Reborn

Kedge Mal'Dineen

Kedge Mal'DineenHe removed his staff from its sling and laid it gingerly across the bed. The accommodations the Consortium afforded him were poor at best. A single bed, mounted against the wall opposite the front door, had a mattress but it was so thin it was about as comfortable as sleeping on the floor. A table and two chairs adorned the center of the room. He slid into one of them, wincing while he did. The chair was less comfortable than the bed. The Consortium held little love for him so he supposed he should consider himself lucky he wasn't sleeping in the engine room.

The time alone allowed him to reflect on the past. When Kedge rose to power and took over as head of the Lumagom they were dazed, scattered and leaderless. After years of exterminating life in the name of false religion, Ales Banda—their former leader—had been killed after a failed attack on Caelum. He was a fool. A bloodthirsty, unreasonable fool. Kedge vowed to become the opposite of what Ales represented. The fool had destroyed Mars, stole him away from his people and forced him to watch while he murdered countless innocents. After Kedge took over as their leader Calypso approached him and promised to help him return Mars to its former glory by traveling back in time to save it. He never revealed that the time hole on Earth led to the future, not the past. Calypso betrayed him and stole the Lumagom from him. Kedge's hatred festered like an open sore.

“If I ever see you again, Calypso, I will cut off your head and mount it over my bed,” he muttered.

He sighed and picked at the titanium plate in his throat. It was one of the many cybernetic implants which has kept him alive through the centuries. As he caressed the device his thoughts drifted to the Ascended and Earth. He recalled one of his earliest voyages with Ales Banda. Their ship came upon an uncharted world in a galaxy which had long been forgotten. It bordered the edge of the universe. The planet flourished with life, which turned out to have been a mockery of everything Ales believed in, so he made the decision to exterminate everything on the planet. The first attacks scorched the planet's surface. Despite the attacks, some life remained. Ales had been furious and landed to deal with them personally. They came across a large cave which led to an underground village. The surprised villagers emerged from their hovels thinking the Lumagom raiding party were actually rescuers. Kedge recalled one villager in particular. A boy, similar in age to Nathan, had clutched his mother's hand and led her from their stony hut. At the time, Kedge had been surprised with their similarity to humans. Their amber skin and single ear were the only differing characteristics. The boy had been dressed in a leather jerkin with pants stitched from a material similar to denim and tucked into crude leather boots. The boy's eyes—pale blue eyes that he will never forget—looked past the Lumagom soldiers with their laser rifles, bandoliers full of grenades, bladed weapons and wrist rockets. He looked past them all until he locked on Kedge. His eyes were filled with hope. He seemed to hope Kedge would somehow rescue his people from the danger and lead them to safety. Kedge, weaponless and shackled, matched the child's hopeful eyes with sorrow. As soon as the mother realized who they were Ales shot her dead. In the child's face hope had been destroyed and replaced with horror. The horror only lasted for seconds before Ales shot him in the head.

A knock at the door yanked Kedge from his thoughts. Being the outcast he assumed no one would bother to call on him. The chair groaned when he stood. He shuffled toward the door and rested his forehead against it. His bones ached and he felt like he had walked through molasses just to reach the door. Age and exhaustion—those seemed to be his companions now.

“This better be important,” he grumbled.

“I wouldn't be here if it wasn't,” Embeth called from the other side.

He opened the door and frowned at the Defense Fleet commander. Exhaustion lined his pale face and his golden beard seemed grayer. His arm, bound in a sling, made him wince with every movement. It seemed like he had aged ten years since the last time Kedge saw him.

“I feel better than I look,” he replied when he spotted Kedge's sour look. With a grunt he settled into one of the chairs.

“I'm surprised you came to see me.” Kedge folded his arms across his chest but did not move to sit. “I'm glad you did, though, because I wanted to request more comfortable quarters. Can you help with that?”

Embeth ran his hand through his long golden hair which, much like his beard, had grayed significantly. “I'm not some servant wench here to serve you, Kedge. I'm here to talk about Nathan.”

Curiosity overcame him and he sat. “Nathan? Why discuss him with me?”

Embeth shifted his weight in the chair with a grimace. “Something is not right within the ranks of the Consortium and you may be the only one I can turn to for advice.”

Sensing a trap, Kedge bristled. “How many times must I prove my loyalty to you people? You don't need to keep throwing physical or mental tests at me. You mistrust me, I get the point.”

“It's not like that at all,” Embeth replied with a true look of confusion. “I fear for his safety. The High Prince was much too quick to pass judgment on Earth.” He stared at the floor. “The more I dwell on the subject the more I believe Meta suggested it because of Nathan and not because of the time hole.”

This had been an interesting turn of events. The leader of the Defense Fleet chose to confide in his longtime adversary rather than his own Council. The situation reeked of irony. His curiosity made him probe for more information. “So why come to me?”

Embeth shifted uncomfortably but Kedge wasn't sure if it was the pain from his wounds or the emotional pain that comes with confiding in a former enemy. “You have been around a long time. You have battled the Consortium almost as long. You survived to see several High Princes come and go.” Embeth placed his fist in his hand and cracked his knuckles. Within the confines of the room it sounded like a gunshot. “How many times you have seen Helios Protocol in action?”

Kedge narrowed his eyes and picked at the metal plate covering his throat. “Well, I lived through one on Mars,” he replied. The venom in his voice caused a pained look to spread across Embeth's face. The Council had been well aware of the bloody history of Mars and the pain caused by both sides. “There was this small planet in the GX-650 system where the atmosphere had been shredded by a meteor storm decades after Mars. The High Prince at the time, Flir or Flint or something like that, invoked Helios Protocol.” He scratched at his monocled eye. “No others come to mind.”

Embeth nodded and tugged at his beard. He seemed to absorb the words as water to a sponge. “I see,” he sighed, standing abruptly. “Two events within a span of thousands of years.”

Kedge leaned back and watched him shuffle toward the door favoring his injured shoulder. “Wait!” he cried out and Embeth stopped with his hand on the door. “What does this have to do with Nathan?”

Embeth turned and stared at him icily. “Hopefully nothing. Possibly everything.”

Kedge rubbed his temples. “That was very helpful,” he muttered.

Embeth turned to the door and lowered his head. “Can I count on you to watch over him?”

Kedge shifted uneasily in his chair and for the first time it wasn't because of its comfort. Embeth's request came as a surprise. Flashbacks of the child and his mother haunted him. His dreams of leading the Lumagom to avenge such atrocities had been dashed by Calypso. Embeth's request allowed him an opportunity to redeem himself. “Yes,” he whispered and looked to the floor.

Embeth closed the door, leaving Kedge alone with his decision. He vowed he would never become another Ales. He would never sit idly by while innocents were murdered and brutalized before his eyes. With fists clenched he stood at the window. His monocled eye zoomed in and out rapidly as he focused on the emptiness of space.

Never again.