The Kriseel Crusade

By Michael McCloskey

The Kriseel Crusade is the 19th book in the PIT series.

The PIT team travels to an Imperian starbase intending to join forces with an Embeez operative, confront the leader of the Xenophobe Faction, and discover the Embeez’ plan for the future of the entire region.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Michael McCloskey
• Release date: Sep 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798986205304

Michael McCloskey

I am a software engineer in Silicon Valley who dreams of otherworldly creatures, mysterious alien planets, and fantastic adventures. I am also an indie author with over 140K paid sales plus another 118K free downloads.

Book preview

The Kriseel Crusade

(Book 19 of the PIT series)

by Michael McCloskey

Published by Michael McCloskey at Smashwords

Copyright 2022 Michael McCloskey

ISBN: 979-8986205304

Learn more about Michael McCloskey’s works at

www.squidlord.us

Cover art by Stephan Martiniere

Chapter 1

Telisa had been up and pacing for hours by the time the Synergy’s spinner started to spool down on the approach to Blackhab. She fought against growing excitement, afraid to hope too much in case something had happened in their absence that would prevent the restoration of their team. She had not felt so anxious on previous returns to the Celaran base; the absence of Magnus, and news of a Shiny clone visiting Blackhab, on top of the appearance of a Vovokan ship at the Nexus had planted a dread into her.

We need our own Trilisk column again. To be able to restore the team on-mission would be a major step up. We probably have room for one on Synergy somewhere...

Telisa suddenly wondered about the other PIT teams; many returned to Blackhab regularly and therefore must not have their own column. Did any of the teams have such a resource?

I see a major anomaly, Cilreth sent on the team channel.

No. No. Don’t let it be anything bad.

What’s wrong? Telisa asked. Her voice almost cracked.

Blackhab is four percent larger, Cilreth said.

Four percent larger? Where did they expand it? Telisa asked.

Everywhere. As in, the entire thing just... grew.

Telisa breathed again.

I don’t get it, Marcant said. Is that even structurally possible?

Telisa checked the team status. Not surprisingly, they were all awake.

I do. That’s some Trilisk trick. The AI must have done it.

I have to agree, Cilreth said. It’s too uniform, too universal to have been done any other way except... well, Trilisk magic, for lack of better words.

The Synergy requested a local on-station spot and received it. Telisa headed for the shuttle. In her mind’s eye, she scanned the feeds. A Vovokan ship, long and slender, sat near the station.

There it is. The representative is still here.

Imanol and Cilreth with me on the first shuttle, Telisa ordered. The rest of you sit tight for just a while until I get the team restored. Then, I’ll send them over here to start catching up and the rest of you can have a visit if you need one.

To the restored team members, it would be as if they had just gotten backed up a second ago, so they would be ready to return to Synergy, though not for the mission they expected. Instead, they would hear about the mission they had ‘missed’.

Telisa shook her head. She still did not accept such things as normal.

The three PIT veterans boarded a shuttle and headed for Blackhab. Out of a healthy sense of paranoia, the shuttle was stealthed and linked to Blackhab’s Cyleran flight control. They slipped into a massive hangar without mishap.

Telisa stepped out onto Blackhab.

Cynan. May we visit the column room and reconstitute our missing team members? Telisa asked.

Missing? I should have said ‘lost’... or ‘restore our casualties’.

Yes, please do, Cynan responded.

Telisa felt immense relief. There had been no political change in her absence that would deny her getting her crew back.

Also—very briefly—what is the Vovokan ship doing here?

A representative from Earth, here to negotiate expanded cooperation between the Core Worlds and the new Celaran Concordium.

Shiny clone?

Correct.

I see. Thank you.

Have a wonderful visit, Cynan said.

The three team members continued on through the hangar and into the main section of the habitat. Within, all remained as Telisa remembered it: bright light and fresh air with a wide open ‘sky’.

Telisa turned to Cilreth and Imanol.

Feel free to relax, but also see what rumors you can scare up. I’ll be reviving our team.

They nodded and jumped off into the sky. Telisa brought the route to the column room up in her PV and shoved off the inner surface of the habitat, breaking free from the surface gravity and flying out into the fresh air.

She leaped from building to building as she had learned to do long ago. As usual she could not help but enjoy herself. She pressed for time, feeling the joy in putting her superhuman body through its paces. She arrived at the floating column building within fifteen minutes.

Telisa entered through a Celaran trap door and a minute later, she finally walked into the column room. She had been over this moment many times in her thoughts for the past days.

It’s time. Take a deep breath.

Telisa wanted so very much to call up Magnus first. She could have justified it by noting he was second in command. Still, she did not. It would be too selfish, and might stir up so much emotion she might not be able to retrieve the others.

Telisa closed her eyes and focused on Adair. After a moment, she opened her eyes, knowing it was done.

Adair walked out from behind the massive pillar in its light, acrobatic body.

Hello... hrm, it’s just us. Something wrong? Adair asked.

You died. Sorry.

Oh, that is most unfortunate.

"We’ll catch you up in no time. The Synergy is here, she told Adair, sending a location pointer. I have others to revive... you were not alone in your heroism."

Thank you for restoring me, Adair said, then hopped off the dais and trotted toward the Synergy.

Telisa closed her eyes again and summoned Kang.

Her sharp ears detected an inhalation behind her. She turned to see Kang. His relatively dark skin contrasted against the yellow Veer suit he wore. She idly wondered if his tone was natural. The ancient Earth variations in skin tone had long ago muddled together as everyone mixed over the generations, but Core Worlders could change hair or skin color with a simple pill.

Ready to go, he said. Where are the others?

Sorry, you were KIA. You and four others.

Kang frowned as he realized that PIT had already left on the mission and come back.

Damn, rough time, eh? Was it something we can learn from?

Yes. Never trust the Embeez, she thought.

"It was a tense combat against an Imperian machine. No fault on your end. We have many records of it for study on the Synergy. Report there, if you’re still on board."

Kang nodded. He left more slowly than Adair had, in the same direction.

Telisa waited for him to clear the dais, then started on Siobhan. Soon she heard another soul breathing nearby. She opened her eyes and looked up at her new daredevil girl.

Sorry to tell you, you died on-mission, Telisa said.

Gooey purple jammers, she said. I got my packets splattered and I don’t even get to remember it.

Stick around. Caden’s up next, Telisa said.

Oh? Frag it all. Both of us again.

Siobhan took a step back and fell silent.

Telisa faced the column and closed her eyes yet again, calling for Caden’s copy. She heard a rustling, and when he opened her eyes, she saw Siobhan with a long arm around Caden’s shoulder.

We got checked out, pasted, straight up, she said.

What? No! Caden said. We’re splatblack callback’d?

Yep.

"Please head over to Synergy and download your last link caches," Telisa told them.

Will do, Caden said quietly.

Telisa suppressed a rush of sadness.

At least they’re back, and they have a second chance. That’s better than most other creatures get in this universe.

The couple walked out on an aisle between the Terran chairs. Telisa broke into a small smile as she saw them actually holding hands.

My turn.

Telisa took a deep breath and called back her partner. She opened her eyes when she heard his breathing. Magnus stood facing her. She took in his broad shoulders and muscular arms, dressed in his black and red Veer suit, an expectant look on his face.

Telisa tried to act calm and professional for one moment, but she just could not do it. She stepped forward and embraced Magnus. Emotion rose high for a moment, threatening tears. She managed to at least shore that up and instead released him and smiled broadly, though her lower lip quivered.

Magnus nodded. Obviously he did not know the particulars, but he could guess well enough what must have happened. To his perception, he had just gotten backed up a few seconds ago before going on a mission.

I hope I didn’t screw up, he said to Telisa quietly.

The opposite. You racked up another heroic death. You’re ahead of me on that count.

He smiled and nodded, though the smile was forced. Telisa knew him well enough to know he was disappointed in himself.

Let’s go somewhere and get your link memory caught up.

He nodded.

Chapter 2

Dirik surreptitiously watched the aliens talk among themselves next to the column as zhe balanced precariously on two thin legs. Zhe tried to bring the distant creatures into detailed focus from outside the room, but zher alien eyes were not capable of an effective telescopic zoom. Zhe quickly got zher bearings, looking down at the body’s limbs and artificial hide.

Bilateral symmetry. Inferior optics. Suboptimal, but manageable. Lack of stance, less so.

Indeed, Claricus and Sezni were right there, not in-stance but not out-of-stance, either! Such were the limitations of the alien body.

The surroundings held both salvation and danger. An ancient tool operated in this tiny space, but the methane breathers also had a presence here. A primitive device in zher alien brain revealed that this body was last used as a member of a team of soldier-explorers. Somehow, its Trilisk-ness had been suppressed.

The column chose to restore us correctly.

Dirik looked at the configuration of reality and saw the restrictions and choices which would prevent detection and their costs. Dirik navigated through them to find a path in a future that ensured zher survival.

Yes. Things work out this way. Only the Embeez could stop me... if they see it and are willing to pay the price.

Dirik chose a path to escape and nothing else—a path less likely to be blocked by the Embeez—which would leave their alien pets unharmed.

Dirik moved off purposefully to a place where zhe could enact level five concentration. In this way, the ancient tool could be used to find a many-dimensional fold into safety.

Dirik strode into a distant and unoccupied room in the tiny alien construct. There, all three stance entities entered a fugue state of intense calculation. Plans changed, though time did not pass. Once the course was computed, they emerged.

Leave them this tool, Claricus said out-of-stance.

That’s not optimal, Dirik and Sezni replied.

Another is easily available from their enemy. We’ve spent time with them, and it left... a pity in my being.

Very well, Dirik said. It yielded stance to Sezni, in spirit if not in body.

Sezni analyzed the new landscape given the restrictions Claricus demanded. The biped stepped out of the primitive star station into an extradimensional fold of its own making. Then the ancient tool received a series of commands. Dirik-Claricus-Sezni abandoned the alien body and adopted a three-legged, three-armed form with the proper stance support.

At last: I can think properly, Sezni told zherself, locked in-stance without the others in zher way.

The ancient tool was energy-starved, with shipments of mass coming in periodically to feed it.

Pathetic. To them, the tool is amazingly powerful, even power starved as it is.

Sezni first halted the tools’ activities as designated by the primitives. Then zhe used the mass that came in from the simple star system to build a shunt into the nearby star. Energy flowed freely. Sezni built zherself a craft quickly, one that would be sufficient to ensure escape and a prosperous future.

The path to escape was now clear. And because the primitives had not been harmed, the Embeez did not pay the price to stop anything.

Excellent. Our path improves a thousandfold.

Almost as an afterthought, Sezni secured the ancient tool to listen only to the dominant species of the space: Those that had been called Celarans by zher disabled being before the column’s restoration. The many-legged enemies of zher once-friends would never be able to wrest it from them.

Claricus took the dominant stance one last time before departure. Zhe ransacked the most recent memories of zher degenerate form: The one known as Kang. These were the Terrans and Celarans. The Vovokans and Imperians had been forever locked out of the ancient column. Yes, that would have made Kang happy, if he had continued to exist.

I owe them nothing. Yet, a goodbye is another small boon I could easily grant these puny creatures.

Claricus forged a message in a nanosecond and left it behind on the primitive’s computer systems. The Terrans read it and appreciated it. Or in their linear experience: they would read it. They would become satisfied with the gift on their perceived line.

Enough! The path is clear.

Claricus yielded stance to Dirik, who activated the ship and took them away.

Chapter 3

Imanol met Cilreth floating in Blackhab’s bright open space above the science administration building. He noted she had dropped Momma Veer and went with a light green outfit of durable material that covered everything but her neck and hands. Imanol wore an old Veer suit in dark green.

You ready? he asked her.

Yes. We’re green today, Cilreth noted.

Celarans like green, Imanol said flatly.

They sure do. Let’s hope they don’t bite us.

I think we’re safe from them. It’s these face-to-face meetings I’m fearing.

Busy day, Cilreth said.

Yes, if by busy you mean sitting on our butts and listening to bureaucrats, Imanol said. And in person! We should at least get to stay virtual.

Cilreth shrugged.

Not ordinary bureaucrats. Shiny clones and scientists and diplomats...

She saw the look on Imanol’s face.

Okay, who am I kidding? You’re right, she conceded. At least we get to fly around inside Blackhab for a while. It could be fun.

What I want to know is, who’s this ‘more important’ group that Telisa is meeting with?

I’d say Embeez, or Rovans, or... maybe old Celaran friends? Dunno.

Embeez. Yeah, that sounds about right, he said.

Imanol did not ask why Magnus was not with them; Magnus was just back from the column, likely still trying to absorb what had happened since his last download. Imanol did not envy him.

Imanol knew that he and Cilreth were to meet with the scientists first. He let Cilreth lead the way, though he could have looked everything up himself. They traveled through the large Celaran building with confusing twists and turns in all dimensions. At several points they hopped from one surface to another at right angles, following the gravity spinner lines of the building design. At other junctions they just leaped through, floating along after some Celarans.

They paused outside the meeting room.

These people are brilliant, so you might wanna save yourself some face and be respectful, Cilreth told him on a private connection.

Have I ever been otherwise?

Cilreth made a face. She led the way into a large meeting chamber. It was perhaps the biggest incarnate meeting Imanol had ever been in. The Terran scientists dressed more like Core Worlders, in