The Tau Ceti Diversion by Chris McMahon

Author:Chris McMahon
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Severed Press
Published: 2016-09-02T07:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

The Awakener sat alone, slumped on his throne.

Even the First had been sent from his presence. The torches had been extinguished, and the ragged rent in the top of the Tree sealed with woven mats. Only the dull red glow of incense bowls could be seen in the darkness.

The Awakener’s life with the Imbirri had revolved around Union, the fulfilling joining of spirit the Imbirri could achieve through their telepathic abilities, most fully developed in the First. It seemed as though he drifted further from that life with each passing hour, each act of revenge.

The Imbirri who had survived the attack on the human’s camp, those who could walk, had returned with the Awakener from the site of destruction. So many had not returned …

He had sought to obliterate the craft of the aliens with fire, and so heal them all, but the attack on the human artifact had taken a terrible toll. How many Imbirri now lay dead? How many First? He did not have the will to count. Over half of those that had returned with him had fallen, consumed by the onset of the Changes. The milling groups of the Imbirri, those who had remained in the encampment, watched with strange fascination, drawn toward the bodies. The Awakener had not waited as before. He had incinerated each as they fell and scattered those who gathered to watch, knowing they were in danger of succumbing to the Changes.

The scarred and bleeding faces of the First he had burned crowded into his mind.

“Why?” he cried in discordant anguish.

They had all tasted the Elixir. Never before had this act failed to banish the specter of the Changes. Yet now, it was as though an avalanche had begun.

After he had dealt with the fallen First, he had rushed to the punishment pit, only to find it empty. He stood there — covered with the ashy remains of Imbirri — consumed with impotent rage. How he had longed to kill the humans, as though by destroying them the loss of the First would be lessened. Instead, he had been cheated. He guessed immediately the humans had been released by the same agents who had stolen the body of Utar, and that the small alien craft he had failed to destroy had carried them to safety.

To think he had them in his power for so long, yet failed to act!

He had remained above the empty pit for hours, the other Imbirri too frightened to approach. Eventually, even the rage had seeped away. A dark miasma of hate settled on him, like a caustic shadow beneath the shroud of dark ash smeared on his skin.

Time passed beneath the Tree. The images of destruction faded, leaving him empty of pain, yet incapable of joy.

He would never allow the Changes to take the Imbirri. He was determined to rebuild the life they had known. He would appoint a new Deepwatch to replace his beloved Utar and let the scars heal.

A sharp wedge of light cut through the dark as one of the First entered the Tree’s living dome.

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