Empress Fallen (Through Darkness Book I)

Chapter Seven: The Lie Shall Rot: Part 1

Chapter Seven

The Lie Shall Rot

For want of me the world's course will not fail,
When all its work is done, the lie shall rot,
The truth is great, and shall prevail,
When none cares whether it prevail or not.
Magna Est Veritas, Coventry Patmore

i. Hostia

'Won't they be watching us somehow?' Dulari whispered, scanning the silver walls and ceiling fearfully as they moved along the passage.

'Let's just hope they've all been sent to the complex as reinforcements.' Aliya moved slowly, rifle raised. Although the thought was cruel, selfish, it offered some reassurance. They inched down the corridor, which was harsh and alien to their eyes, cold lights lining the floor. There was a large door at the far end, like the one they had just passed through, and several narrower portals lined the walls. The doors bore plaques, numbered in thick red lettering. Aliya signalled with her right hand and Abhi nodded minutely. They hurried to the first door on their left, 'A27BG' above it. She breathed in sharply through her nose, gripping the rifle harder. Abhi held her gaze, his eyes wide and alert.

'Now,' she hissed.

He rammed his shoulder into the door. It burst open and Aliya leapt in, sweeping her rifle back and forth.

It was empty.

Abhi pulled the door shut gently behind them as Aliya narrowed her eyes. It was a small rectangular room, the floor space bare, but the walls were covered in screens, gently glowing in soft blues and yellows.

'Can you understand any of it?' Dulari whispered behind her. Aliya raised a hand to the largest display but drew back sharply as she studied it more carefully.

'It's some kind of list,' she murmured, scanning the yellow letters. She focused on an entry. 'Vessel 162 ... Epsilon-Rho.'

She raised her hand again, hesitating for a fraction, before pressing it with a finger. The screen shimmered, a new display rising over it. It was another list, running down from the large blue 'Vessel 162: Epsilon-Rho' at the top. She took a step back in horror.

'What is it?' Dulari hissed as Abhi moved closer to the wall to see what had caused her alarm. Aliya swallowed, licking her dry lips, and began to read the entries. 'Complex Zeta 06, Complex Sigma 39, Complex Omicron 24 ...'

'Omicron 24?' Abhi said quickly, 'that's our complex.'

'It's a register,' Aliya replied, voice quiet, seeping dread.

'A what?' Dulari hissed again.

Aliya hugged the rifle to her, a sudden cold chilling her skin as she saw Olun's face behind her eyes:

Olun telling her how her parents had fled across the entire system to seek answers on Ignis. To find out what the Empire was planning in conjunction with the secret, illegal acts of the Empress herself. The additional Enforcer factions sparking a revolt. The line of slaves executed in front of three hundred thousand others in a brutal, desperate attempt to crush the rebellion, to ensure order returned. The notion impressed on the masses that Nex Ridge was the edge of the world, nothing lay beyond it. And those vast ships, leaping far into the sky, the work of decades, now near completion.

And then she thought of Malik. He had been dragged directly to this vast 'reception' instead of back to the complex.

'A crew register.' She turned to Dulari. 'Three complexes on each ship.' She let her words sink in as Dulari's eyes widened.