Darkling: Kin Wars Saga, #2

By Jason Cordova

Soldier. Spy. Statesman.

 

Gabriel Espinoza is dead, yet living in a world where he never sees those he loves and cares about. Every day of his existence is one of fear; however, this fear keeps his edge sharpened and his senses honed while he continues to fight for his Emperor. Fear can be a useful tool in the proper hands…

 

Andrew Espinoza is both dead and alive, caught in a juxtaposition of identities that not even he can truly understand. He embraced his fear long before, and it has made him a loyal servant to the Dominion of Man. It also is his driving force, as he knows it is a double-edged sword that can either hurt him, or save him…

 

Kevin Espinoza is alive and well, doing what he can to bring about true equal rights throughout the Dominion as his world's Representative in Parliament. He knows history, and can attest to the notion that fear can drive mankind to shape great nations, or destroy them all…

 

Fear is a wondrous tool, for it can drive a man to many acts of bravery—and defiance.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Seventh Seal Press
• Release date: Nov 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9781648559150

Book preview

Prologue

The valley was quiet and placid, the residents preparing for bed after long hours of Yuletide feasting and celebrations. Though there was no snowfall yet, winter had come to Soldier’s Retreat with a vengeance, in the form of the fall’s final storm, which swung in from the polar north. Formerly vibrant gold tree leaves now lay withered and brown, dead and scattered about on the ground. Most local animals had already cried Enough! and gone into hibernation. The unfortunates who couldn’t were finding the pickings slim.

The night sky was clear, and both of the planet’s moons were out. Full and brightly-lit Caballero, the larger of the two moons, proudly promenaded overhead. The second, Duquesa, though waning and further south on the horizon, remained luminescent and danced with her lunar partner as if the pair were also participating in the revelries that mankind had been celebrating below. The glory of the duo washed out all but the brightest of stars in the night sky.

On a large farm situated next to the Cattleprod River, a lone man stood silent near the moonlit center of a small clearing. Many markers dotted the tiny area, each a testament to the strong bond between the Espinoza family and the land. The memorial glade held a marker for every Espinoza, going back for generations, though his eyes were on two closely situated next to one another near the center. They were simple markers, erected during his absence from home. Between them stood a small eternal flame. This was somewhat more elegant, marble and white with a narrow column to support the bulbous glass orb that fed the flame. It guarded the two memorials with ceaseless vigilance and drove away the darkness with its unending light.

Andrew Espinoza looked down at the first of the two markers. His eyes followed every sweeping curve of her name...the woman who had inadvertently started the events that had shattered his family and forced him to look at the universe from a new perspective. The woman his brother had risked everything to save and, in the end, failed. He cursed softly under his breath, though not at her.

Sophie Anjelica Cárdenas

While she was the catalyst for both markers being placed in the family’s memorial park, her marker was not the reason for his lone walk out into the frigid night air.

You’re a right bastard, Andrew whispered as he stared at the second marker. "You forced me into a position to lie for you, because you were so damn good at what you did. The Emperor ordered me to lie for you, because you’re something that’s hard to find. You’re ruthless, and you will succeed. Men like you—like us, I guess—are what His Majesty needs right now. Kevin blames me for all this, though he doesn’t even know the half of it. He can’t even begin to suspect the truth behind it all. So I lie, and Mom and Dad cry. They’ve lost a son, but they gained a grandchild. A grandchild they don’t even know they have. An unknown child, plucked from the wreckage of a conquered world and adopted by the family whose son...You asshole. You righteous, noble prick.

I could almost hate you—if I didn’t know the truth.

A small branch snapped somewhere behind him. His muttering had been quiet; he knew that whoever was trying to sneak up on him hadn’t heard him. Still, he didn’t want to run the risk of his parents overhearing anything that incriminated himself, or revealed the horrifying truth. A truth hidden by secret Imperial decree. A truth that Andrew had imperiled his life, and more importantly his career, to protect.

So instead of panicking, he waited, standing above the small memorials with his hands clasped tightly behind his back. His breath came out in small puffs of steam, and he kept his eyes half-closed. Soon he picked up the heavy breathing of someone who hadn’t been getting as much exercise as they once had. Belleza Sutil had higher gravity than the planet his visitor spent most of his time on. Genetics dictated that all Sutillians were strong, but constant exercise made them powerful. He hid his smile and waited.

You could have saved him, a familiar voice came from the darkness. Andrew glanced over his shoulder and saw three dark silhouettes standing just out of the harsh moonlight. He recognized one of the shapes immediately, confirming his earlier suspicions. The other two, he presumed, were protecting the man in the center. You could’ve left your comfy job and talked to him. He always listened to you.

You could’ve done more for him while sitting on your little tin throne, Andrew quietly said, though without heat. You were his brother as much as I was, but you were too worried about scoring political points with some old cronies on Trono del Terra.

I was elected to represent our world! Kevin snapped as he stepped into the light of the single torch. How would it have looked if I’d abandoned my responsibilities to try and help my Imperfect little brother?

I don’t know. Human?

You have no idea how hard it was, sitting back and doing nothing! Kevin shouted. His fists were clenched tightly and his body was tense, Andrew saw, as he waited for the accusations and the blame. "You think it was easy, telling Mom and Dad that I couldn’t save their baby from his fate? That I failed them, failed him?"

So instead, you try to blame me, Andrew said, his tone wooden. You shift the blame to ease your own guilt. You’re a coward.

I should kick your ass, Kevin said with a growl

If I wasn’t worried about your two bodyguards back there jumping in to save you, I’d invite you to try, Andrew challenged. He stared long and hard at his older brother, before shaking his head and sighing. You know what? Go ahead and blame me, if it helps you sleep at night.

That’s some passive-aggressive bullshit right there, Kevin said as he came closer. He stopped a few feet away and waited for his brother to speak.

Laird McCarroll, Andrew said, changing the subject. He had to talk about something, anything other than Gabe. His anger was too real, too close to the surface. It threatened to bubble out and consume him. He couldn’t forget that not even a leading politician could know what had become of his brother. He’s making a move, isn’t he? What’s the sanctimonious power mongering prick gunning for this time?

Yeah, Kevin answered. He’s got all his ducks lined up in a row, with allies in both houses of Parliament. I expect he’ll do it after the current seasonal recess. Sources tell me that he’s forming a new political party and putting out feelers to get more to join.

What are they calling themselves?

The Democratic Socialist Party. Pretty sure they’re going to shorten it to Socialists.

Andrew snorted but said nothing. Both Espinoza brothers knew the historical meaning behind the phrase, even if Laird McCarroll did not. There was little else to be said on the matter, really. Though their own trials and tribulations were many, the political machine of the Dominion of Man never ceased. The gears would be greased one way or another, and there was little that either man could do to halt it. The silence grew longer between them. Animals began to stir, and a few birds called out. Finally, Kevin spoke. Aurelia...she looks just like her mother. Thank God.

Yeah, Andrew nodded. He always was too short, too thick. Kinda ugly, too.

He had a nice head of hair though, Kevin said and reached out to rub his brother’s thinning hair. Unlike some of us.

Who else knows? Andrew asked. He coughed and clarified; even his brother didn’t know the entire truth. He never would, if Andrew had a say about it. Some things were best left buried on a planet light-years away. About Aurelia, I mean. Who knows?

Besides you and me? I’m not entirely certain, Kevin admitted. Some of the Wraiths who survived the drop with him on both Ibliss and Ptolemy, undoubtedly. That’s, what, three? I think the captain of the ship knows. Possibly his executive officer as well. So seven total. Nine counting Mom and Dad. They know, of course. They’re not stupid. Other than that? It’s hard to say. I’m pretty sure it’s going to be a closely-guarded secret, for a very long time. Those Wraiths won’t say anything.

Good.

Another long silence passed again before either brother spoke.

"Where were you, though? Kevin asked his younger brother. I tried to contact you when I heard he’d gone off the reservation, but nobody seemed to know where you were. Mom and Dad hadn’t heard from you, and your old boss said you’d transferred out almost a year before. For a simple clerk working in the Bureau, you’re an amazingly hard man to find."

Andrew stared at the two memorial markers for a minute, collecting his thoughts as his eyes traced the two names etched in the black marble. He knew his brother, as a leading member of the Lower House of Parliament, could theoretically find out his true job one day. The temptation to tell him that he was now part of a clandestine intelligence community was great, but he knew his world was one of secrecy and shadow. While Kevin dealt with lies and backroom deals in broad daylight with a smile on his face, Andrew was the opposite. His was a world that his family would never truly understand, one that he could never share with any of them.

Not even his father.

Instead, he lied. I’ve been working in the archives on Trono del Terra, actually. Building a database from the old war records, specifically stuff from the War of Independence and the first few years after, during the formation of the Dominion. Lots of families earned military honors that were lost. Fascinating stuff but dull at the same time. I thought about visiting you a few times, but I could never get the schedule timed right. I didn’t hear about Gabe until it was too late. Managed to be one of the first to talk to the rescued settlers by sheer luck, thanks to an agent I knew in the Bureau. That’s when I found Aurelia and pieced the story together about how they...died.

That’s it? Really?

Really. The simplest answers were always believable. The more elaborate and detailed the lie, the likelier the house of cards could come tumbling down in a messy heap, as details were missed. It was far better to allow the person being misled to fill in the gaps with their own prejudices and presumptions.

Life...makes a hash out of things, doesn’t it? Kevin shook his head and looked away.

Andrew didn’t answer. Instead, he knelt down in front of the two markers. His fingers reached out and gently swept away the dirt from the one on his right.

Gabriel Mathias Espinoza

It was a simple bronze marker, though one that still would’ve made Gabriel blush and demand that it be removed. Andrew knew his brother almost better than anyone, and he was sure anything commemorating him would’ve embarrassed the man. He smiled and picked up a stray leaf that had fallen to rest against the marker, partially buried by the remnants of the late fall storm.

Do you think he regretted any of it? Kevin asked as he joined his brother. He reached out and wiped a thin layer of dirt from the top of both memorials. Though their parents regularly visited the memorial, both brothers knew they didn’t stay long. The memories, Andrew thought as his brother continued to speak, were still too fresh and painful. They’d been hit hard by the loss of their youngest, with their mother being the most affected. Kevin continued. You think, in the end, he doubted himself? That he wondered if she’d been worth it?

You met his daughter, Andrew replied in a careful tone as he let his eyes stare, unseeing, at the markers. His mind was working, calculating. Even when he wasn’t on official duty, his brain never stopped. He couldn’t afford for it to be otherwise. Their daughter. You knew Sophie. You were there the night he proposed; we all were. You’ve seen what he died for, what he risked everything for. What do you think?

No, the eldest Espinoza sibling shook his head. He wouldn’t have regretted a damn thing, would he?

I know he didn’t.

Well, I hope he’s at peace. He’s a hero, despite what they say.

Andrew grunted. The two brothers stayed outside in the brisk spring air for many hours, each lost in his own thoughts. Neither wanted to admit their true feelings about his death, and it would be a cold day in hell before either admitted that the other was right. Intelligent men, both, but stubborn. It ran in the family.

Eventually they found their way inside to reconnect with their parents, and Kevin with his wife and children. They stayed in the warm house, though the normally cheery household was muted with a sadness that hadn’t been there before. All knew the reason for it. Instead of celebrating the reunion, there was a quiet mourning. Even Kevin’s young children noticed a change in the atmosphere, and their play was quiet and not as rambunctious as it’d been in years previous.

Outside, life slowly drifted to slumber in the tiny hamlet of Soldier’s Retreat, as the winter tightened its icy annual grip.

* * * * *

Chapter One

Gabriel

Heart Song was a K-class star. Many were excited when it was found, as the star was a possible site for terraforming and later colonization. Seed ships were sent out and then...nothing. It was charted, filed, and forgotten as humanity spread through the stars.

Four years after the founding of the Dominion, newly-crowned Emperor David tasked his leading scientists to find new homes for humanity in their corner of the universe. On the eastern edge of the Dominion’s borders, they found dozens of potentially habitable worlds, as well as the first signs of intelligent life, the alien Abassi.

But then a wayward satellite discovered an ancient alien jump gate in the Sol system. Abruptly, everything changed as top research facilities figured out how to use them, even though they were unable to replicate them. The gates allowed faster-than-light travel and created an entirely new competition—the space colonization race.

New stars were opened for exploration and settlement, and humanity spread like wildfire. Worlds were settled, and early man’s tribalism reared its head, as the distance between Earth and the rest of humanity enabled some to break away from their old home. Even the Dominion, once a stalwart member of the Caliphate of Earth, eventually rebelled against its tyranny.

Through all this, Heart Song stayed in the shadows. It would’ve remained in isolation indefinitely, but for a lone jump gate that was discovered when one of the Dominion’s exploratory survey teams mistakenly rounded pi off to the nearest ten-thousandth. They sailed out the wrong way and ended up at Heart Song.

Lost and with no apparent way home, the team tried reversing the mathematical equation that had sent them to the star, and miraculously found their way back to Dominion space. Much to their surprise, the researchers found that almost two months had passed since they’d entered the gate from the other side...even though their journey had only lasted minutes.

Heart Song had been rediscovered, along with its now-terraformed, hospitable planet; however, due to the large spatial gap between the planet and the rest of the Dominion, it was decided the planet would have no seats in Parliament. It was simply too far away, and there were other issues with the star system, as well. Most notably, its planet—dubbed Maelstrom by its inhabitants—never seemed to be where it was supposed to be when ships arrived.

While technically under the rule of the Dominion, Maelstrom was isolated for so long that a government formed, and its people started ruling themselves. That is, until the current emperor decided to rein in all of his wayward planets. While his primary focus was the planets lost to the Abassi along the greater eastern borders, this also included the Heart Song system.

The people of the system protested. They’d been isolated and on their own for so long that they resented any form of Dominion interference. This led to open rebellion; a rebellion that would not be tolerated by the Emperor.

Initially, marines were dropped onto Maelstrom. At first the marines made excellent progress, cutting off a large portion of the rebels from their supplies and crushing them in the field. However, as time passed and the logistic train for the marines became more and more compromised, the rebels drove the marines from their planet.

Wraiths were sent in—a single platoon, which should have been more than enough to crush the rebellion. However, the inhabitants of Maelstrom were an industrious bunch, and the platoon mysteriously disappeared. Impatient, the Emperor decided that the only way to conquer Maelstrom—outside of a full orbital bombardment—was to send in a Darkling.

The Grim Reaper had arrived at long last and his sickle lay bare, ready for the unlucky souls he’d soon claim for his own.

All this passed through Gabriel’s mind in the blink of an eye as he stared into the mirror. He barely recognized the face looking back these days. Once, his face had been filled with laughter and light, but he’d seen too much death and destruction in the three years since he’d left his home world to save his lost love. Creases lined his forehead from his perpetual scowl, and his smile no longer existed. His dark brown eyes, formerly warm and inviting, were now flat and cold. His face, devoid of hair, made the stark contrast even more shocking.

His skin tone was lighter than it’d been when he’d left Belleza Sutil. Too much time in a suit and on ships traversing between worlds had left him pale. His muscular stature still remained but had started to slough off the longer he was away from his high-gravity planet. Nowhere else in the Dominion of Man was there a planet as dense as his home world. Keeping muscle tone took too much work onboard a spaceship.

He closed his eyes and rubbed his smooth head. With a grimace, he rolled his right shoulder as a familiar pain shot up his arm. The doctors had said the pain was merely a residual phantom pain, and the nanites they’d used to bring him back to life after his hanging had fixed everything, but he still had issues with it every time he raised his hand above his head. More pain flared up in his neck from where the rope had cruelly dug into his skin. He moved his hand down from his scalp to rub the scar along his throat. His trachea had been crushed during the hanging and, while fixed, had left him with a slight rasp in his voice. The rope burn scar, however, would never go away. That was something he’d elected to keep, a reminder of what could have been.

Or what should have been, he amended.

None of it matters, anyway, Gabriel thought as he grabbed the thin material from his bunk and slid into the Darkskin. He checked the skintight fabric and found no issues. He felt the material compress his muscles and the electrodes within fire up his nerves. The matte-black material had microprocessors embedded throughout it that fed information to his implant, which allowed his brain to process information even faster. He was more reactive than a normal human being, and his hand-to-eye coordination was ten times improved. His reflexes were unmatched, and every sense was heightened. He was a dangerous weapon outside of his suit, and an unstoppable force while within.

As he walked from his room and down the hall toward the hangar, he vaguely noticed that Perfects and Imperfects alike pressed themselves against the bulkheads to get away from him. A shared fear drove away any sense of class structure from the mind of a Perfect when it came to dealing with a Darkling. Indiscriminate with their violence and known to be cold-blooded murderers, their reputations were unmatched within the Dominion.

Even after six quiet months aboard the DV Vengeance, the men and women feared him.

Gabriel couldn’t blame them. The process it took to create a Darkling out of a typical Wraith was arduous, the stuff of legend. Wraith Tech, located on the tiny world of Corus, was nothing compared to the training catacombs used for Darklings. Located beneath the Gran Via on Trono del Terra, it was home to some tech that even the brightest scientists of the Dominion had yet to understand. It was just another remnant from the long-lost alien creators of the jump gates.

In those dark crypts, surrounded by the deceased members of the Lukas family, they’d wiped away all traces of his past life. Specially trained handlers pushed the Darkling’s psyche to the breaking point as they sought to eliminate every last memory and sensation before they were fully accepted. Men and women of the Dominion had heard of the Cleansing, though the rumors didn’t remotely begin to do it justice. Previously, he’d have been the first to admit that most of the mysteries behind it were utter crap, but there was just enough reality to it that the idea of becoming a Darkling terrified even the hardiest of souls. The Cleansing was merely the first step to becoming a Darkling, but it was often the most difficult.

Despite their best efforts, however, they hadn’t been able to remove the ties to his family. Sobre todo, la familia permanence was more than just the motto below the family crest. The meaning of it was burned into every Espinoza’s soul, and from it, each man, woman, and child drew strength. There could be no cleansing of this mantra as long as the blood of his forefathers ran through his veins.

Above all else, family remains.

The men in the catacombs tried their best to erase the sense of familial loyalty buried in his heart—but failed. They couldn’t rid Gabriel of all emotional attachment. Deep within his soul, both love and hate burned brighter than a dying star. Memories roared like a furnace and consumed doubt. He had a love so deep, pure, and powerful that not even the strongest drugs could erase the familial pull upon his heart. The icy black ball of hate resided in perfect harmony next to the love, its constant sorrow and rage reminding him of what he could’ve had. What should’ve been. Yin and yang, creator and destroyer. He’d never, ever, allow himself to forget either his lost love or the beautiful, Perfect Child they’d created together.

Family remains.

They could never take that away from him, no matter how hard they tried.

He entered the enclosed hangar bay and looked at the support crew. Unlike the Wraith suits, a Darksuit needed a team to assist the Imperfect to get inside it. There were many reasons for this, but it boiled down to the simple fact that the Darksuit was just that much more technologically advanced than the typical Wraith suit.

It was also smaller, standing a mere seven feet, while the Wraith suit stood at almost nine. The Darksuit, closer to human-sized, slipped unobtrusively through most doorways, leaving larger ones in its wake. There were multiple sockets scattered across the body for attachable sensor pods and/or other mission-related gadgets, and it offered more flexibility and range of motion as well. In addition, the weaponry on a Darksuit was far more sophisticated and melded seamlessly with the armor.

The three Imperfects assisting him with his suit were all mute, which he found unusually odd. They appeared to have a range of emotions, from stoic and quiet to fidgety. He hadn’t been told anything about them except that he was to leave them alone when they were repairing the suit. The man who’d tasked him with the assignment had chuckled darkly when giving him his orders.

Leave the aspies alone when they got the suit broke down, he’d told him the evening before he’d departed Trono del Terra. "Weaponized autism is a wonderful, but fickle, bitch, chabón. Just let ’em do their jobs."

Gabriel still didn’t know what the officers who’d briefed him had meant but followed their instructions. He was getting pretty good at that, despite his past transgressions.

The three Imperfects got him situated in his suit, and the Darkskin reacted to the Darksuit; every system came online, one by one. His mind, compartmentalized thanks to his implant, accessed and analyzed every piece of information available. The suit gave him a quick diagnostic as he adjusted his bearings and forced his emotions and subconscious to accept the additional information into his worldview.

His mind could take the change. His psyche needed a little more help.

The Imperfects wandered out of the hangar, their task complete. Gabriel watched them go and wished he could talk to them. It wasn’t as if he had anything important to share, but human contact—even the slightest bit—was welcome. He’d lived for too long in the shadows aboard the Vengeance without speaking to another person. He desperately wanted to remember what it was like to be human once more. Imperfect or no, even a Wraith had the ability to talk to the men and women in the squad. A Darkling caused too much fear for that.

Drop in sixty seconds, the captain of the Vengeance informed him through his HUD. He mentally sent out a confirmed message and locked out general communications from the ship. He tapped his timer and started a countdown to match the ship’s chronometer. While he’d still be able to send messages to the Vengeance, the only way they’d be able to get through to him now would be through a direct, laser-guided burst encryption. This severely limited the amount of information they could pass along to him; however, it would also keep his location from being picked up by anyone who might be scanning the Dominion’s frequencies and channels. No amount of electronic security was perfect, but he was going to do his best to make life difficult for anyone trying to snoop on him.

He felt the subtlest shift in atmospheric pressure through the skin of the suit before the drop bay door opened. The Vengeance shifted into a low-orbit approach as it skipped the outer edges of the troposphere. Gabriel knelt down and put one hand on the hangar floor for balance. He dropped his head and looked at the narrow seam to his right. It hadn’t yet begun to open, but when it did, he knew from experience it would be slow. The Vengeance dropped troops slower than the Eye of Solomon had, although he didn’t know why.

He gave himself a mental shake.

Focus, he growled to himself. The tone shocked him a little. He sounded...mechanical, distant. He thought back to the last time he’d actually had a conversation with someone and drew a blank. Something had changed within him since Ptolemy. The fire that burned within him was on the verge of consuming him. Instead of allowing it to take control, though, he forced it to change.

A white-hot ball of rage deep within his soul compressed into something more. He grasped onto it and felt it try to slip away. It was elusive and difficult to hold on to, but he finally managed to squeeze it with all his strength. It acquiesced and became part of him. The love melded with the hatred and completed him.

Once upon a time, he hadn’t known what hate really was. A man can be taught much with the right amount of pain and anguish, though, and his education had been thorough. He mentally recited the litany of men and women he’d failed.

Joshua Wigen. Dead, his remains still somewhere on Ptolemy after being killed by the Abassi. Probably will never be found.

Markus Fortier. Dead. No body was recovered, not after the sacrifice he’d made. His ashes had been scattered by the critical failure of his suit to cover his compatriot’s retreat. Died so that others may yet live.

Sophie Anjelica Cardenas. Dead in a cave, left behind on a world he’d probably never set foot on again. He’d never be able to retrieve her and give the woman he loved a proper burial on their home world. He’d forever blame himself for her death—for all of their deaths.

He was past grieving, beyond remorse. All that remained was the fire smoldering inside. It waited for the fuel that would make it flare back up.

The world slid away as the rage consumed him.