out here. So let me ask you the same question—what exactly are your intentions?”
“Let’s start with a name,” Dash said. “Mine’s Dash. I’m Commander of the Cygnus Realm. As you can see, my second is with me, as well as a small assault fleet. I only mention this because I’m being mannerly, and in the spirit of, ah, new beginnings, I admit to being a bit outside my home territory. That means we’re talking, for now, even though we just fought a squadron of self-healing ships that didn’t have the decency to stay dead.”
“Names are good, and you just met the Deepers—and survived, I might add, so you’re already doing better than most of the small forces out here. I’m Proconsul Lomas. I command this division of the Rimworld League, but we just call it the League. I’m assuming you’re not from anywhere near here because I would remember that kind of tech.”
“This?” The Archetype waved a hand. “Long story. As to our home, we’re—Leira, how far are we from home, anyway?”
“Tybalt says they’ve narrowed it down to twenty thousand light-years, give or take about five either way. Oh, and hi. I’m Leira, the second Dash was talking about. I’m over here.” She waved the Swift’s left hand in a lazy arc.
An awkward silence hung across the comm as Lomas worked through the implications. “That’s quite a bit farther than I expected. Who are you?”
“Since I told you my name, I’m assuming you’re asking more about where we’ve come from. Originally, a planet called Earth.”
“Earth?” She shook her head. “Okay, so more than cousins, and less than siblings. We understand a planet called Earth to be our origin as well.”
“But the Cygnus Realm is a long way from Earth, and now we’re a long way from the Cygnus Realm. We got here through a gate that showed up—uninvited, I might add—in the middle of one of our systems,” Dash said.
Lomas narrowed her eyes. “A gate, you say? Well, unless you’ve been on your way here for a really long time, a gate would explain a lot.”
“Not just a gate. A gate that burped two warheads into my home space, killed an entire installation and almost three hundred people, and thus, is now on my shit list. You have those, don’t you?” Dash said.
“I certainly do, and Deepers are first in line.”
“Deepers?” Leira said. “You mentioned those. What are they?”
Lomas shrugged. “We’re not really sure, and we don’t know what else to call them. Not very chatty. And since you’re clearly not one of them, mind if we take this conversation elsewhere? I don’t like bathing surrounding space in messages across an open channel.”
“My thoughts exactly. We can meet you at a place of your choosing,” Dash said.
“Rather trusting of you, but thanks,” Lomas offered.
“After you see what our mechs can do, you might rethink your opinion of how trusting I really am. Just so we’re clear, if we get a scratch, things will get . . . unpleasant. Our mechs are rather attached to us,” Dash said.
“I tolerate your jokes, that’s true,” Sentinel said.
“Kind of you. I’ll work on my material.” Dash turned his attention back to Lomas. “Can you send us coordinates?”
“Sending now. Nearest system, fourth planet, second moon. Nice place. I’ll be waiting,” Lomas said, then she touched three fingers to her brow in a salute.
“Give us some time to get there.” As soon as the connection was cut, Dash switched back to the task force’s internal comm channel. “Okay, Leira, Benzel, what do you think? Should we get involved in this new, exciting, and terrible war with ships that act like animals, or just go home and station a blocking force on that Black Gate?”
“More than just a border dustup,” Benzel said. “Between this Rimworld League and these Deepers.”
“You sound excited about that,” Leira put in her, her tone dry.
“I’m a man of action. Wandering through Freya’s garden on the Forge is a nice break, but I’m not all that keen on making it a lifestyle choice,” Dash said. “Haven’t actually seen a trout, either.”
“Told you they were a lie,” Leira said, triumphant.
“Possibly. But the Deepers are real, and they scare the hell out of me.”