Planet Breaker: A Supernatural Space Opera (Witching on a Starship Book 2) Read online

  “But you guys stopped him,” I said, trying to imagine what they had gone through. It seemed impossible, and not just because witches didn’t have that kind of power. I was pretty powerful in my own right, but I wasn’t exactly atypical, and I’d never heard of the witch strong enough to take down a planet.

  “Obviously not.” He shook his head. “The combined forces of seven worlds held his armada back barely long enough for a hundred neutrino vortex bombs to be detonated within range of his ship. They say the heat crackling off his shield scorched the universe itself and it still bears the scar.” He took a deep breath. “All that loss and sacrifice and he still lives.”

  “Wait, can’t those the bombs take out multiple star systems by themselves?” I asked, remembering how we’d thought to use a single one against Zug. It’d actually been detonated, but thanks to the power of the Gideon Cube, it hadn’t killed us all.

  “If you know what one is, then you realize how much we sacrificed to stop him.” He pointed at the image in the holo. “And it wasn’t enough.”

  “Just because that ship is there doesn’t mean Vah is in charge. Maybe it’s a new one, someone pretending to be Vah?” I asked, shaking my head. “It doesn’t matter though because we’re going aboard it.”

  “Are you mad?” Morg asked, looking at me like I’d sprouted a third tit. “Even if you are right that Vah is not there, the Planet Breaker is not named that because of idle chance.”

  “Yeah, so it’s a Death Star with an angry smiley face on it.” I shrugged. “Let’s just go in and fire some proton torpedoes and whatnot into the core.”

  “I don’t feel like you’re taking this seriously, Mallory Quinn.” He let out an explosive breath. “We cannot go there. To do so is to invite death and destruction.”

  “Funny, it almost sounds like you’re scared,” I said, turning back to the holo and instructing it to find a way to help me teleport us to the ship. Maybe via the transmission array?

  “Do not question my bravery, girl,” Morg replied, taking a step toward me while the holocube began to beep and whir as it scanned for a way to lock on. If it found one, I was sure I could get there and rescue my friends. I hadn’t done it in a long time, but last time I’d been able to use teleportation technology to transport myself along a predefined path, it’d worked. It was sort of like the difference between driving through the jungle and driving on an interstate at 3 AM.

  I wasn’t sure if Vah was there, or if he was really as strong as Morg seemed to think, but I wasn’t going to abandon the Endeavor. That ship had just captured my friends. I would save them. There wasn’t a lot else to it.

  “I don’t need to question it because you’re clearly a giant wuss,” I said, turning to glare at him. “My friends are on that ship, and I will save them or die trying. You talk about honor, battle, and glory. But that ship is responsible for blowing away your mothership and killing your brother, and instead of going to seek vengeance, you’re tucking your tail between your legs.” I shook my head. “It’s pathetic.”

  “We cannot win against an entire Planet Breaker even if Vah is not on it.” He crossed his huge arms over his barrel-sized chest. “This is not bravery. It is stupidity.”

  “The only difference is how things shake out in the end,” I said as the holo locked onto some coordinates and displayed them in front of me. I reached out to them and felt the path to the Planet Breaker solidify in my mind. I could make that jump.

  With ease.

  Why? Because whatever pathway the Planet Breaker had used to jerk the Endeavor from this point in space and time was still rippling out there. All I had to do was grab the pathway they’d torn through space and time to create those ripples and follow it back to its source. Easy peasy, pudding and pie.

  “That’s not true,” the orc said as I whirled around to look at him. Magic swirled in the air around us as I gathered my own power and thrust it out into the symphony raging all around us.

  I smiled at Morg as the spell cemented in place.

  “Come on, big guy. Let’s do something stupid.” I held out my hand to the big orc. “Either way, I’m leaving, but kicking ass and chewing bubblegum is way more fun with a friend.” Sparks crackled along my skin as the orc looked me up and down. Then, very slowly a smile creased his lips.

  “You are the dumbest human I know,” he said, taking my hand as I called upon the stars, the planets, and everything in between. “And definitely not suitable for passing on my genetic material.”

  “Yeah, I get that a lot. But I’m told I’m a lot of fun,” I said as the metaphysical forces of the universe converged around us. Then they ripped us into atoms before shooting us out across the galaxy like a celestial sneeze.

  5

  “I’m glad we’re not dead, Mallory Quinn,” Morg said as we appeared in what felt like a broom closet with flashing lights everywhere. I wasn’t exactly sure where we were, but I was pretty sure it was somewhere inside the Planet Breaker and not just because the holo in my hand told me so. Truth be told, I’d half expected to arrive outside the ship, but apparently whatever metaphysical trail I’d followed through space and time led to this spot. Good to know, I guess.

  “I am too,” I said, smirking at the big orc as he dusted himself off before inspecting his chain-axe. “That would have made the next bit a lot less fun.”

  “The next bit?” he asked, raising an eyebrow at me. “How so?”

  “Well, I just teleported us across who knows how many light years or whatever.” I scratched my chin trying to figure out exactly how far it had been. It was sort of hard because since I’d lashed myself to the Endeavor’s own teleportation wake, I’d barely had to use much energy. The whole thing had been less eventful than when I went from my Portland apartment to Los Angeles for lunch.

  “That doesn’t answer my question,” he said, looking around the room, concern growing across his face. “Wait, are you telling me you didn’t mean to land here?”

  “Nope,” I said, shrugging. “I was playing it by ear. There was a good chance we’d end up stuck in a space table.” I patted myself, making sure everything was in place. “But seems we’re good.” I pointed to what looked like a door. “Now onward and upward, noble orc.”

  “You and I are no longer friends, Mallory Quinn,” Morg said, moving past me and heading toward the door.

  “Aww, are you saying we were friends?” I asked, faking a swoon.

  He glanced at me as the screen covering the door opened, revealing a snake-haired alien with translucent skin the color of menthol cough drops that let me see the bone structure beneath.

  “Orc!” he said, face filling with shock as he spun to run back the other direction. Before he could get more than two steps, Morg grabbed him by his snake hair and hauled him backward into the room before slamming him down onto the metallic floor. The creature’s eyes went glassy as Morg knelt down, bringing his chain-axe close to the thing’s cheek.

  “I am Morg, sixth descendant from Olimar the Eldest, slayer of the infernal dragons.” Morg leaned in close and flicked on his axe, causing the blade to whir and grind only millimeters from the alien’s face. “Tell me where Vah is, Corim, or I will tear out your spleen through your eye holes.”

  “Vah is all. Vah is eternal,” the Corim said, his voice taking on a strangely reverent tone even though his words sounded like he was talking around a mouthful of minestrone soup. “I will not tell you another word, orc. You, along with your entire race, is unclean.”

  Morg bristled with anger, and for a second, I thought he might slice the alien into bits. He didn’t, but from the way his grip tightened around the Corim’s throat, I knew it was definitely still on the table. That wouldn’t help us find my crew.

  “Yeah, that’s not helpful,” I said, holding my hand out toward the alien and summoning my power. Fire flickered between my outstretched fingers as the temperature in the room rose. “Where is the crew of the Endeavor?”

  “A magic user? Vah will be pleased.
” The Corim looked at me with glee in his eyes. “Your captain has been taken to see Admiral Vah himself. The honor you must feel must know no bounds.” He smiled at me, revealing black, slimy teeth. “The rest of your crew was found unworthy and has been sent to the reconditioning bay.”

  “Great, where is that?” I asked, gesturing for Morg to help the guy to his feet while trying to ignore his comments. I wasn’t sure if the guy was trying to get us to kill him, but it almost seemed likely.

  “I shall take you there, magic user,” the Corim said, looking at me expectantly. I shot a glance at Morg who shrugged at me.

  I sighed. I didn’t like this plan even a little bit, but at the same time, I wasn’t sure what else to do. Ever since the Endeavor had been captured, I’d been flying by the seat of my space pants, but that didn’t mean I wanted to trust a weird alien to lead us through a giant battleship. That sounded like a recipe for betrayal.

  “Fine,” I grumbled, glaring at the Corim. “But if you do anything wrong, I’ll burn you to ash. Are we clear?”

  “You would honor me with a magical death?” the creature squealed, practically brimming with happiness. “You honor me too much, magic user. For I am just a lowly servant.”

  “Yeah, whatever,” I said, gesturing for Morg to release the stupid alien. “Just take me to my friends. I don’t wanna be here any longer than I have to.”

  “I have a bad feeling about this,” Morg said, releasing the alien and allowing the Corim to get to his feet. “A very bad feeling.”

  “Yeah, me too, brother, but we don’t have a lot of options.” I swallowed hard. “I need to find my friends.”

  “You will not have to worry. I know this place well,” the Corim said, getting to his feet and beaming at me. “So, um, what kind of magic-user are you?”

  “I’m a witch from planet Earth,” I said, and as I spoke, a shadow crossed across the Corim’s face. “What?”

  “Nothing,” the Corim muttered in a way that made me think it was most certainly something.

  “Aww, are you upset because Vah said the magic users from Earth are barely worth noticing?” Morg said, clapping the Corim on his shoulder. “Or that it was a human who broke through his personal shield spell allowing the neutrino vortex bombs to blow him sky high.”

  “The second one, actually,” the Corim said, looking me over. “Though now that I think about it, being killed by a magic user strong enough to hurt Admiral Vah is truly a blessing.” He turned to look at the orc. “It’s like when your team gets knocked out of the playoffs by the team who becomes champion.”

  “This is all sorts of fucked up, and we don’t have time for it,” I said, waving off their banter. I didn’t want to think about Vah, or how a human had helped thwart him, or how he was strong enough to smash a planet with his thoughts. All I wanted to do was find my friends and get out of here before we got caught. The longer we dawdled, the less likely escape would become.

  “Of course, Mistress Witch,” the Corim said, nodding fervently. “Please, this way.” He moved toward the door and waved one hand at it, causing the screen to vanish into the walls and revealing the hallway beyond. Like the room we were in, the corridor beyond appeared to be made of silvery metal. Fluorescent light filled practically every stray inch, making me feel like I was in a hospital.

  “So, I thought Vah was killed by the neutrino vortex bombs,” I said as we moved down the hallway toward wherever the fuck we were going. I kept glancing over my shoulder, ready for aliens or whatever to strike us down, but none appeared. Still, I could tell Morg was on edge as well, and not just because the orc was walking around with his axe like he really needed a good chest to sink it into.

  “Mortal weapons cannot harm Admiral Vah. He has transcended death and has returned to us as he said he would.” The Corim smiled. “After absorbing all the energy in the bombs, his body was scattered as atoms across the known universe. It took him time, but he has used his great power to return to us. It is said his hatred of the lesser races drove him to pull himself back together molecule by molecule.” He clapped his hands together. “I cannot wait until we restart the smelting vats, then the lives of our enemies will be rendered into fuel for our war machine. We shall bring peace through violence!”

  “So you’re saying he rebuilt his body after it was blown to smithereens?” I asked, trying to ignore the tremor of fear that sent rippling down my spine. If he could do that, he was practically immortal. “That seems unlikely and defies the fundamental laws of magic.”

  “Vah says there are no laws of magic, merely power, and those who wield said power get to decide. Life and death are but two sides of his power.” The Corim nodded. “You will see, witch. When Vah rises like a phoenix to crush your planet, you will know his name.”

  “Wait a second,” I said, practically stopping in my tracks as I settled my eyes on the diminutive alien. “Say that again? ‘Cause I get the whole space genocide thing, but the way you said that makes me think there’s um… a more personal vendetta here.”

  “Yes,” the Corim giggled, rubbing his hands together excitedly. “Vah has decreed that since it was the Endeavor that brought the witch who destroyed his shield, Earth will be among the first to fall. It is why he has taken the Endeavor and your captain. Once the vile Nolan Brand pays for releasing the witch upon us, we will scour your planet from the universe before taking the rest of it apart bit by bit.”

  That was insane, and worse, this guy seemed to think it was reasonable. As I stared into the creature’s eyes, a chill washed over me. All my friends and family lived on Earth, and this guy was gonna go kill us because we’d tried to stop him from killing everyone?

  “The way you speak, Corim, makes me think you want to put her planet on a pike,” Morg said, carefully studying the alien as he turned left down a fork and came to a stop in front of a door made of glowing red plasma.

  The Corim waved a hand at the energy door, causing the plasma to fizzle away and reveal a darkened corridor behind. He stepped through the threshold causing the hallway to light up with eerie, crimson light that made me realize we were staring out at a long series of windows that looked directly out into space.

  “We would if we could,” the Corim said, moving along like he wasn’t batshit insane. “Alas, those are but dreams for the dreamers. We’ll have to make do with blowing the Earth into ash.” He quirked a grin at me right before the walls came alive. “Not that you’ll be alive when it happens.”

  Humanoid creatures with bone-white skin, four arms, and faces like walruses appeared all around us, materializing like they’d just been teleported into the hallway with us.

  “Get them, my pretties!” the Corim cried, his body suddenly wreathed in black energy that writhed around him like the venom symbiote.

  “I’ll take the Mornir! Get the Corim,” Morg said, swinging his axe around and slamming it into one of the four-armed creatures. The blade cut through its chest with a sickening squelch that sent neon pink blood splattering across the walls. With a grunt, he kicked the flailing creature off his axe and stepped in front of me to buy some space.

  “You liar!” I snarled, pointing my hand at him and unleashing a fireball that filled the air with the stink of sulfur. The blast hit the Corim in the chest, launching him backward in a smoking heap, but even as he hit the ground, he was already starting to move. Worse, as my magic burst into pink sparks before being absorbed into him, I heard the symphony of power in the air shriek violently like the violinist had just snapped all his strings as the backlash of my spell hit me full on.

  My head started to throb, and my vision went blurry as Morg was knocked backward by a punch to the face. The remaining three Mornir all had what looked like morning stars in their hands, but instead of normal spikes, electricity crackled along the surfaces like it was covered with cattle prods.

  “Damn,” I muttered as the Corim rose. I grabbed my wand and whipped it around in an arc, summoning up my magic and using the focus to make it easier
to do. Even still, it hurt, and as I drew upon my power, I could feel something else watching me, waiting to sneak in and gulp me down.

  “Hurry it up,” Morg said, sweeping his leg out and dropping another Mornir as the others advanced, lightning balls whipping out at the orc. He raised his axe, catching one on the haft of his axe. The force of the impact drove him backward as I concentrated.

  “Go on, witch, hit me with your best shot!” he snarled, putting his hands on his chest and branching himself like he was Superman, and I was holding a pistol.

  “Dude, maybe you need to take a step outside and calm the fuck down!” I muttered, flicking my wand and unleashing a massive volley of force at the Corim.

  Only instead of aiming at him, I launched it into the wall behind him, blasting the metal and whatnot to smithereens and causing the entire structure to buckle. Metal screamed as my attack ripped outward through the skin of the ship, exposing the atmosphere inside to the vacuum of space. Like I’d thought, the crimson fire that’d once safeguarded the room snapped back into place, leaving the room venting outward.

  Unfortunately for the Corim, he was still inside the room, and as it equalized pressure with the outside, I realized something.

  I could hear someone scream in space.

  6

  As I turned to see Morg standing amidst a bunch of twitching body parts, the orc smiled at me and leaned one hand against a blood-splattered wall.

  “This was fun,” he said, gesturing toward a severed hand as it tried to crawl away. “Now, let’s get out of here.” He shivered. “That did not look fun.”

  “Yeah…” I muttered, wondering if I would be able to keep my lunch inside my stomach. Having watched an alien get sucked out an airlock had been an experience I definitely didn’t want to repeat. That was for sure.

  “So where do we go?” Morg asked, taking a casual step forward and burying his chain-axe into the still crawling hand, severing it half. It convulsed a couple times before it stopped moving.