An Untitled Novel

A chill crept up Basil’s spine in a way that hadn’t since before he touched the (object). “It’s not open” he said to ACE, voice a higher pitch than he expected. He turned around; Spiro was wide eyed but said nothing. The Wizard froze in place as he descended the last flight of stairs, likely uneasy seeing the sudden change in the demeanor from what the two had moments ago while concluding their meeting in the upper chambers of the Redcap’s keep.

“The old Elthrice appear to be disabling the wormhole network” ACE said over the radio, voice carrying a slightly human inflection of worry. “How soon can you get the salvaged craft in the air?” Basil asked in a tone that carried almost disassociated notes. Before ACE replied, however, Basil added a sudden, almost panicked demand. “Get Grey on the line, see what she thinks is their next move.” ACE replied, monotone voice having almost entirely returned. “We have not detected the Elthrice in orbit; I am sending the jet over now and will have the craft airborne within seven hours. Grey is on the line and has been briefed on the situation.”

“I believe they are sending a warning, I think we’ll have about a day or a half day before they arrive.” Basil shook his head, a pointless response to Grey’s over-the-radio assessment. “Well which is it?” Grey’s response sounded shakey. “I don’t know, okay. I’m just guessing.” Basil muttered “Fuck” before gesturing to the Wizard. “Contact the Lizard King, tell him the Elthrice may attack and that the wormhole system is down.” The Wizard nodded and ran back up the stairs, Basil turning his attention to Spiro.

“Okay, I’m evacuating in the jet, go tell the Redcap leadership to send anyone they want to evacuate into the courtyard.” Basil glanced down at his PDA. “ACE is rigging a mobile drone platform, we should be able to get drones to the mainland regardless of access to wormholes within 30 hours, but in the meantime we can group up on Arkepello, they can’t disable that wormhole. Tell everyone staying back to get the Redcap military ready with the anti-Elthrice and Amigosian weapons.”

The Redcap Queen, Mollie with several Redcap royal guards, Spiro, Cicero, Casio, and the Wizard all rushed into their seats alongside Basil as the jet began to ascend. The cabin remained dead quiet, but after only a short time they were already staring at two different shades of blue - sky and ocean. Basil’s PDA indicated that they were getting close to Arkepello, but the intercoms in the jet broke the silence with ACE’s rushed voice. “Basil, manual controls now!” Basil got up and sprinted towards the cockpit. “I hardly know how to fly this thing, why do-” but the world went blank.

Basil woke up. At least he thought that he had woken up. He was aware he was thinking, but the world was dark and his head hurt. His thoughts became more collected, but so did the pain, and throughout it all something was in the back of his mind screaming that things were gravely wrong. His hearing returned, and so did a cacophony of blaring alarms filling the cockpit. He realized his eyes were closed, opened them, and was greeted by the hooded Elthrice holding an object, his (object).

“My patience has expired, and you are still present” the being said in its horrifying voice. Being both badly injured and no longer under the influence of the (object) - which the hooded one was now placing around its neck - he was unable to move or speak. The hooded being’s blank face stared directly into Basil’s eyes, as if doing so was draining his very life essence. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the being spoke again.

“Collect all (Elthrice) property for its surrender, and those taken today will be returned to you. You will then be banished to your home alongside any who choose to accompany you.”

Basil believed himself to have only blinked, but soon realized he had blacked out again. He felt he should close his eyes to rest, but was forced to act as water began to touch his feet. He quickly realized the jet was likely in the ocean, and was certainly becoming more submerged. Trying to stand he realized the nose of the jet was angled up at nearly 45 degrees, and looking through the cockpit door it appeared most of the jet had already filled with water. Making his way into the passenger area where everybody was, he found it entirely devoid of people, except for the largely submerged body of the Wizard still strapped into his chair, producing an ominous red cloud in the water surrounding him.

Illuminated by the light cast through the cockpit door was a large hole in the side of the jet. His hazy mind concluded the Elthrice had bored a hole into the side of the jet, docked their own craft to it, and confronted them mid air before setting or dropping the jet in the ocean. Seeing no other option, Basil plunged into the cold water and swam through the large gash in the side of the jet.

Climbing on the top of the now mostly submerged jet Basil felt even more pain. The cold water made his mind clearer, but he could feel it begin to fade again. The saltwater gnawed at his wounds, including many new ones made by rubbing against the sharp edges of the metal torn apart by whatever Elthrice had used to bore such a hole. Arm hurting as he typed on his PDA, he sent out a message to ACE. “Elthrice attacked. Plane crashed. Help.” As he began to take stock of his situation he felt a sudden wave of nausea, vomited, then proceeded to lie on his back in a daze; doing nothing but stare at the bright blue sky and feel the waves below the slowly sinking jet.

The merciless beams of the sun were broken by the shadow of an Elthrice ship. Basil continued to lie in place, water nearly about to engulf him on the now near entirely submerged jet, his sunburnt skin adding to the myriad sources of pain. The door of the craft opened and Grey carried Basil aboard. “You’ve been exposed to radiation!" Grey exclaimed in a worried voice, but ACE said something that seemed to reduce the fear on her face. “What happened?” ACE asked as soon as Basil was safely on board.

Basil explained everything he had witnessed, and while he spoke he noticed the pain and defeat deep in his voice. Once he had completed his explanation ACE began to relay everything he knew. With the hooded Elthrice’s craft’s proximity to Basil, ACE was able to initiate a connection to it and get the location of where they had gone. A counterattack was possible, although fighting the old Elthrice on their turf was likely a death sentence.

The Elthrice had also appeared to disable the wormhole devices while they were in proximity to them because they were the ‘civilian’ equivalent version of the equipment. Using an Orbital’s radio module for relaying controls and blocking conventional signals, they could likely create a second layer immune from being disabled by the old Elthrice; granting them their own isolated system. However, Basil began to tune out ACE’s explanation; network layers being the last thing he would want to process in his throbbing head.

“Just leave me on the beach somewhere” Basil said, interrupting whatever ACE was saying. ACE responded, suddenly seeming to carry more concern than the robotic voice he had been using. “Basil, it’s important-” but Basil cut him off again. “No, I can’t think right now. I need to be alone to collect my thoughts and figure out what I need to do.” Grey said “Figure out what you need to do?” with anger very evident in her voice and on her face, but when she looked into Basil’s eyes and saw his condition her face turned to sadness.

Basil watched the sun move through the sky before dropping below the ocean. “Has it really been this long?” Basil thought to himself, lighting another cigarette while staring at the moon and stars now reflected off the ocean. Eventually Basil heard footsteps behind him, and Grey sat beside him silently for a while. “Here” Grey said while handing Basil a bottle of Gray Goose. “ACE said there’s a chance this might upset your symptoms from your head injury, but he also said to say that he knows all too well how important an escape can be when stuck in one’s own mind.” Basil took a large swig but remained silent for several minutes. Grey put her hand on Basil’s shoulder and they listened to the waves in silence, neither knowing what to say. Eventually, however, Basil broke the silence.

“Come with me. We could get a cabin in Alaska or something, convince our neighbors you are into body mods or something, and leave the rest of the Elthrice to their own devices.” They both sat in silence again, but it was Grey’s turn to break the silence this time. “You know I cannot do that Basil, I would not wish the old Elthrice on anybody. That’s not to mention that I would likely be on the list of things they would demand surrender of.” Basil replied, voice lacking all energy. “How could we fight them? They took my Orbital’s (object), and even if they didn’t, how would we fight an army of Elthrice?”

“I don’t know that it would even be possible for us to win, but we must fight them anyway” Grey said, pausing for a moment before continuing. “The Lizard King and General Edwards have already pledged their support, and ACE has devised a wormhole device that should work even if they try to disable it.” Though she spoke resolutely, Grey’s voice carried a solemn tone, knowing precisely the implications of what she was saying they must do.

When Basil remained quiet ACE chimed in. “Basil, we must do this. We can take the craft there, open a wormhole, and hit them with everything we have. Every explosive drone, every soldier the Lizard King, Redcaps, and Arkepello can spare, and every round of ammunition we have in the armory.” Basil spoke once ACE finished. “And if we fail?” ACE took on a somber and triumphant tone in a way which could have easily been mistaken as human. “Then I take the Elthrice ship and any other I can relay to and drive them into the planet’s stabilization machine, making the old Elthrice extinct in an act of revenge and sacrifice to save any and every civilization in their crosshairs.”

When ACE had finished speaking Grey resumed. “It’s unlikely that all of these Elthrice have Orbital’s gear, even if some do.” After one more pause she added the final capstone to her and ACE’s speech.

“The old Elthrice, they are a scourage, parasites that seek to kill their host and rebuild from its corpse. Basil, this is a fight worth fighting, and if it’s truly our last move, then it’s a death worth dying.” Basil sat in silence for a long time, thinking everything over. Eventually, he replied with only one word in a voice that also carried both triumph and melancholy. “Okay.”