Time Burning: Symbiont Wars Saga, #3

By Chogan Swan

Jonah's new girlfriend is out of this world!
... she's also from a distant planet.

What Tiana loves about Jonah is his ambition to save the Earth from itself.
And for reasons Jonah can't figure out, she really thinks he can do it.
Not only that, she's willing to help.
... when she's not chasing down alien monsters.
But now the ultra-rich power brokers who run the banks and the governments are trying to kill him.
 ... They want to keep the world just the way it is.
And the alien monsters who she's chased here? They're planning to kill everyone who stands against them.
... And they don't give a damn about the money. They're here for the edible slaves..

Praise for the Symbiont Wars Series:
5 Stars! What a great find! 'Avatar' and 'Master and Commander' combined into one.
5 Stars! First Contact Like No Other! I could not believe how great this book is! I picked it because of the tail but it turned out that that wasn't the best part of the story.
5 Stars! Spellbinding! I loved part 1 and part 2 was even better. More wonderful characters, people you get to know and care about. Thrilling action and heart wrenching drama. Can't wait to get the next one!
If you enjoyed Avatar or The Fifth Element you'll love reading this story.
If you're comfortable with the notion that a female can be badass, this book might be a part of your new favorite series.
Warnings! 

Reading the first chapters with the preview feature can lead to addictive behavior. Go ahead... we dare you.
Parts of this story contain graphic adult situations.
This book also contains a link to download the Symbiont Wars Novelette Portal of Choice ... no charge!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chogan Swan
• Release date: Feb 19, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393704706

Chogan Swan

Chogan Swan is a subversive, wild-eyed, non-violent neoRevolutionary who lives in the country of the mind in the world of thoughts in the universe of ideas. In this tiny corner of the space-time continuum, Chogan studied Philosophy and later collected graduate degrees in Business and Systems Engineering from a major US university renowned for its abundant alcohol consumption and passion for a particularly barbaric blood-sport. Go Hokies! :) These studies, however, led to an interest in Systems Thinking and how to work together to save the world for everyone. It won't be easy. (But then what is that's worth having?) Philosopher, poet, prophet, revolutionary--sentients in various realities have used these words to describe Chogan. Of course, the truth is in the interstices. The motivating force for Chogan's ... 'messages in bottles' to the multiverse ... has been succinctly captured by the words of Harlan Ellison … "Writing is a holy chore. ... the only organism of quiet communication left to us. In the soft moments when we huddle alone with our thoughts, we turn to words ... And there--in the moment when (sentient beings) choose to reason--we can reach them. It is a heavy responsibility."

Book preview

Chapter 1 – Killing Cousins

Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.

– Sun Tzu

JONAH RUBBED HIS FINGERS on the table as he watched Tiana and Lydia, the long-time mole in Sackett’s organization, through the video monitors. This was the first time Tiana had brought him along on the trips she’d made here. Tiana and Lydia were in a large open room, sitting on a neutral brown, fabric couch. They’d been talking for about two hours.

Lydia had been answering Tiana’s questions thoroughly, even volunteering information. It seemed she’d decided her best hope was to help Tiana wipe out her enemies. Jonah allowed himself a tight grin. The main problem with motivation by fear was it didn’t inspire loyalty.

I understand you’re afraid of them, Lydia, Tiana said as she reached out to touch Lydia’s arm. And you should be. They are deadly creatures, and you’d be a fool not to fear them. But even if they learned your location, you are deep underground in a hardened facility. This place is secure. Only three other people know where you are, and I trust them as I trust myself.

I’m sure you’re doing your best to keep them away from me, Lydia said as she pulled her sweater closer around her shoulders. I’m valuable to you, and you wouldn’t want me captured because I couldn’t keep any information about you from them. Since, like you, they can tell when people lie to them. The difference is they’ll torture me for it before they kill me.

Lydia looked at her hands. Kill slowly, she finished in a whisper.

Tiana put her hand back on Lydia’s arm. They sat silent awhile.

You aren’t like them, said Lydia. I don’t think you’re evil, but you might decide I need to die at some point. She looked at Tiana.

I can’t deny the possibility, Tiana said.

If that happens, will you kill me quickly?

If I can, yes. Would you want time to prepare for it?

A few moments would be appreciated, but what else can I do now except prepare?

You might pray that my efforts to eradicate them would be successful.

I can try, but I don’t think my faith can stretch that far.

Go ahead and try. It will do you good. Tiana stood. I have to go now. Would you like any more books?

Yes, thank you. I always like the ones you pick. I liked that one by Victor Frankl.

I’ll have more brought to you then.

Tiana walked toward the camera and exited the room. Jonah—sitting on the edge of the couch for a few moments—watched Lydia then looked at his notes. Though he’d could recall the whole event if he focused, he found taking notes helped him work through what he’d been processing as he listened.

A moment later, Tiana came in and sat next to him.

Jonah tapped a bullet point in his notes. She said the same two are always there. Why is that do you think?

Tiana leaned back on the couch. To my knowledge, only these two have survived. They need to be physically present to hear her heartbeat and smell her to discern a lie.

Jonah drew an arrow from his bullet point and wrote ‘scent’ at the end of the arrow. I wonder if it’s more than that. If they’re like human parasites, maybe they don’t trust each other to relay the information. Can you tell me more about them?

An emotional twinge came to him from his connection with her.

Shame?

He looked at her face. He’d never seen that expression there before. Puzzle pieces sorted in his mind: her reaction to hearing about the atomic bombs dropped on Japan; a long violent conflict across the galaxy; war with no quarter given; nii/niiaH; symbiont/parasite; both dark-skinned humanoids; both with sensitive olfactory systems. His intuition made a leap. They were the same species ... or had been.

Oh, he said.

Tread carefully.

He put his pen down, considering whether to reach out and touch her arm. Instead, he said, Who we are is about the choices we make, not the ones we might be capable of making. Why be ashamed for what others have done? If it’s about the damage that they’ve done to our world, well ... it’s not like Earth wasn’t already infested with parasites long before you got here.

He sighed. At least you had them on the run. We just allow them to run ... pretty much everything.

Tiana shook her head.

After a while, she continued. I guess one common trait I have with humans is that feelings needn’t be connected to logic. It was a good idea to bring you here. I felt it would be, but I’m not sure I can take credit for the inspiration.

Jonah scratched his chin. So this schism happened long ago. Have differences emerged in abilities?

Tiana nodded and moved closer to him. Jonah felt a sense of ... relief ... from her. Perhaps she’d worried he would withdraw when he discovered the connection between her and the niiaH.

Wait a minute, Jonah said, holding up his hand before she answered. Does anyone else know about this?

Tiana shook her head. I’ve told no one, she said. My people have a coming-of-age ceremony that includes a retelling of the history and background of the war and an oath never to speak of our common origin with the niiaH parasites. When the war started, I took the oath, and I’ve been at war since. I’m glad you discovered this. I won’t ask you to keep it silent.

Jonah leaned his head on the back of the couch to stare at the ceiling. At length he said, Is that because you realize it’s a tactical mistake not to tell your friends?

Tiana looked at him without speaking. Jonah didn’t need the connection between them to tell him the answer ... that was there too.

He was right.

I’ll think about this, he said. When I decide who to tell and how, I’ll warn you.

Tiana put her head on his chest. Jonah’s arms found their way around her naturally as she snuggled into him. The rest of the conversation could wait.

They had time.

Chapter 2 – Time Out

Hold out baits to entice the enemy... He will win who knows when to fight and when not to fight

– Sun Tzu

THE WHISPER OF HIS soft soles on the marble floors was only loud enough not to draw attention to how quietly ShwydH moved through the corridors of human power.

... or at least the corridors of it in this building.

A whisper of amusement at the thought—one using a Human/English figure of speech no less—drifted across a small part of his multi-focused attention.

Since he was an uninvited guest here, maintaining awareness to his environment was indicated. Passing through high-security areas without a trace—gathering intelligence rather than drawing attention—was always his preference.

And to make sure that happened, he always used multiple layers of camouflage.

The charcoal-colored lab coat he wore hid his tail and blended into the gray marble walls. It also matched the normal apparel used in this facility’s ‘cutting-edge’ science department.

On his head, ShwydH wore a shemagh—wound in a simple style that would announce him as someone ‘not from around here’ to the building’s security personnel without identifying any particular country. It also covered his bare scalp and fit in with his dark skin and features in a fashion that could have come from almost anywhere among Earth’s Middle Eastern cultures.

In the upper-left corner of his eyeglasses, a video display alerted him that a security guard occupied the far side of the cubicle section he was about to enter.

So ShwydH took the door to a stairwell instead and descended one flight, detouring around the obstacle. Not because the guard would delay him, but the algorithm ShwydH was running on the security cameras would need editing if he showed up in the same camera view as someone else. It was simpler to take an unpopulated path. That way, his program could simply substitute frames of times when the camera view was empty of traffic for those that would have shown he was passing through them. It could do all that on its own.

As he walked out of the workers’ section and into the area used more by executives, the furniture and decor changed from functional to ostentatious. Now paintings—rather than company posters—lined the walls. And potted plants, trees and a miniature Zen garden announced to all who entered that they should now bow down—for they had reached Olympus.

ShwdyH wasn’t worried about the Olympians—or the security team standing guard at the checkpoint. His ID badge would operate just like a real one, and his cover story would fit—unremarkably—into their operations.

He had gathered a lot of background information on the human ‘power elite’ hosting the meeting tonight at a large ‘Beltway Bandit’ consulting firm just outside Washington DC. No one would suspect for a second that ShwydH did not belong here.

The objective he had given himself on this assignment was to identify and catalogue the faces and scents of the seven players from the deep state who would meet here tonight. He also wanted the accompanying scents of their ... minions.

He knew ... the captain would have vetoed this mission had he known anything about it. ShwydH had trained himself not to say—or even think—the captain’s name. In an environment rife with snooping programs and sonic bugging, speaking a keyword like the captain’s name was only asking for trouble. And if you thought a word, there was a chance it would escape your mouth. He’d seen such things happen to others when he was a young draftee in the Empire’s naval forces. The outcome had been gory but instructive. Such things shaped lives ... and sometimes ended them.

But ShwydH had decided on tonight’s mission—oddly enough—partly because he knew the captain wouldn’t have approved. The captain didn’t like it when ShwydH abandoned odor-control protocol. But ShwydH indulged himself in the freedom occasionally. Though never if he was reporting back to base in person of course.

The captain would have vetoed this little excursion simply because humans as centers of power didn’t matter to hir. The captain’s only priority now was completing the conversion of hir body to hermaphroditism—so the NiaaH Empire could rise again ... supposedly.

But ShwydH knew the true reason the captain wanted a new empire. It was simply so ze could be at the top, standing on the necks of those unfortunate enough to be below hir.

And those below would most certainly have included ShwydH ... while he lived.

But that was unlikely to happen now. ShwydH had made sure of that.

ShwydH lifted his upper lip—revealing slightly pointed teeth to the reflective window glass to his left. It was an expression that had absolutely nothing to do with amusement.

ShwydH had sabotaged the captain’s ambition quite thoroughly. The thought gave him a chilling sort of comfort, but he couldn’t say he’d been glad to sacrifice 300 of his remaining years—half the lifespan he could have expected without the Empire’s mind-jumping technology—just to make that happen.

And if the captain were to discover that particular truth before ShwydH could find a way to kill hir, it would mean an early end to the rest of ShwydH’s years in a most shockingly painful demise.

And he knew somehow—deep within his bones—that time was running out.

But the humans had a saying about rats when they were cornered that would have been instructive for the captain, if only ze had any inclination to do something so demeaning as to learn from those ze saw only as hir slaves.

ShwydH no longer feared the captain the he had in the past. Death would be much preferred to living when someone like the captain had established complete control. But ShwydH had resigned himself to the high probability of his death and chosen a gambit that would leave the captain no victory and no empire ... at least not one built on ShwydH’s grave. The thought of near certain revenge was sweeter than the small chance that ShwydH could win it without the gambit.

The possibility that the captain would find other ways to get around what ShwydH had done was still disturbing—for example, the chance that the captain could use the same enemies who were tracking them as a resource to fulfill hir goals.

The notion bothered him, but there was little he could do about it.

When he reached the guard, ShwydH handed over his badge. IT support sent me to run point in case that glitch you were having a few minutes ago happens again, he said, winding a lilt from the streets of Mumbai into his speech.

Then he leaned forward and spoke softly in the guard’s ear. "It’s possible one or more of the attendees is causing the problem with unauthorized hardware." He spoke the last two words with special emphasis. In the corporation’s security department, the words meant hostile surveillance and bugging devices.

ShwydH took a second to meet the guard’s eyes. I will be circulating discreetly. Hopefully, I won’t have to call for your assistance.

The guard nodded. His concern markers went up, but he kept his face impassive. If he checked with IT, there would be a memo that someone had—in fact—been sent to do just as ShwydH had said. But after ShwydH left, the memo would disappear.

ShwydH strolled through the atrium and into the conference area lobby. He found an empty couch on an interior wall and sat, taking his compact tablet computer from the back pocket of his lab coat.

He began mapping the RFID badge information of the people in the room to match names and profiles to their locations then connected the information to their individual odors. So far, everyone now present at this point worked for the company hosting the meeting. And—except for the security team—all of the people in the room were the company’s consultants, who’d probably been drafted for this assignment because of their higher security clearances.

At some point, all this data might be valuable. It wasn’t as if he’d be likely to need the information soon, but ShwydH liked to prepare for all foreseeable contingencies. Data always came in handy.

Also, for him, getting himself in position to gather the information had been child’s play, and the chance had come at a time when he had the freedom and opportunity to proceed. It wasn’t often that these particular fish in the power pond even bothered to meet face to face. Something must be stirring them up. He was tempted to try bugging the meeting itself to see what it was.

Twenty-two minutes later, the financial pond’s bigger fish started arriving with their own security details. None of them came at the same time. Someone helpful must have arranged things that way. Kate had a knack for using ShwydH’s traffic-signal hacking software that bordered on wizardry. It certainly made things easier for ShwydH to sniff out who was with whom.

Each megacorporation owner entered with the same number of security personnel—twenty-one—broken into three squads.

He should be done with the chore within the hour. Then he could go back to wrap up the details with Kate and enjoy a snack with some time to relax.

As one of his assistants, Kate was very reliable. She was also athletic and one of his top bodyguards. She particularly enjoyed the performance rewards for her excellent work. Like when ShwydH ordered expensive dinners from her favorite restaurants.

Even though she was in top physical shape for a human, Kate tended to collect fat on her muscular thighs. She didn’t mind at all when he drained away some of the excess—another mark in her favor.

ShwydH thought her ... delectable.

It was also clear she enjoyed the other things ShwydH had recently begun doing with her to pass the time.

Over two centuries had now passed since ShwydH had done any of those things with a female of his own species. Now—certain he would never go back—he’d given up on waiting. Besides, he found Kate a great deal ... safer. How strange ... that 200 years ago the very thought of such activities would have made him gag.

The final group of humans had entered the building. The first party in the elevator was always one without the principle so they could scout the area before bringing in their boss. ShwydH could hear the whine of the elevator’s motor and the initial scent markers seeping out of the gaps in the elevator shaft from the first group of the party.

ShwydH idly noted the ringing bell from the elevator, telling him that it had just arrived on the top floor when he recognized HER scent.

The nii tracker!

For an instant, ShwydH froze. That scent had haunted his dreams so many times, the reaction might have been unavoidable.

Had it been another time, the lapse might have killed him. But—fortunately—this time it only kept him from blowing his cover. It gave him time to realize that the scent was merely being carried on someone’s clothes and equipment, rather than heralding his approaching death.

This time at least, she wasn’t here to tear his head from his shoulders—a hallmark technique of the elite trackers the nii sent for assassinations.

He let out the breath he’d been holding with slow control. His mind whirled. What was her purpose sending someone here?

Seeking allies?

That didn’t seem likely. Her ethical code would be the polar opposite of this crowd’s. Perhaps this was a side project. The nii were always working to improve the lives of their hosts, maybe she’d grown tired of these humaniform niiaH preying on society.

Well, it would be no loss for him if she took them all down. But with only one representative here....

It’s a spy.

The spy—a male—was in the forefront of the security pack leaving the elevator. But his smell had a trace of nervous energy entwined through it. He didn’t fit with the rest of the team emotionally. The others in the group were a pack; the spy was ... an attack dog in wolf’s clothing.

When the idea came to him—full-formed and flawless—ShwydH knew what to do.

He put his head down and returned to the work, collecting the scent identities. He’d finished what he’d come for by the