An Untitled Novel

The dreamer stared into the vast abyss once again, as he had before in another dream. The abyss grew and contracted, leaving the dreamer to watch in peace. Soon, however, the voices began to speak. They spoke, a thousand voices speaking at once, all different and all incomprehendable.

The dreamer was disturbed from his slumber by the sound of these voices. “Quite!” he shouted. Or perhaps thought? One needed a mouth to scream, yet the dreamer did not have one. The voices seemed to hear him, however, and stopped speaking. The dreamer was once again at peace, although it was not long before the voices began to speak again.

The dreamer began to make out individual words, apparently spoken in the dreamer’s native tongue. No, perhaps they were not. Odd, the voices were the Elthrice’s language, yet the dreamer could hear them nonetheless. The voices continued to grow louder until the dreamer had enough again. “(Quiet)!” he shouted.

The voices went quiet again, seeming to accept a command in that language more willingly than the other. Instead, however, the voices became one. “Rise!” they commanded in yet another language, different from that of the Elthrice’s or the dreamer’s native tongue.

Nerva, king of the Lizard people, leaned against the wall of his invisible cage. He hoped it portrayed a sense of confidence as he got physically closer to the hooded one; as opposed to the real reason of being tired, thirsty, and slightly low on blood. Odd, though, he didn’t feel afraid staring the hooded one down. He had seen the lack of fear in Basil, the hallmark of one at peace with the expectation of death - especially after ACE had provided him with the injections. In truth, however, he had always considered himself dead and gone ever since he had narrowly survived the failed uprising that went after the ruling family when his father was king. A cruel joke, perhaps, to live a life expecting to die suddenly and without warning, only to die the slowest and most easily seen of deaths over hours or days in a cage.

The hooded one turned away as if to leave for lack of interest. There had to be something he could do or say, a battle of wits and ego that could provoke the enemy into a rash move. What did the Wizard, his friend and closest advisor for his entire reign until the attack, say when the other Elthrice invaded and were repelled? “You are a stupid people” the Lizard King thundered, causing the hooded one to turn suddenly. Intrigue, amusement, or anger he couldn’t tell - but attention all the same. Think Nerva, why did the Wizard say that? The hooded one remained silent while facing him, no expression or body language that could be read.

“You are weak; your reliance on your tools weakens you. You are blinded by pride and ignorance, then when another people come along they are both strong and yet can also use your tools. Your own people destroyed you once before, I have fought your kind before, and my people will continue the fight without me. With our strength alone we could repel a thousand of your empires, and yet you are nothing but scavengers picking off your own corpses while we have already mastered your tools as your forbearers once did.”

The hooded one remained silent and unexpressive before being whisked away by another Elthrice. Some time lapsed, minutes or hours he could not tell, but the distant sound of gunfire erupted nearer to the dome and far from their front lines. They were definitely on his side; he could hear the distinctive sound of automatic fire from Earth weapons and the more muted pop of Domum and Amigosian weapons.

How could they be so near? They could have tried to cut through the front lines and attacked from two sides, but no, they didn’t have the numbers to do that without being crushed. A frightened strategist may have tried something like that, but he’d been on the opposite side of Edwards enough to know that he would never over extend himself that way. But then, what was happening?

“How many do you have?” the voices of the hooded one boomed, surprising the Lizard King who didn’t notice he was present again. Alright, so this was good news, but how? “What do you mean?” the Lizard King asked, trying to glean more information. “How many!” the hooded one’s voices boomed again, anger and rage so potent it left the Lizard King feeling as if he was physically attacked. He took a breath, tried to focus, and shrugged. “How would I know from within this cage? I am under no illusion that I will leave this cage alive, tell me what has happened and I may know more.”

“Your people captured a transport vessel. There are more exiting it, and the vessel cannot be caught by our vessel operators.” The Lizard King suddenly realized what had happened; he should have been angry, his second in command had disobeyed his orders, but all he felt was pride welling up in his chest. No, that was wrong, his son was no longer second in command, he was king by right and his father was already dead to everybody else. He was the king who ran into battle, never to be seen again alive by his subjects. This would be a good move by his son, the new king, a hard and decisive decision that could potentially turn the tide of a war.

Perhaps they would sing songs of him for generations, the noble king who ran off into battle to save his kind. Or maybe they would remember him less fondly. His son at least would remember him for the man he tried to be, and perhaps that mattered more than songs. A smile washed across his face and he felt his eyes grow misty.

“My son is just as bullheaded as his father. I ordered him to stay behind with a small contingent of troops, but it appears that, like his father, he is willing to sacrifice it all to see you stopped.” The hooded one stepped close, only inches and an invisible barrier separating face from missing face. The Lizard King spoke quickly and in a higher tone, as if a man about to be executed.

“Kill me, it does not matter, you have lost. You cannot stop my people, and you cannot stop that craft because it is being controlled by a synthetic mind.” One nearby Elthrice looked shocked, but the hooded one remained still. “You cannot disable the wormhole devices, you are weak salvagers while we have mastered your tools. You will fail, you will lose, and there is nothing you can do!” The Lizard King realized he had started yelling, nearly collapsing due to exhaustion. The hooded one remained unmoving, but the Lizard King suddenly stepped back in fear - the remaining color leaving his face.