Path of Justice (Cadicle Vol. 6: An Epic Space Opera Series)

Chapter 2

Cris watched the live video feed relayed from the repair crew. Nothing about the shell's design made sense.

He glanced over at Saera. "How was this built?"

She shrugged. "I was hoping you knew. I always figured it was something the TSS constructed as refuge from the Bakzen War."

"That was my understanding. Now I'm not so sure," Cris murmured.

The repair crew glided around in pressure suits, secured by ropes. Their movements were exaggerated in the naturally low gravity of the moon beyond the reach of Headquarters' artificial gravity generators.

Alric, the crew lead, looked into the panoramic camera mounted to a pole extending from his helmet. "Sir, I've never seen anything like this. The measuring equipment is giving off all sorts of weird readings."

"Like what?" Cris questioned.

"The dating, for one, can't be right," Alric said. "I know subspace radiation can mess with the meters, but it looks like this shell is over a thousand years old."

"One sec." Cris muted the comm. "If that's accurate," he said to Saera, "it was built before the Taran Revolution."

"And before the Aesir split from the Priesthood," Saera added. "That would explain how they'd have the knowledge to override the command codes for the containment locks."

Cris leaned against his desk. "I never stopped to think about the origin of the structure. The idea of a subspace containment shell was... unique. Let alone the logistics of how that theory could be put into practice—"

"We couldn't have done it," Saera cut in. "I mean, constructing H2 was one thing—you can bring materials into the rift. But the shell... That's a level of spatial manipulation that goes beyond anything I know about."

"Well, we just pulled it into normal space. In theory, the reverse is possible."

"Okay, yes. But think about how many of us it took. Moreover, the precision needed to achieve a stable position in subspace and calibrate the anchors—that'd required some really advanced tech we don't have now."

"Shite." Cris ran his fingers through his chestnut hair, touched with the first hints of gray. "How much do you think was lost in the Revolution?"

"Whatever the Priesthood found convenient for us to forget."

"But if the Aesir separated, they might still have all of that lost knowledge."

Saera nodded. "From what little Wil said, their ships are tuned for those with abilities—like a way more advanced version of the Conquest. If abilities are central to their culture, which it seems they are, there's no telling what else they have."

"Things that have no place in the Priesthood's reality where abilities are the exception."

"Not necessarily," Saera countered. "Such abilities are very important to them—they just want to keep that power to themselves."

Cris sighed. "Good point."

"Either way, this discovery indicates that either the TSS' history stretches back way before we imagined, or all of this was repurposed from something else."

"I could reach out to Taelis and see if he knows anything," Cris suggested.

"No, I'm still not convinced we can trust him," Saera countered. "I'd rather keep any discoveries in our inner circle."

"Uh, sir?" Alric said over the comm.

Cris unmuted the channel. "Sorry! We went off on a little tangent there."