Quest for Dominion: An Interstellar War Story (The Essence Wars Book 3) Read online

  Quest for Dominion

  by

  Paul Heingarten

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, events and situations in this book are purely fictitious. Any similarity to actual persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright ©2020 Paul Heingarten

  All Rights Reserved

  No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the express written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Decatur Media

  New Orleans, Louisiana

  www.decaturmedia.com

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  The Essence Wars Series

  About the Author

  Other books by Paul Heingarten

  Keep up with Paul Heingarten

  Chapter 1

  "There's a very easy solution to all of this."

  Malone Stanton's words echoed in his chamber. The Nara, Omegan, and Railen leaders surrounded Malone; the three holographic projections of his audience watched him intently, as they attempted to grasp what he'd just said. Malone smirked at the thought of how much his audience wanted to know just where he was. Malone had become a master of being invisible to many and was easily Ling Galaxy's most sought after criminal.

  Ellene Ballo, leader of the Nara spoke first. "Are we to assume you refer to your plan to release Essence to those of your dimension?"

  Malone gazed on Ellene with scorn that fermented for all the cycles of his exile into Ling Galaxy. "Precisely, Madame Hierarch. As all three of you know, we've been born, grown up, and died under an ancient system. The Nara claim to be keepers of the peace, but how can there ever be peace when so many go without? Are we really that bold to determine which mouths are fed and which go without? And, what about the scourge of Veculus, and all who've succumbed to that plague? Are we willing to sacrifice some, even a few, just for the sake of everlasting comfort for the rest?"

  Ellene Ballo said, "Allow me to repeat the obvious for those present who are incapable of accepting reality. The Nara, since the dawn of time, have been keepers of the Essence. This energy and life sustaining force resides safely on Grondia and allows life as we know it to flourish in Ling Galaxy. The suns, the stars, energy, life itself is derived from the Essence. We produce and keep this flowing, and safely move it to your dimension properly. To insinuate that the Nara are responsible for famine or viruses is simply ludicrous. Malone Stanton is nothing short of a criminal. He's a charlatan of the highest order, and his only saving grace is his uncanny wit to avoid detection and capture."

  Malone nodded with a devious grin, politely accepting the remark as if it was a greeting of reverence. "Yes of course, thank you, Ellene, and the Nara, for reminding me that while I am one of your native sons, my abilities and talents have finally exceeded even your wildest expectations. And let me say to the rest of you that the Nara have been very clever in selling their position in the universe for many centuries. Yes, they can take credit for all the goodness in Ling Galaxy. But what about the rest? There's plenty of going on in this galaxy that I'd be hard pressed to say is good. The Nara have the ability to change things, but do they? No. They just let things happen. Honestly, I'm offended the rest of you aren't entertaining my offer. I even made a point of not including the lesser races of Ling Galaxy: the Mardaks, Cerulaks, or the filthy Xeno."

  "Why should we consider someone like you who'd probably hoard all the Essence to make themselves ruler of the universe," asked Ander Pimm, leader of the Railen.

  "Because among you there isn't one with the ability or sheer resolve to do what I can. The Omegans and Railen have tried in some way to get to the Essence. But the Nara keep themselves cloaked in dimensions beyond ours. The Railen were in fact cast out of this world in the distant past. Your lust for power was your undoing. My proposal is an equitable sharing of the Essence as needed.

  "Careful with your posturing," Ander Pimm growled. "Remember, Malone, you were once Nara just like the Railen."

  Malone smirked at the jab. "Point taken, Ander. But unlike the Railen, I've evolved closer to my full potential."

  "Malone, you've only evolved closer to full insanity. Regarding Essence, it is exactly where it needs to be and handled by the best suited for the task. We do what we can as it is now," Ellene Ballo retorted. "Malone is meddling with powers he can't possibly comprehend."

  "And you think you do?" Malone replied. "You've only inherited that which was given to you. I've taken and studied this substance, and learned its inner truths. Madame Hierarch, you're using but a fraction of its potential. I offer you far more, if you weren't so frightened and short sighted not to see it.”

  "You're insane." Zakmar shrugged. "The Omegans are the best to handle the distribution of the Essence, and we will be the most proper stewards of this into perpetuity. We've got the capacity and the technology to best handle the Essence."

  "You've got a lot of hard heads in this is what you've got," Ander Pimm said.

  Malone reveled in the bickering nations represented by the floating images of their leaders before him. He hadn't expected much concessions with this conference he arranged. He knew full well the Nara would've never bowed to him. The Railen were half blinded by bloodlust for the Nara, and the Omegans wanted their own claim of Ling Galaxy. The three of them were mere pieces to Malone, parts in his symphony of dominance that would one day come to a conclusion with him as the supreme force over all.

  Malone offered his agitated audience a snicker. "Listen to all of you. Bickering like lost children. Fighting amongst yourselves. I've got abilities none of you even dare hope for." With that, Malone reached into the case on his console and retrieved the orb. He palmed it and thrust it forward to his startled audience. "I see you recognize an Essence orb when you see one."

  Random gasps came from the others as they stared in disbelief. Finally, Ander Pimm was able to speak. "You've gone beyond your limits, Malone." The others gazed in silence.

  "My limits? Hardly. I'm just getting started."

  Chapter 2

  Malone smashed the control that ended his conference immediately. The glowing faces vanished in an instant. He rose from his seat and flexed his arms. His elation was cut short by a brutal slice of a very familiar agony.

  Malone's Nara physiology suffered several modifications, the first of which was punishment for his crime of attempting to steal Essence from repositories on Grondia. From there came several more surgical manipulations until, like the rest of the Nara Outcast, his abilities to travel to Grondia were removed completely and he was thrust into Ling Galaxy like an unwanted bastard.

  He turned and saw Frey, leader of his army, at the entrance to his chambers. "You summoned me, excellency?"

  "I did." Malone folded his arms in thought when a piercing pain jammed its way through his body and settled on his brain. His large frame flinched from the agony, and he clasped his head. Malone had the option of using a serum to combat the attacks, but he mostly did without. In his mind, each attack was a reminder to him of what he'd lost and what he'd one day claim again for all time his own.

  Malone's mind still hammered out details and orders while his body grappled
with chronic agony. "Frey, I want you to find out all you can on the Agmon system. I want to demonstrate the power we have through Essence."

  "Agmon, sir?"

  Malone's eyes narrowed. "That's right. Outer systems like Agmon are a perfect place to continue expanding our family."

  Agmon system wasn’t remarkable for anything. While its derelict state wasn’t unique among Ling Galaxy’s systems, Malone knew it was as good a place as any for his first spectacle of commanding Essence. It was more about the act than the destination for him.

  The wave of pain subsided a bit, enough that Malone's vision focused sharply again. "Get my children ready; I must speak with them."

  "They are assembled in the Great Hall, ready for your bidding."

  Malone placed his cloak over his shoulder and strode out with Frey following. Segredo, the moon where his facility, organization, and followers were located, was less than a footnote to most knowing beings in Ling Galaxy. This minor distinction made the satellite a prime location for Malone as he began his mission away from the prying eyes of the Universal Alliance and all others who threatened his quest for dominion over Ling Galaxy.

  Segredo wasn't the destination Malone had originally planned for himself, but once his breakout from prison was successful, the search of possible systems made the small moon that orbited the Bimlok Major system a perfect candidate for someone with goals as lofty as his. Besides, Bimlok Major's worth in Ling Galaxy was little more than a focal point for Segredo's orbit.

  The earliest currency for Malone was his charisma, and he wielded that as the wealthy with stores of precious jewels at their disposal. He recruited a number of brilliant but discarded individuals with expertise at construction, and through their efforts managed a gigantic subterranean network on Segredo for housing Malone, his followers, and his grand visions for Ling Galaxy.

  Malone collected the unwanted, the forgotten, and the never realized. Being a discarded soul himself, he sought comfort in commiseration with the other forgotten beings in Ling Galaxy. These downtrodden souls who begged for some purpose, for some chance, were caught in Malone's offers of not only a place to belong, but a parental figure who knew they mattered. For their undying allegiance, Malone gave them what no other life available to them had.

  Malone fit his followers into his plan with care. He managed a network of soldiers of fortune that served as a burgeoning army. Still, another group, known as his 'children', were the beneficiaries of a series of bodily enhancements Malone oversaw in coordination with his network of surgical artists. By examining his own physical state after the Nara procedures, Malone was able, to a degree, to restore dimension shifting abilities to himself. Not yet being able to restore his access to Grondia, Malone did find the formula to transfer himself elsewhere across Ling Galaxy.

  Malone's intent initially was self-serving; he merely sought locations of existing Essence stores on each system for holding them hostage. But time and a sense for the devious offered Malone other uses for his gift. A Galaxy of limited resources often demanded thievery for survival. The ability to shift dimensions and teleport into and out of locations in the galaxy was as handy a tool as any decent thief could've ever wanted.

  Malone walked onto a parapet overlooking the floor of the Great Hall, where two hundred of his children had gathered. The ones who spotted him began cheering until the rest saw, and the entire group shouted praises to Malone.

  He stood for a moment, accepting the devotion and the love. These lost children, found under his providence, believers in his cause, servants to his demands were his.

  Malone silenced the group with his hands. "My children, I thank you. Your Great Supreme sends tidings to each of you. You've all prospered and grown here, each of you given lives that Ling Galaxy denied of you."

  The group shouted and applauded excitedly.

  "The time has come now for your Supreme to ask of you a request."

  Shouts came in response. Several from the group thrust their hands up, as if they reached for Malone's grip to hoist them up into whatever he needed of them.

  Malone silenced them again. "Ling Galaxy despises you. There are many who search for you and want to take you away from this family. But fear not; your Supreme watches over you and will keep you protected. All you are asked in return is simple."

  Malone’s children knew what he was going to ask before he said anything, however. As soon as they were raised to the point of understanding speech, it was drilled into their heads. Like the food and drink they were given, his plans and mantra coursed through their veins and filled every fiber of their being.

  "Hail the Supreme; his will be done!" The shouts came first in a jagged repetition of voices from the floor, but the chants soon synced up until the entire body shouted it as one. Malone thrust his palms aloft and basked once again in the adulation. It was his meaning, his purpose, and calling to accept all their love that he knew he dearly deserved.

  "My children," Malone said, quieting down the chants. "I task you with two things. The first is simple. The second, not so much. First, I charge each of you to canvas Ling Galaxy. Use your abilities and what you've been trained to do. Wreak havoc. Steal from whomever you can, whether it is food from a child, a weapon from a soldier, fuel from a city. Take, thwart, disrupt. This Galaxy has abandoned you. Show them that was a mistake.

  "The second is about Essence. Its life sustaining force has been horded and kept out of reach by the Nara. The same kindly race who manipulated her own citizens and cast them out. These shunned Naras’ only crime was they dared to ask 'Why is Essence not given more freely to those who need it?' Essence is essential to life in Ling Galaxy, but it cares not for quality of said life. So many people are suffering. Your Supreme has a purpose and a mission. I want to collect Essence, so we ourselves decide how it is best used. We don't need anyone telling us the state of the Galaxy we're in is just OK. Ling Galaxy needs direction, and that we will give; once we have Essence, absolute rule over Ling will be ours!"

  The crowd rippled with excitement. Malone lifted his arms in response, as he savored their energy before he quieted them again.

  "I am just like you. I was told my ideas were all wrong. That the people didn't deserve a chance, that the Nara knew best in all the Galaxy on how to divide the Essence up. I've seen the suffering around Ling Galaxy: the wars, the disease, the famines. We can stop it. We can make a new Order where all those in the Galaxy will have their fill, through our providence.

  "Finding Essence will be much more difficult than your task of havoc. You'll need to search much harder for that, my children. You have the abilities for the task though, and I know you can do it. The gifts I have given you allow you to seek Essence where once only Nara tread. When you find that Essence, use the receptacles you've been given, and bring it to me. In fact, consider any world you liberate the Essence from to be a collection of your new siblings. The residents of systems in Ling Galaxy will become part of our extended family once all realize that the Essence they seek comes from their Supreme on High. They must swear faith to our cause to get their Essence to continue surviving."

  Malone watched his eager followers. He'd spent cycles with them, made sure his history and his treatment by the Nara was drilled into the heads of each of his children and his soldiers until the hatred his followers had of the Nara rivaled his own.

  He'd taken time to operate on his children and instilled in each the ability to shift dimensions. Their skills at jumping gave them the name "Lookers" to most in the Galaxy. The Railen, also kin to the Nara, were well aware of the dimension ability, and they had been stripped of this just like Malone was. But their path took them on one of conquest. Their reasoning was, if theirs was now this existence, they would rule and conquer and one day storm Nara to reclaim their homeland, for the Essence but also for the ultimate insult of their expulsion.

  Malone's desires lay solely in Essence itself. He considered his family to be the Lookers as well as the devoted army he cobbled together th
rough sheer will of domination.

  "So, my children, that is your command. Your quest will begin soon; I will send for you when it is time! Be ready, for it won't be much longer!"

  Malone departed with the roar of his followers shouting his praises in unison. The church was healthy, well fed, and ready for its patriarch's bidding, no matter how extreme a task it was. He savored his plan and the faithful he'd assembled for its execution, while his thoughts reminded him of his old friend who made it possible.

  Chapter 3

  As much as Malone relished and savored every bit of what he and his followers assembled in very short time, he still had to admit his fortunes came in part through the help of his friend Pietro. Malone and Pietro were once part of the rising class of future leaders in Nara. They'd shown distinction through their cycles of upbringing and instruction, and were poised to assume the mantle of leadership in their respective areas. Pietro's work on the delivery and usage of Essence brought him in direct contact with the substance regularly. With access not even all Nara citizens could claim, Pietro found himself enamored of the life-giving Essence, and over time his analytical mind opened doors that weren't considered by many. Pietro’s thoughts and musings gave way to questions until he found himself amid a series of experiments using the Essence.

  All good discoveries only became greater when shared, so Pietro brought Malone into his study for a display.

  Malone listened to the ramblings of his over ecstatic friend, who rattled off obtuse jargon with the ease of a bird soaring through the air. "Pietro, you're talking a mile a minute. Focus. And ease up on the gibberish, please."

  "Malone, I'm telling you, the Essence we've been sending throughout Ling Galaxy isn't just something that we can process this way. It can be harnessed for more and different things."

  "Different?"