Pawn Storm (Metatron's Army, Book 6)

By Elizabeth Maxim

A Soldier She Hadn’t Planned to Be.

“A war does not come home when you do not see the victims.”

Raised on Earth, it’s hard for Officer Christine Baker to identify with a war she doesn’t consider her own. Still she can’t deny the responsibility she feels to the men and women – and Light Beings – she’s come to care for. Leading Metatron’s Army to defeat the bastard messing with the strands of time seems the least she can do...

An Heiress She Doesn’t Have Time to Be.

“You want to establish relations but you don’t want them coming here or taking anything?”

Christine has more important things to do than babysit a bunch of paranoid monarchs – like gaining their help in winning the war she inherited.

A Vengeance She Doesn’t Know How to Be.

“In a firefight with Arcs, you’re only going to have one chance.”

After months of hell aboard The Vestik, Christine knows the hardest task – defeating the Iconoclast before he destroys everything and everyone she loves – is yet to come.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Elizabeth Maxim
• Release date: Jun 15, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463873113

Elizabeth Maxim

If Elizabeth were to map her life’s journey, it would resemble the chaos of a Pac-Man game but out of this chaos came the foundation for her stories. She draws from knowledge, personal experience, and imagination in creating strong independent characters who steer their own destiny... often with a little help from love.Elizabeth studied alternative medicine with an MD for several years before earning a doctorate of philosophy in that field. She also holds a bachelor's degree in holistic childcare. Currently living in the Pacific Northwest, she is the author of multiple books, fiction and nonfiction, as well as two blog sites.You can follow Elizabeth at elizabethmaxim.com.

Book preview

Other titles by Elizabeth Maxim

Fiction

Advantage*

Bishop Pair*

Zwischenzug*

Positional Play*

Simultaneous Display*

Pawn Storm*

Dark Bishop*

Pin*

Bind*

Diagonals*

Promotion*

Analysis*

Adjudication*

Metatron’s Legacy*

Cauldron of the Gods^

Chronicles 1: Karma*

Beacon+

Rainmaker+

Shadow of the Gods^

Mirror+

* Metatron’s Army

^ Dragon Core

+ Ghost Games

Published by Doorways Publishing House

Copyright © 2020 by Elizabeth Maxim

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher except for the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

First edition, 2018

Second edition, 2020

elizabethmaxim.com

CAST OF CHARACTERS

Light Being Abilities

Energy Seer Sees energy patterns.  Perceives changes in energy fields.

Energy Shifter Manipulates energy via energetic bridges.  Cloaks energetic reactions.

Energy Mover Moves, exchanges energy between beings.  Can share his energy directly.

Energy Tracker Perceives energy residue to discern past events.

Auspex Perceives energy backward through time.  Can see the future.

Archivist Records events energetically, stores them for retrieval and viewing at a later time.

Light Being Assignments

Alexander Energy Seer, Minelda System

Dacan Auspex, Vetria System

Verix Energy Shifter, Vetria System

Xavier Energy Shifter, Minelda System

Omart Energy Mover, Balen System

Aysa Archivist, Vetria System (unpaired)

Dynamic Academy Students

Chestin Coust Cadet, Operational Organization

Christine Baker Cadet, Dimensional Theory

Kara Forsa Cadet, Medical

Samira Cadet, Science Unit / Research

Dynamic Academy Faculty

Corus Argai Tactical Instructor

Samira Dormitory Advisor

Senator Cushing Director, Special Projects

Verix Cadet Executive

Ivaran Royals

Christine nee Princess Cirhce Heiress, Ivory Isles

King Estan Ruler, Ivory Isles

Queen Lor Ruler, Ivory Isles

CHAPTER ONE

Pawn Storm: A situation arising from opposite-side castling. One, of both players, advance their pawns towards their opponent's king. This is usually not done on same-side castling, as advancing the pawns in front of one's own king is generally unsafe.

2000

Azlaan Orbit, Vetria System

Dynamic Frigate EVS Vestik

Senior Cadet Christine Baker contemplated the ceiling of her cell – er - stateroom. Like the walls and floors of the tiny space she’d been calling home for the previous twenty-five weeks, it was gunship grey. Or had it been twenty-six?

Six and a half months of hell.

Not because she’d spent most of that time in the bowels of a frigate at the edges of the Vetria System. Not even because that time was spent almost entirely in isolation. A loner by nature, she made the best of it, focused on her studies.

She missed her friends.

Light Beings.

Whatever.

What little communication she’d had from the energy beings had been brief, and terse, and dealt exclusively with her education; specifically, what she needed to do to graduate from the elite military Academy she was attending. She probably shouldn’t be surprised. She’d drawn first blood, as it were, and they were none too happy with her for it. Oh, they told her they understood why she did what she did – doing away with an energetic bond in order to protect one of them - but when push came to shove, they’d retreated, abandoned her to her fate.

The bond in question was an energetic connection shared with Light Being Verix Sterling, aka Godzilla. From what she’d been able to determine, based on research and careful questioning of Alexander Craig - another Light Being - it was a type of soul to soul connection.

Light Beings were energetic; beings, but so were humans. Er, Ivarans. She may have been raised on twentieth century Earth, but she was born on twentieth century Ivar, a planet in the Vetria Star System. In a parallel universe, no less.

Humans. Ivarans. There were enough physiological similarities that she used the terms interchangeably. The Light Beings had something they referred to as an energetic core. She’d right away seen it in the context of a human soul, that mysterious energetic essence that defined individuals. People knew it existed, but few understood how, exactly, it worked.

To that end, several months earlier, while on a research trip back to Earth, she’d met up with some New Agey folks in an effort to follow a line of reasoning parallel to science that might explain some of the esoteric concepts involved. The discussions had been productive. As far as she was concerned, energetic core and soul were the same thing.

That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.

Of course, that little tidbit forced her to deal with the possibility that she and Verix were soulmates. Because of the bond.

She read several books on the subject of soulmates and while there was convincing anecdotal evidence, there was no proof. How did you prove something you couldn’t see or touch? That wasn’t the only problem. The idea of having Verix as a soulmate didn’t sit well with her. Part dictator, part advisor, the energetic being who oversaw her academic path at Dynamic Academy had been a personality thorn in her side since day one. It just didn’t make any sense she’d have an overbearing, overprotective autocrat as a soulmate, no matter how good-looking he was.

She was so uncomfortable with the idea she forced herself to find an alternative explanation. The bond between Light Beings, although analogous in certain ways to a soulmate connection, was actually different. Thank god. She really hadn’t wanted to think of Godzilla as being her soulmate. Especially, because she was in love with someone else.

She grabbed onto the alternate explanation after losing three consecutive nights sleep over the issue. The Light Beings were all bonded to each other and she knew there were no romantic feelings between them, though she’d seen a couple of deep friendships, like the one between Alexander and Verix.

Used by the energy beings for telepathic communication, the bond was a source of power and strength for tasks that took energy to execute. Similar to tapping into a power line, such power and strength could be shared through the bond. When she'd looked at it in that context – scientifically, if not analytically – the quasi-romantic implications fell away, a relief for someone already suffering from lack of sleep.

Of course, that had nothing to do with the Light Beings and everything to do with an asshole commander who’d taken a dislike to her for some reason. Bartel. She was used to autocrats and bossy Light Beings, but this guy was like a Nazi demon in his authoritarian dictatorship. When that diabolical attitude was aimed at her, life became difficult indeed.

For the most part, her studies enabled her to keep her mind off the brat. She was all but studying twenty-four hours a day. When she wasn’t studying, or carrying out some punishment the brat thought up, she was in a jet. Students enrolled in the Advanced Tactical Program flew jets launched from the flight bay of the frigate EVS Vestik as frequently as their schedules allowed.

She hadn’t planned on becoming a pilot. In truth, she’d been pushed into it by Godzilla. She had to admit, she was glad he’d seen something in her she hadn’t known existed. She liked flying. She liked the rush, the feeling of control, being a part of something that mattered. And other than a few losers such as Bartel, she liked the soldiers she worked with.

There were a couple of bright spots in the whole thing. Two of her friends from the Academy were aboard. Chestin, her roommate at Dynamic, was a godsend. Late to the Tactical program, he grabbed at the chance for accelerated training. He loved to fly, loved everything about avionics, and was working on design concepts for improved transports, frigates, and jets.

"I can do better. There is vast opportunity for improvement."

She believed in her brilliant friend, was happy to provide moral support to his dreams. He was passionate and gave his all to whatever he put himself to, including a fledgling romance with another cadet from their dorm, Samira, or Sam. She was happy for them, impressed the two managed to maintain a close relationship despite the fact that - having graduated ahead of them - Sam was still on Eol, the planet on which Dynamic was located.

Kara, who’d lived across the hall, was also on board, training to be a senior medic, what on Earth would be termed a doctor. She’d had her doubts about the shy woman entering the accelerated program, and in the early days, she’d wondered if Kara would drop out, but in the end, she not only adapted, she discovered a passion for research. Whenever Christine got a glimpse of her, it was to see her through the glass that walled off the research lab. She was happy to see her friends enjoying themselves. Too bad she couldn’t say the same.

It probably wouldn’t have been so bad if she didn’t have to deal with the constant heartache, the deep sense of loss. She missed the Light Beings. They told her they understood she had to do away with the bond but if that was so, why quit speaking to her soon afterward?

A medium through which an electrical surge could flow, the bond had become a lethal threat to Verix, so she’d done away with it.

Regardless of what she thought of him professionally, she did like the Energy Shifter. Yes, he was an autocrat, but he did have, from what she could tell, a method to his madness. He honestly sought to protect her while she fought her way through the tough military program she was enrolled in. She would never do anything to endanger his life and the shared bond did just that.

In spite of the challenges of sharing an energetic connection she and Verix had come to accept the existence of the bond even as they kept their distance from each other. There were a couple of close calls, when he kissed her out of a need to yank her energetic focus to center but in general, they’d found a way to get along and work together without the bond being a problem. All that changed a year ago.

She’d been brought before the Council of Twelve, powerful energy beings who maintained peace in the twelve star systems that bore their names. The Council was in charge of the Light Beings, and, ostensibly, her. She’d thought she was going for the sole purpose of meeting them but soon learned the horrible truth. She was to witness the meting out of punishment to the Light Being responsible for her kidnap and torture a year earlier

She’d had no intention of watching the execution, didn’t even believe Kalach’s actions were a killing offense. To that end, she pushed him out of the way of the Inciter ray the executioner shot at him. Not only did she not keep him from being hit by a second shot, she’d taken the first one.

An Energy Mover capable of transferring energy to others, Kalach used the last of his own life’s energy to stabilize her until they could move her to emergency surgery. What he’d also done – unbeknownst to her - was transfer his energetic essence along with the healing energy. He hadn’t turned her into a Light Being, per se, but he’d given her abilities she wouldn’t have had otherwise. Her friends were not happy.

Light Beings.

Whatever.

It wasn’t that they didn’t think she deserved the powers. They had no idea what danger she might be in because of them. Well, she knew one danger, at least.

Verix.

In order to get a better idea of how the transference might be affecting her, potentially harming her, Verix attempted a mid-level energy scan, which set off some sort of alarm presumably set by Kalach’s essence. It quickly became evident her energetic core would go to great lengths to protect the newly absorbed energy. It had been all she could do to keep the lethal surge from traversing the bond which likely would have killed the Light Being on the other end of it.

Not wanting to risk the lives of those she was connected to, either directly or through the energetic connection shared with Verix, she’d done away with the bond. No bond, no energy surge. And no idea what was going on inside of her.

The transference of energetic essence to someone who was not a Light Being had never been done before, and without the bond, there was no way to determine what – exactly - the repercussions of Kalach’s actions were.

The situation was further complicated by the fact that though she was not a Light Being, she did have Light Being DNA.

After two assassination attempts when she was an infant, the Light Beings – who had a vested interest in her survival – decided the best way to keep her safe was to take her to a distant planet in another universe. A parallel universe. Thus, her childhood spent on Earth.

Since only Light Beings could travel between dimensions without suffering severe health consequences, Light Being DNA was spliced into her body via a serum administered shortly after her birth, with a follow up dose administered around the age of two. It worked, but enabling interdimensional travel wasn’t it all it accomplished. She was able to thrust energy from her hands in a stream of air molecules that were squeezed into a viscous roiling fluid. She used it for self-defense a few times but otherwise didn’t mess with it. She had more important things to do, such as getting through hell so she could graduate.

She wasn’t sure what she was going to do about the Light Being situation. It would get interesting once she was finished with her tour. Or, maybe not. They’d probably find some other hellish assignment for her, like banishing her to some other star system, all under the premise of it being necessary for her education. She grunted. Education, hell, they were punishing her. For protecting them.

She’d known when she’d taken the terrible but necessary action of eliminating the bond they’d never believe the ends justified the means. She’d been prepared for that. What she hadn’t been prepared for was the Arctic freeze they’d blown her way because of it.

Yes, they were electrical beings and needed energetic bonds to do their jobs but the bond in question had been causing problems and more, was putting lives in danger. The reason centered, no doubt, around the nature of the bond. Unlike basic energy bonds shared between the energetic beings who were the policing arm of the Council, the bond she eliminated was unique. It was based in emotion, something that could kill Light Beings.

High energy beings with amazing abilities, Light Beings had a vulnerability due to their physiology. Emotions possessed unique frequencies that resonated electrically within their nervous systems. The more intense the emotion, the more intense the frequency. The more intense the pain.

Alexander, an Energy Seer guiding her through her time at the Academy, explained that repeated and/or long-term exposure to what he termed high emotion posed a threat to their very existence. Emotion could kill them. It was why the Council forbade high emotion. At least, that was the story.

Love.

As far as she could tell, the only emotion forbidden to them was love. Nothing but minimal affection or respect was allowed. They weren’t even allowed loyalty beyond the level needed to work together.

There were dozens and dozens of Light Beings and they all had unique and amazing abilities, but within their ranks were the elite, those who reported directly to the Councilors. Two elites were assigned to each Councilor, the objective, to keep harmony in the star systems that bore the Councilors’ name.

Upon meeting the powerful males in beige robes, she’d decided they had one expression, constipated. No doubt it came from the utter arrogance with which they interacted with those beneath – er – around them. Pompous jerks.

Councilor Vetria, who oversaw the star system she resided in, seemed reasonable. Far more than his colleagues. Especially, Councilor Balen. Overseeing a neighboring star system, Balen was every bit as belligerent as the inhabitants of that system. There was a silver lining to that, she supposed. The best assassins came from the Balen system, along with some of the most lethal soldiers, but more importantly, his quarrelsome nature meant he was easy to provoke, something she used to her advantage. When he started raging at her, hurling all manner of threats, she pushed back, enraging him further. It wasn’t some perverse sense of satisfaction or a need to flout authority that drove her to provoke him. With his tongue flying faster than his brain, the guy gave away information, and if she was going to pull off what she intended, she needed all the information she could gather.

Reaching over to her desk, she picked up an old piece of homework and began folding it into a paper airplane. Sitting up, she flung it around the tiny space a more optimistic person might call a room. In truth, there was barely space for cot, desk, and the stool that slid beneath it.

"Since you spend most of your time reading and studying, you shouldn’t have any trouble. Besides, there will be nothing to distract you."

Bartel, the brat who oversaw her day-to-day life aboard the Academy owned frigate, never missed an opportunity to needle her. He gave her shit assignments and withdrew privileges for no reason. She knew there was no reason because Chestin hacked the system and read the reports.

"I don’t get it. There is absolutely nothing in your file indicating you are a disciplinary problem."

"I’m not a disciplinary problem."

"Then why is he punishing you?"

Six months later and she still hadn’t been able to figure it out except to conclude the guy just didn’t like her. So, she did her best to get through it, keeping in mind that eventually, the tour from hell would end.

Oh, she was pissed about it, but she honestly had more important issues to deal with than some weaselly little bastard on a power kick. She’d ‘tried to turn the miserable situation to her advantage. Specifically, she worked to master her anger, critical if she was going to keep from revealing her true identity; an identity that came with some pretty dark secrets.

Thanks to a convoluted set of circumstances, along with that bit of Light Being DNA, she displayed some pretty freaky characteristics when she got really angry. She tossed the airplane and thought of Bill Bixby, the actor who played David Banner, another individual with anger management issues. She sent the plane into the corner where it did a loop-de-loop before sliding behind the desk. Too tired to retrieve it,