Planet of the Remaining: The Zerot Infestation, #4

By A K Lambert

Grace lost one prince but found another.
To rescue Prince Ventar she must enter a place even her ascended friends fear to go. A place she will come to realise holds the key to the very fate of the Local Group of galaxies.
Prince Camcietti must let her go and tread his own perilous path. A dark shadow is being cast over the galaxy – a shadow that may eclipse even the malignant depravity of the Zerot. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: A K Lambert
• Release date: Sep 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201629687

Book preview

PROLOGUE

The Giant Hornet’s only enemy is the smaller Yellow Hornet. They will attack a Yellow nest even though outnumbered, but their strategy of attacking alone is fatally flawed. The Yellows defend in clusters, eventually despatching each one with a lethal sting to the back of the neck—the only kink in the Giant Hornets armour.

All existence obeys mathematics.

So, at the point of the creation of the Universe, all events followed numerical equations on an infinite forward journey. But, in mathematics, numbers also go forever backward in the negative form. So with the creation of the ordinary reality, the Universe expanded outwards, with the Umbra and its reflected Penumbra beginning their journey forward in time. The Antumbra Realm went backwards in parallel with the positive domain, but following a completely unique set of rules.

The Antumbra Realm is a parallel dimension that is always just within reach, but its reversed time is always moving inextricably away.

The Small Village.

Placed upon a gently rising hillside of green Avaska grass, the village appeared a picture of tranquillity. The small, simple homes built of yellow stone with grey thatched roofs gave way to farm buildings, housing machinery and livestock. The village folk went about their daily routines with gusto.

Morgain was the only one who seemed to lack that zeal. The leader of this small community had stopped to observe two approaching from the valley below. His first thought was, which way do they fall? He hoped they were Neutrals. Without the haunting feelings of another life, they would add diversity to the community if they stayed. He would soon know. Visitors to this remote part of the world were few.

Morgain thought about his people and the burden they carried. They had been in this place for many thousands of years; exactly how long he didn’t know. The scribes had kept comprehensive pictorial records, but timelines were not always clear. What he knew – what they all knew – was that they were descendants of a barbaric sub-species, banished to this place for wicked crimes against society. The awareness of this – the curse of the Extremes in this world; knowing you aren’t what you’re supposed to be. But of the two types of extremes, to be Dark Incongruent was a blessing. It was the other extreme that was cursed.

The unknown travellers were halfway up the hill now, and becoming clearer to Morgain. A slim being, possibly male, and a beast the likes of which he had never seen before.

He felt the merest of quivers in the space around him, signalling the next phase shift. On the hills to his left, a line of yellow was sweeping toward the village. Yellow. This phase was his favourite. The yellow shadow washed over the village and the travellers below, the land and sky taking on a yellow haze. The beast crouched, adopting an aggressive posture, only relaxing when the cloaked being reassured it. New to this world. The creature was yet to interpret the subtle but tangible changes of their land.

Phase shifting was part of life in this realm.

A male, he was sure now, hood or no hood, taller than his people. His coloration was much the same as Morgain’s own. A later addition to this world. The stranger came to a stop a short distance away

Some of the villagers joined Morgain but edged away at the creature’s bared fangs and accompanying low, menacing growl. It looked up at the tall male. Was it seeking permission? But it held its ground behind him, alert.

‘We offer the hospitality of our village, travellers,’ said Morgain. ‘Where are you bound?’

‘If we decide we want your hospitality,’ the male replied, in a voice that Morgan thought youthful, ‘we shall take it. And anything else we desire. And our destination is none of your concern.’

‘Light Incongruent, Morgain. Beware,’ a voice whispered behind him. He nodded, the threat in the stranger’s voice was clear.

‘Apologies,’ said Morgain, calmly, ‘just idle curiosity. Not meaning to pry.’

A young female leading a large quadruped detoured around them on her way to the milking shed. The creature never took his eyes off the docile animal, saliva dripping from his mouth.

‘My pet needs to feed,’ the stranger said, removing his hood for the first time and revealing his features. Morgain’s earlier fears were confirmed.

‘We have food we can spare,’ replied Morgain.

‘No, he needs to feed now.’

Released from whatever held it, the creature took two explosive leaps and landed on the bovine’s back, grasping it with long claws and biting deeply into its neck. The poor creature’s panic caused the young female to dive away screaming, narrowly avoiding the large, gentle beast as it fell under the onslaught. The villagers tried to help her, but an unseen force prevented them.

The traveller left the beast to feed, striding into the village, leaving the small welcoming party unable to move, and with no choice but to watch the savage attack on their livestock.

PART I

CHAPTER 1 - THE JADIA ARMADA

The Jadia Armada

The Less-than-Grand Depart

THE CAST:

Oncouch Zamball

There were no special ceremonies or cheering crowds to see the Jadia Armada depart Gemini 7; it wasn’t their way. The hive mind was with them as Oncouch Zamball, leader of the armada, inched slowly out of Gemini 7 space. Soon the link would break, separating them from the one and a half billion minds on their planet.

The Jadia was now a vessel, not just a weapons delivery system. Thruster clamps were replaced by three ion particle star drives mounted on the primary hull with massive vents fluting away to the rear. The three turbine-shaped outlets of their delivery system dominated the front of the vessel. It bore little resemblance to the old fossil-fuel powered rockets of their spacefaring infancy – it was now a craft worthy of the stars.

Zamball was aboard the Sepia, a much larger support spacecraft that housed the five hundred Geminians required to service the armada. A squadron of Harass fighters spread out, guarding the two vessels, and would only return to the Sepia to relieve the pilots and for the passage through wormholes.

A couple of hours later they were a hive mind of five hundred, the link to the homeworld severed. It was a strange sensation for all of them. Gone was the instantaneous decision making of billions. The hive mind mirrored the flight of a million migrating Breacher birds ebbing and flowing in a majestic dancing entity in the sky. But somewhere, at any one time, one would lead, with the multitude behind reacting by instinct only. Similarly, someone in the hive mind would make a suggestion assimilated by the others.

Now the five hundred could hear individual thoughts and they soon realised they had time to interrogate each other.

This will take some getting used to, thought Zamball, hundreds of replies coming back to him.

Before they left Gemini 7 they posed every scenario the hive mind could conceive that might present itself on their long journey, and by consensus detailed appropriate reactions to any situation. A charter to govern the armada. Every action would have a predetermined reaction. But there were objectives to be met before they encountered the Zerot. The first was to test their delivery system in space – a test on living subjects, in real time. Who these subjects happened to be was of no consequence.

CHAPTER 2 - GRACE & DAVISS

Grace & Daviss

The Meeting

THE CAST:

High Elder Tauriar/Grace, Prince Camcietti/Daviss, Jon, Mandy, Dranba, Hadra, Morvina, Countess Bor, Lady Metalinda

Grace pulled herself together after the shock of seeing the prince and finished her brief speech introducing Jon and Mandy to the strange aliens in this lone city on an otherwise unpopulated planet called Residuum.

Upon completion of her speech and before the polite applause had finished, Mandy was in her ear excitedly asking who he was.

Prince Camcietti, she whispered back before stepping off the stage to meet the community. She planned a route around the room that would end with the prince and his purple-haired friends. Mandy and Jon followed closely, presumably not wanting to miss anything. During a brief chat with Countess Bor, she could hear Mandy, ‘No… Really! You’re joking!’ to Jon.

Jon had put two and two together and had apparently violated her confidence about lost childhood loves. Grace gave him one of her looks. She’d used them on him many times before, but this look held a whole new level of recrimination.

Jon’s crooked smile went no way to appeasing her.

When they were close to Prince’s party, she said, ‘Time to mingle – off you go.’

‘You remember nothing?’

‘No, nothing,’ Camcietti replied, ‘just my name.’

‘You remember Prince Camcietti, but nothing else?’ Grace asked the Prince.

‘No. That name means nothing to me. I’m Daviss. That’s the name I remember.’

Suddenly, Grace sounded like Mandy. ‘No… but that’s your birth name. Daviss Scaratt!’

Mandy and Jon appeared at her shoulder.

‘He’s a bit of a hunk, Grace,’ Mandy whispered into her ear. A whisper that everyone heard.

For the first time in many years, Grace saw the boyish smile she remembered. ‘Did she call you Grace?’ he asked.

‘My Earth name,’ she replied defensively. ‘I spent twelve years there. Most of the time with these two.’ She moved to let them in, a semi-scowl still on her face.

‘Is she the girl in your head?’ asked the most stunningly beautiful female Grace had ever seen. Beautiful, but distant, apparently devoid of emotion.

‘I only tried that once. A few months ago. Prince Ventar has been trying for a long time.’

‘It was you then. Vague voices in the back of my head,’ Daviss replied. ‘This is Hadra.’ He indicated the stunning girl. ‘And her brother Dranda, and mother Morvina – Captain of the Do’arth, our spaceship. They are Rammorian.’

They were all breathtaking, but they all had the same expressionless look. She remembered now, the Zerot had spoken of them on Earth.

‘You and the other prince have very advanced mental communicating powers,’ Hadra, remarked. ‘Over such a distance, that is.’

‘Prince Ventar is the talented one,’ Grace replied. ‘His Life Team brought him up on a planet called Thorrid. It’s the home of the Schumberlay – a race that reached ascendancy but didn’t take the last step. The Schumberlay took him under their wing and taught him so much. Ultimately, he was the saviour of our planet. Now we’ve lost him.’

Davis said, ‘The Rammorians found me on a planet, badly beaten up. I woke up on their ship and my life, or my memory, starts then. I’ve been with them since then, seeking planets decimated by the Zerot and rescuing any remnants of these shattered races; encouraging them to come here to Residuum. Giving them a home, a future, and a purpose. I didn’t know I was a Vercetian until now.’

‘We have the unfortunate distinction of being the race who developed the gene manipulation technique that made the Zerot what they are today,’ Morvina said, somehow oozing authority while having no expression. ‘We’re trying to atone for releasing this infestation on the galaxy.’

Grace sensed there was something more but thought it better not to question her here.

Countess Bor and another Bellagarn joined them. The stranger was smaller than the Countess and noticeably younger. The look on her face was one Grace had never seen, but she thought it might be shyness.

‘This is my little sister, Lady Metalinda,’ said Bor, draping a tentacle around her. ‘She should have been here for this ceremony, but like many youngsters, arrived late. On your Pindora crystal again?’ She gave her sister a sharp look. Grace had seen that look many times.

Jon and Mandy were staring in awe at the young Bellagarn.

‘Anyway,’ the Countess addressed Grace directly, ‘you are free to do as you wish. Explore our city and introduce yourselves to its citizens. They all have stories to tell –most are somewhat distressing, but some wonderful heroic stories, too.’

‘My brother and Daviss are taking me to the hills north of here in the morning,’ said Hadra. ‘They insist on trying to improve my technique on the two-wheeled contraptions they play on.’ Her words should have been playful, but her face was as blank as ever.

‘Bicycles?’ enquired Mandy, surreptitiously digging Jon in the ribs.

‘Yes, that sounds correct,’ said Dranba. ‘These are special ones for going down mountains fast. Daviss is an expert.’

‘So is Jon,’ Grace butted in. ‘Peter trained him – Seca Jobe, that is. One of my life team. He says he trained you as a boy.’

Daviss eyed up Jon; a silent challenge issued.

‘He’s one of the best on Earth,’ said Mandy, boosting her boyfriends’ ego.

‘Happy to join you guys,’ Jon said. ‘If you have a spare bike, that is?’

‘We can nano one up for you within the hour,’ said Daviss.

‘I’m coming,’ Mandy said, ‘but just watching.’

‘Me too,’ said Grace, the beginning of a plan to get closer to Daviss forming in her mind.

The group began breaking up.

Daviss appeared in Grace’s head. ‘How well do we know each other, Grace? They all call you Grace, can I?’

‘Of course. How well? You once asked me to marry you.’

She saw the panic flick across his face but he kept his composure. She smiled at him. ‘Worry not, Daviss. I was eight and you were eighteen. You were always playing me up. That’s how well you knew me.’

‘I’m glad we were friends. I wish I could remember.’

‘Has anyone tried to repair the damage to your mind?’ Grace asked. ‘The success rate on Preenasette is good, but some of these advanced races you know must be skilled in such things.’

‘There is a lack of skilled medical practitioners here. In the early years, we inquired, but they all spoke of potential side effects, so I refused. It is what it is.’

‘Ha, that’s an Earth expression,’ Grace replied. ‘Tell me about these Rammorian with whom you’ve been travelling. They’re quite stunning.’

Hi, Space Diary

My little space mate may have a fella. Well, it appears she has latent feelings towards him, and I’m pretty sure he’s interested in her. Prince Camcietti. A bit of a rough jewel, if you ask me. Not the type I would have thought she’d be interested in. I pictured her with a more academic type.

Good night Diary. Tomorrow is a big day. I’m seeing the doctor…

CHAPTER 3 - THE MINI INVASION

The Mini Invasion

Strange Rabbit

THE CAST:

Strange Rabbit

Thorrid, Sadalmelik System - 2014. Planet of the Schumberlay. (Book 2, Chapter 16 - The Return of the Princess. Grace telling everyone about her battle with the Zerot on Earth.)

The group of short-eared Dascam rabbits kept perfectly still, hoping the big things would move away from their favourite grassy feeding area. The well-hidden rabbits remained perfectly still, sure the hairy beast with the twitchy nose was aware of them. That thing terrified them. And why is Strange Rabbit manoeuvring to get a closer look? He will get us caught, and they will eat us up.

But Strange Rabbit wasn’t afraid at all. He was very excited and wanted to get as close to the big things as possible, not concerned with being seen. The hairy beast had noticed him but didn’t appear interested.

Within Strange Rabbit, another conversation was going on. Five highly intelligent beings, who needed to make a decision, and fast!

‘What about the blue ones?’

‘Evidence of advanced psychic activity. We may be detected.’

‘The five pink ones are suitable.’

‘More challenging than this project.’

‘We should be able to avoid rejection.’

‘They look fascinating. A worthy project to undertake.’

‘But which one?’

‘A male or female?’

‘Does it matter?’

‘It matters to me!’

‘Sever all neural pathways. Get ready to move.’

‘Never has severing felt so good.’

‘I hope they are travellers.’

‘Meet up at the exit point.’

A few minutes later, they had assembled.

‘Everyone ready? Which one? Let’s decide.’

‘They’re on the move!’

‘The nearest one, then. Go.’

The microscopic beings formed a cluster and, using the motive power of Frontal, headed at high speed towards the last of the pink ones to get up. Pariet aimed for the creature’s mouth, paused for the exhalation of breath to complete, and dashed in at the next intake. They reached the top of the lungs as the consumption ceased and grabbed hold of a nodule, hanging on desperately as the creature breathed out again. During the next couple of intakes, they made their way down to the relative calm of the lower lung – a place few organisms could successfully cleanse of stale air – loitering near a substantial blood vessel, taking stock. They had overcome the most dangerous element of infiltration, but the hardest part was still to come. Entering the bloodstream was easy enough, but overcoming the blood-brain barrier protecting the brain from undesirable foreign objects was a major problem with all sentient beings, but there were ways to do it.

Time to execute this new project.

CHAPTER 4 - THE CYCLE RIDE

The Cycle Ride

Grace’s Secret

THE CAST:

Jon, Daviss, Dranba, Grace, Mandy, Hadra

These boys are good, thought Jon as he chased them down the mountain. The ascent had been fast and furious, with many jumps to negotiate. Jon was hitting them blind. With no practice to speak of, his landing points were unknown, and all he could do was to match Daviss’s entry speed, trusting in his local knowledge. The incredible feeling at the apex of a jump was like a drug to Jon. The apex presented him with a choice of landing points, requiring instant adjustments of his weight to correct his yaw angle. A process far too immediate for normal analytical thought – it happened at