"Give me our location," Wojtek ordered from the captain's chair on the Muramasa.
"Workin' on it." Zahra's eyes fixed on the sensor readout of the star system.
"We are near the Triumph colony," Zoojin said. The blue alien prince stood.
"We'll see in a minute." Zahra kept her eyes on the console.
"He's got two for two so far." Wojtek looked over to Zahra. They'd been traveling for three days since escaping the Mangeroma in the Nagan system. Their journey included two jumps through uncharted wormholes, both of them revealed by Zoojin's powers of divination.
Wojtek glanced over his shoulder at the crew. Lujain stood rigidly in front of her station, mechanical hands at work on the console. Razz leaned back in his massive chair, calmly watching the data scroll past on his viewscreen. The pilotting system beeped as it churned through the information, comparing the sensor scans to their ship's stellar map database.
"We're in charted space now -" Zahra turned to Wojtek "- Barnard's Galaxy, B-seven-four. We're in thruster range of Triumph."
"That's three for three." Wojtek grinned and looked towards Zoojin.
"Then we can return to Blue Sky," Razz said to Wojtek. The monstrous orange alien leaned forward in his seat. "We no longer need his assistance."
"We have an agreement," Zoojin said. "You are to take me to the colony."
"Haven't we risked enough, helping outsiders?" Razz snarled. "First those lizards, and now this scrawny creature? He nearly had us all killed. We should not take orders from him."
"I am not giving an order," Zoojin squared himself with Razz. "I am reminding you of our agreement. I have done what was agreed upon. Now it is your turn."
"I'm taking us to Triumph," Wojtek said. "He's right. We have an agreement."
Razz grunted and settled back into his seat. The engine hummed as the thrusters drove them towards Triumph.
"Scanners picking up something ahead." Zahra tapped her console. "Lots of activity."
"What is that?" Anwar's eyes darted across the data popping onto his console. "I've never seen signature like that."
"Let's see find out." Zahra's fingers danced across the console. "We got fusion spectrals. High energy particle emissions. Quantum aberrations. Multi-channel interference and gluon packet signature disruption."
"It's all centered on the planet." Anwar looked up. "I thought the colony was destroyed?"
"It was destroyed." Nigel stepped forward. He stared into to the familiar stars of his former home on the viewscreen. This was the closest he'd been since fleeing from the invasion.
"Well someone's over there." Zahra motioned to the readout. "And whatever is generating that signature is at least the size of a city."
"Maybe they rebuilt the colony?" Anwar glanced to Zahra.
"Could also be a star fleet," she answered.
"I'm takin' us closer," Wojtek announced. "Increase the resolution on those scans. We need a better idea 'bout what we're lookin' at."
"If we move any closer -" Razz leaned towards Wojtek "- there is a high chance of our detection. We should not approach the planet."
"For a warrior -" Zoojin took a step to Razz "- you are very preocuppied in avoiding danger."
"Who are you to tell me what it means to be a warrior?" Razz growled. "I face danger when it suits my purposes."
"A warrior faces danger when they are called to by duty."
"And what duty do I have to you?" Razz snarled.
"We have an agreement. Your duty is to honour it."
"He's right." Wojtek interjected, turning to Razz. "If we don't have our honour what do we have?"
"A ship," Razz grumbled. "And our lives."
"Don't worry," Wojtek replied. "I plan on keeping it that way. If things get dicey, we're out of here."
"They've spotted us," Lujain announced, eyes focussed at her station. "Whoever they are. We've got a ship on intercept heading."
"What kind of ship?" Wojtek turned to Lujain.
"Can't say," Lujain answered. "Doesn't match any known profile. But it's big."
"They're tryin' to contact us." Zahra turned to Wojtek. "It's an audio transmission: an old Earth dialect. We can translate it."
"Put it through," Wojtek ordered. "And get a tactical scan on that ship."
Zahra and Lujain entered the commands.
A musical female voice spoke calmly through the ship's speakers. "Foreigners: we welcome you to our land." The voice was overlaid with an otherworldly sound: a harmonious tone that accompanied each musical syllable spoken by the unseen stranger. "I pray you, come to your servant's house. You may stay the night, and wash your feet, and go your own way in the morning."
Wojtek looked back over his shoulder. "That was weird, right?" He turned to Lujain. "How's that scan comin'?"
"Working on it," she reported.
"It's approaching fast," Zahra said. "Still just the one intercept ship."
Wojtek opened a broadcast channel to the incoming vessel. "We appreciate your offer, but our feet are clean enough already."
The musical voice returned, filling the command deck with its gentle, soothing rhythm. "Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. How can we help you?"
"These are the invaders?" Wojtek asked Nigel.
"I don't know." Nigel shrugged. "I never heard them speak."
"They don't sound very hostile." Wojtek looked towards Zoojin. "You think this is the evil you're looking for?"
"I don't believe so." Zoojin shook his head. "I don't sense violent intentions from them."
Wojtek reactivated the communicator. "We're historians here for research," he said through the communicator. "There was a colony here called Triumph. Can you tell us what happened to it?"
The voice spoke back through the speakers. "When the Lord your God brings you into the land you are entering to possess, and drives out before you many nations, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy."
"Doesn't sound so peaceful anymore," Wojtek said to the crew.
"Scan's complete." Lujain turned to Wojtek. "Putting it on screen now."
The front viewscreen blinked, switching from an empty starscape to a close up view of the approaching object. It appeared on screen against the backdrop of stars: a winged humanoid figure, with shining blue metal forming a female body draped in flowing robes, like an angel carved from an icy blue glacier. Bright light flowed from unseen sources on the figure, reflecting off its smooth, cerulean surface. Metal wings extended from its back spanning five fold its height. The blue wings stretched far to the sides, arranged in feather-like metallic plates, adorned with sparkling emeralds glittering in the ambient light. The angelic entity floated towards their ship, holding in its hands a golden chalice.
"What is that thing?" Anwar wondered aloud. "Is that a ship?"
"Looks like a robot," Lujain's answered, eyes on the sensor data.
"That's what attacked your colony?" Wojtek asked Nigel.
"No." Nigel shook his head. "There were cross-shaped ships. No robots."
"That thing is tall as a skyscraper." Wojtek nodded towards the screen. "It could be some kind of attack ship. You sure that wasn't it?"
"I'm sure." Nigel replied. "They weren't anything like that."
Wojtek reactivated the communicator, opening a channel to the winged entity. "Do you know who destroyed Triumph?"
The angel answered in its soft musical voice. "It was written: in the cities of the nations the Lord has given you as an inheritance, do not leave alive anything that breathes. Completely destroy them -as the Hittites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites. Destroy them as the Lord your God has commanded you."
"You destroyed them?" Wojtek asked.
"No," the voice replied. "I am the Archangel Tzaphqiel, ruler of the choir of Aralim, Guardian of the Heavenly Library, and Watchtower of God. Triumph was destroyed by Jehovah's Catechumen, as commanded by the Lord your God."
"Why?" Nigel asked. He stared intently towards the angel.
"He was wroth with them, and bound them 'til the time when their guilt should be consummated, even for ten thousand years," Tzaphqiel spoke. "Suppose you hear in one of the towns the Lord your God has given you that some worthless rabble among you have led their fellow citizens astray to worship foreign gods. In such cases, you must examine the facts carefully. If you find it is true and can prove that such a detestable act has occurred among you, you must attack that town and completely destroy all its inhabitants, as well as all the livestock. Then you must pile all the plunder in the middle of the street and burn it. Put the entire town to the torch as a burnt offering to the Lord your God. That town must remain a ruin forever; it may never be rebuilt. So it was with Triumph, and here shall stand the holy angels who watch."
"Holy angels who watch?" Wojtek repeated aloud.
"Ye are come unto a city of the living God, and to an innumerable company of angels. Behold, presently more than twelve legions of angels sail Azurean wind over Triumph." The angel Tzaphqiel held the golden chalice with one hand, waving the other through the space across its chest. "These are the names of the holy angels who watch: Uriel, one of the holy angels, who is over the world and over Tartarus; Raphael, one of the holy angels, who is over the spirits of men; Raguel, one of the holy angels who takes vengeance on the world of the luminaries; Michael, one of the holy angels, to wit, he that is set over the best part of mankind and over chaos; Saraqael, one of the holy angels, who is set over the spirits, who sin in the spirit; Gabriel, one of the holy angels, who is over Paradise and the serpents and the Cherubim; Remiel, one of the holy angels, whom God set over those who rise."
"If you didn't destroy Triumph," Wojtek started, "then what are you doing here?"
"This is how it will be at the end of the age," Tzaphqiel spoke. "The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
Zahra closed the communication channel. "I don't know what kind of weapon systems that thing has," she said, "but it's getting too close for comfort."
"Yeah." Wojtek reopened the channel to Tzaphqiel. "That's close enough. We'd appreciate if you kept your distance."
"So it shall be." The robot Tzaphqiel decelerated. Its blue body and wings sparkled bright with the illumination of plasma thrusters.
"Update on the scans." Zahra turned to Wojtek. "There's more of 'em like that one." Zahra nodded to the angel Tzaphqiel. "A few big ones in orbit around the planet and hundreds of smaller ones. And on the planet, too: thousands of robots, 'bout the size of humans."
"An army of robots?" Wojtek looked to Zahra.
"Looks that way." She nodded. "Quite a few structures, too. Looks like they repurposed the reactors to power manufacturing facilities and comm's. No artillery or defensive systems on the surface."
"Bio-signatures?" Wojtek asked. "Life forms?"
Nigel held his breath as he waited for her answer. He still held out hope there were some survivors on the planet.
"Just residuals." Zahra shook her head. "There used to be life here."
Nigel lowered his head, eyes shut.
"So you don't think these things are responsible?" Wojtek glanced to Zoojin and Nigel. "Nigel?"
"Maybe they are." Nigel looked back up to the viewscreen where the giant angel Tzaphqiel floated peacefully against a backdrop of stars. "I don't know. I don't know what to think."
"They are connected to the destruction of Triumph." Zoojin turned his purple eyes from Wojtek to Tzaphqiel. "But they are innocent themselves."
"Innocent?" Anwar interjected. "That's a weird way to put it. Robots can't be innocent or guilty. They're just machines."
"Thinking machines," Lujain added, turning her mechanical body from her station to face Anwar.
"But still machines." Anwar looked up to Lujain's metallic face. "They just do what they're programmed to."
"As do you." Zoojin looked to Anwar. "You do as nature programmed you."
"Nature gave me the ability to make my own decisions," Anwar said. "But robots, they're just machines: complicated mechanisms."
"As are you." Zoojin's eyes locked with Anwar's. "You too are a complicated mechanism: a machine comprised of biological matter."
"This ain't the time for a metaphysical debate," Wojtek interrupted. "If those things are robots, that means someone built 'em and put 'em there." He glanced over to Zoojin. "And that's prob'ly who you're lookin' for."
"So that's what you think happened here?" Zahra looked to Wojtek. "They destroyed Triumph, built an army of robots, then just left 'em?"
"Yep." Wojtek nodded.
"But why?"
"Who knows?" Wojtek shrugged. "But unless someone has a better theory, that seems like what we're dealin' with."
"So what do we do?" Nigel asked.
"We ask 'em." Wojtek turned back to face Zaphqiel and activated the communicator. "Who made you?"
Zaphqiel's melodious voice flowed to them through the speakers. "By Him were all things created, that are in Heaven, and that are in Earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him, and for Him."
"By Him?" Wojtek wondered allowed. "Who is he?"
"He is the Alpha and the Omega," Zaphqiel replied. "Who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."
"Well that clears it up," Zahra joked.
"Okay." Wojtek looked back to the robotic angel. "How can we find him?"
Zaphqiel's musical words returned. "I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God."
"Can you tell us where he's going?"
Zaphqiel spoke. "The armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty."
Wojtek turned to face Zoojin. "We're not gettin' anywhere with this."
"Take me to the surface," Zoojin urged.
"Why?" Wojtek raised an eyebrow.
"I will be able to feel the energy of the past," Zoojin lowered his eyes to Wojtek. "The energy of those who lived there. It will guide my way, just as Nigel's memories have guided us here."
"Ridiculous!" Razz shouted. "Why should we do this?"
Wojtek stared up at Zoojin. "I agreed to take you this far, not to go running on a wild chase across the galaxy to who knows where."
"You agreed to take me to the colony," Zoojin said. "So take me to the surface."
"This is close enough," Wojtek shot back. "I never promised to land there."
"The agreement was to take me to Triumph."
"Here we are." Wojtek nodded to the viewscreen, where the Triumph colony was a small dot in the distance just over the shoulder of the robot Zaphqiel. "I think I've honoured the spirit of our agreement."
"I don't have a vessel," Zoojin replied. "So surely the agreement was to take me to the surface."
"You wanna be dropped off?"
Zoojin nodded. "That is all I ask."
"And what're you gonna do then?" Wojtek peered at Zoojin. "I don't suppose you'd be happy with us leaving you there."
"The destruction of an entire colony is a traumatic event," Zoojin said. "It will not take long to commune with the energy there."
"So you want us to wait for you?"
"I will not ask of you that you stay. That was not part of our agreement. But if you so choose, then when I determine the location of those responsible, I will negotiate for your further assistance."
"What do you have to offer?"
"The use of my ability," Zoojin said. "I understand it is valuable to you."
"I want to go down there," Nigel interjected. "I want to see it."
"I don't believe those creations pose a threat to us, Wojtek." Zoojin motioned to Zaphqiel. "They are peaceful. We will be safe."
"I don't know." Wojtek stroked his chin.
"Wojtek, if you're thinking about dealing with him -" Cassia nodded to Zoojin "- you're gonna need me."
"Why's that?" Wojtek leaned onto his armrest and looked to Cassia.
"I know the business," Cassia answered. "And I've got the connections. You'll need my help."
"How hard could it be if we've got him?" Wojtek motioned to Zoojin.
"Finding the holes is one thing -" Cassia locked eyes with Wojtek "- but knowing how to sell 'em is another."
"I've been workin' in the merc' trade most of my life." Wojtek smiled. "I've got my own connections. I could flip a hole."
"You could try," Cassia said. "You might even make a few K on Blue Sky. But nothing close to what I could get. And it'd be a lot riskier than working with me. This is what I do for a living, Wojtek. As good as you are in the merc' trade, that's me in the wormhole business. You could use my help."
"How, exactly?"
"I know how to value the holes and work the market. I know the players and the politics. I know how to make the sale. If you can't seal the deal -find the buyer, make the transfer- you risk losing everything." Cassia took a step to Wojtek. "Without my help, you might as well stick to the merc' trade. But with me on board, and him -" Cassia glanced over at Zoojin "- we could be rich."
"What do you think?" Wojtek glanced over at Zahra and Lujain.
"I don't know." Zahra took a breath and looked down to the console. "There are thousands of those robots down there. It might not be safe."
"Could we fight 'em?" Wojtek asked. "If we needed to?"
"There's no way of knowing what they're capable of," Lujain said.
"We could prep' for an EMP assault," Zahra suggested. "That'd be our best bet. But even then, we don't know what kind of shielding or weapon systems we're up against."
"Looks like they're communicating with a Q-link," Lujain added. "A quantum disruptor might disable their ability to coordinate."
"They have no intention of harming us." Zoojin glanced to Zahra and Lujain. "There is no need for preparing to fight them."
"What if you're wrong?" Zahra asked.
"They think of us as guests," Zoojin said. "They invited us to spend the night."
"It could be a trap," Zahra suggested.
"Even if they're peaceful now," Wojtek stared at Zoojin, "who knows what'll happen if we land? What if we do something that sets 'em off?"
"It's a calculated risk," Cassia interjected. "It's worth it."
"Every job is a calculated risk -" Wojtek looked over to Cassia "- what I'm worried about is the margin of error."
"If you remain concerned," Zoojin's said, "then ask them." He motioned to Zaphqiel.
"Ask 'em what?" Wojtek demanded.
"Ask them if it would be safe to land there."
Wojtek sighed. "Not sure what good it'll do us." He hit the communicator. "Would you allow us to land on the planet?"
"Behold," Zaphqiel spoke back, "my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you."
"Does this alleviate your concern?" Zoojin asked wojtek.
"The question is -" Wojtek turned away from Zaphqiel "- can we trust them?"
"Can you ever trust a robot?" Anwar asked.
"It depends on their programming." Lujain looked over from her station.
"So how do we know how it's programmed?" Wojtek looked to Lujain.
"Without being able to look at the code, or ask the architects," Lujain replied, "only by inference."
"Based on what?" Wojtek asked.
"Whatever output it produces," Lujain said. "By talking to it, in other words."
"That's it?" Wojtek raised his brow. "That's all we can go on?"
"It's the best we can do."
Wojtek looked back to the viewscreen. "Can you guarantee our safety?" Wojtek asked the robotic angel through the communicator.
"When a stranger sojourns with you in your land," Zaphqiel's musical voice filled the deck, "you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself."
"If that's not good enough for you," Cassia said, "then nothing will be."
"Thoughts?" Wojtek glanced to Lujain and Zahra.
"Maybe the invaders thought they were improving the colony," Zahra turned from her station.
"Improving it?" Nigel shouted.
"I didn't say they were right." Zahra looked to Nigel.
"What's your theory, then?" Wojtek asked. "They just came here to do some remodeling then left?"
Zahra nodded. "Maybe they're trying to spread their vision, and they're leaving robots behind to make sure it stays that way."
Wojtek paused. "Then the reason they're gone-"
"-they're headed to another world," Zahra finished his thought. "Repeating the process."
"So you think they're just jumping from place to place," Wojtek started, "destroying colonies and replacing 'em with robots?"
Zahra shrugged. "It's a theory."
"This comports with the description of the evil I am seeking," Zoojin answered. "Powerful enough to destroy worlds, spreading across the stars."
Wojtek turned to the viewscreen and activated the communicator. "The ones who made you -what's their mission?"
"There was given him dominion," Zaphqiel's eyes glowed as she spoke, "and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed."
"I can stop them." Zoojin stared to Wojtek. "But I must find them first."
"Take us to the surface," Nigel urged Wojtek. "Do you really want to be responsible if they destroy more colonies?"
"How's it my problem?" Wojtek shot back.
"Because you can help stop them," Nigel insisted. He motioned to Zoojin. "He needs your help."
"If we're right about this," Zahra interjected, "if they are jumping from planet to planet, then it might be our problem. Blue Sky is only three jumps from Triumph. What if they're headed there?"
"They could be headed anywhere," Wojtek replied.
"I will find out where," Zoojin said. "I will find them, and I will stop them."
Nigel looked to Wojtek. "All you gotta do is take us down so he can do his thing. That's it."
"Look," Cassia started, "I don't know if I buy this theory. I don't know what the invaders are up to, or what these robots are doing here. All I know for sure is he's been right about the wormholes here -" she motioned to Zoojin "- and that means, if he's on our side, we can make a lot of money."
Wojtek looked ahead, staring at the colossal, robotic angel. "Alright," he said finally. "Rig the EMPs and quantum disruptors. I'm taking us in."