The Starlight Lancer

Chapter Forty-Six: The Order of Riiva

"You say this Dalzhar Velian is no different from you or I, aside from his affliction—but I will not stand for it. We will not stand for it. To allow this would be to desecrate the Order's very spirit."

—High Lancer Inivrus Valtox, founder of the Scions of Riiva, in a speech shortly before the Lancer Civil War

Zaina was led to a nearby platform where a sleek, unarmored craft awaited. The underbelly was gold, with a single streak of shining red separating the hull from rows of large hyper-glass panes lining the top of the craft. It hugged the ground tightly, with much shorter landing rods than Gir's ship.

The door swung upward, and a narrow ramp extended to the landing pad's surface. The scholar was muttering to himself as he floated into the ship. The second lancer, a tall, young humanoid with pointed ears and grayish-blue fur—Cytomoids, their species was called—went in first, followed by Zaina, and then the red-haired lancer who'd bound her.

Zaina didn't know what she'd expected, but it definitely wasn't luxury. The interior walls were lined with soft, velvet seats toward the back. Bottles of dowress and lurg, the most expensive gruti-wine in the galaxy, lined glass cabinets beneath the seating area, and glow-strip panels in the floor provided all the ship's dim lighting. Toward the front were large hooks protruding from the ceiling. Wired rings extended from the scholar's bed-pod and attached to them, suspending the hover-pod in place. The lancers and Zaina sat in the back.

She sighed. At least these seats have cushions.

Two glyphs in the cockpit communicated in coda, taking in data from an array of sensors and piloting the ship in tandem. Zaina was able to make out the scholar's crazed whispers over the dim hum of the ship's engines.

"This girl—heretic! Coming to Kaado! Two lancers dead—even that fool Nash won't have a choice."

Zaina frowned. Her chest tightened—this was going about as well as expected. Part of her wanted to find some way to escape, to put the whole thing behind her, but part of her wanted to play it out. Gir had indicated that the Order accepted half-heretics despite the misgivings of some of their members. Maybe if more scholars heard her out, they'd actually listen to what she had to say.

I hope. Her eyes shifted to the scholar. If they're all like him, I'm fucked.

They descended far into Kaado's interior, near the intact surface at the world's hollow bottom. A massive building came into view, split into two segments and made of sleek, golden metal. It appeared to be two buildings stacked atop one another, connected by rows of thick golden pillars. The bottom segment was a large, cube shaped construct; above that was a smaller, roof-shaped complex with elaborate curved edges. A ring of glowing blue rocks floated in a circle around it. Next to the ornate structure was a landing bay with rows of identical, luxurious vehicles.

Is this some sort of temple?

The ship gently touched down. Without so much as a word, the scholar detached his hover-bed with the press of a button and levitated off the ship, muttering under his breath the whole time. Zaina followed quickly, not wanting to seem reluctant.

Upon exiting the ship she strained her neck to see the top of the golden cube—it had to be as tall as Mount Dialemor, at least. Probably not as tall as the black tower she helped rob on Otmonzas. From her vantage point at the base, the entire top structure was barely visible. Little natural light made it this far into Kaado's depths, further hampering her efforts to see the peak.

The gilded building's entrance was an elaborate door comprised of thin strips of pinkish-gray metal engraved with odd messages written in symbols Zaina didn't understand. Beside it was a podium that held a vis-screen on its topmost face; the scholar floated to it and pressed his hand against the screen. The intricate metal strips retreated into the walls one by one until the door opened.