‘Deer. Nothing else,’ the ‘cat said.
“Have you ever seen anything like that?” he asked Micah.
“No. I wonder if there are people?”
“There aren’t. G would know. It looks like the oasis where we stayed before our final leg out of the Great Desert. I think there might be Bots there, mechanical creatures created by the ancients. They build. They serve. G doesn’t like them because he can’t sense them.” Braden squinted as he tried to see into the distance.
He watched as beams of light slashed into the sky.
“Skirill!” he screamed, spurring Max into a full run. Pack jogged along behind, losing ground with each step. Micah struggled to stay on his back.
‘They missed, kind of, whatever they were. I had to go south. I’ll fly for a while and circle back to you.’ Skirill said, anxiety cracking his thought voice. As an afterthought, he added, ‘I’m scared.’
He didn’t need to say it. They were all instantly scared. Braden slowed Max and waited for Pack to catch up. He looked at Micah, who nodded.
“It looks kind of like a Blaster,” she said. “We can’t fight that.”
“Who’s using it?” Braden asked, thinking out loud. No one in the caravan had the answer.
He wanted to get closer where he could use his telescope. Micah was right about him. He needed to see things for himself.
78 – What To Do
Skirill made it back to them, his tail feathers scorched. He saw Bots in the oasis, more like the Mirror Beast from the first oasis they had come across. He wasn’t sure if there were the smaller Maintenance Bots. There were deer, too. A few small buildings stood in the middle of the trees, but nothing like the structure with the rooms where Braden had rested at Oasis Zero One.
They stopped on a small hill between them and the land oasis as they talked, while Braden looked through his rudimentary telescope. He showed Micah how to hold the glass in place with the wrapped stiff hide. Big lens at the front, small at the back. Bring the image into focus by squeezing the middle of the hide while looking through the small end.
They saw what Skirill told them was there. Two Mirror Beasts at the perimeter, buildings standing among the trees. The trees were more like what they’d seen in the rainforest, otherwise, it looked no different from the oases in the Great Desert.
Master Aadi was on the ground, struggling mightily to walk the last few steps to the top of the hill. No wonder he floated everywhere. G-War crouched low, watching.
“Are you sure the light came from the Mirror Beast?” Braden asked Skirill as they crouched by the hilltop.
“Yesss. It was clear. ‘irror ‘east. They are di’’erent ‘ro’ the desert ‘east,” Skirill said out loud in his hissing Hawkoid voice. “They ha’e ar’s.”
“They have arms. Interesting. The desert Beast didn’t attack us, so I agree. These are different, Ess, and you have some burnt feathers to prove it. The question is, what do we do now?”
“We leave,” Micah said firmly. “We get the crap away from here.”
Braden looked at her. She was pragmatic, a survivor, not a coward. He wished he could leave, but he had traveled a long way to get here. Turning around so close to his goal was too much like failure. He didn’t like to fail.
Sanctuary was supposed to be destroyed. This oasis said otherwise. It said something survived, something more powerful than the Bots in Oasis Zero One. Braden buried his face in the dirt as he wrestled with himself. What was it about the Old Tech that drew him?
Maybe it wasn’t the Old Tech as much as the knowledge it represented. Braden wanted answers. He wanted to know if people survived on Cygnus VI. He wanted to know what went wrong and how could they fix it. He wanted the best of both worlds, an incredible bed to sleep in and land to hunt. He wanted people to smile as the hologram had smiled. Every tidbit he learned about the ancients made him think of more questions.
He needed to know.
“Let’s make camp. We can sleep on it,” he told Micah. Braden had no intention of sleeping.
79 – All of Us
As the sun disappeared to the west and darkness settled over them, Braden rolled into his blanket, back toward Micah. She did the same thing. Sleep did not come easily to her. Braden rolled back to watch her, waiting for his moment.
He woke with a start. He had fallen asleep and it was now well toward sunrise. Micah was breathing deeply and slowly. She was asleep.
Leaving his blanket on the ground, he carefully adjusted his belt pouch, his long knife, and recurve bow. With one last look at Micah’s sleeping form, he carefully walked away.
Two eyes gleamed at him from the darkness.
Golden Warrior of the Stone Cliffs sat near the top of the hill, waiting for him.
Braden leaned down and whispered, “You know I have to do this.”
‘I know it. I don’t support it,’ the ‘cat said with a sharp edge to his thought voice.
“I’d ask you to come along, but I know that you and Bots don’t exactly see things the same way.”
‘I shall come regardless. It can’t do this alone.’
“No, it can’t,” came Micah’s voice from behind him.
“Holy crap! You scared the hell out of me. Don’t sneak up on people like that!”
“Don’t sneak away and I wouldn’t have to. Where do you think you’re going?” she asked.
“You know where I’m going. Your real question is why,” Braden answered. She waited. He knew she was glaring at him, although he could only see her outline in the darkness of the early morning.
“I need to know, Micah. I need to know why and what. I need to know about Cygnus VI. How can the ancients harness the power of the sun? How do they control the weather? So many questions. They weigh on me.”
“The more you learn, the more you want to learn? Remember when you didn’t know any of this existed? There was no Cygnus VI. Why does it matter now?” she asked softly as she moved closer to him, the starlight glinting in her eyes.
“I don’t want to learn. I have to learn. I have to know,” Braden repeated himself, emphasizing his point.
“I don’t understand and I definitely don’t think this is worth risking all our lives. But I’m in. We’re all in. Now don’t get us killed!” she directed. Braden shook his head.
“No. I’m not going to risk your lives. This is mine, my risk.”
“You should have thought of that before we came here. If you go all the way, so do we. Sometimes you seem really smart and then there’s the rest of the time.” She leaned forward, smiling, their noses almost touching. With a quick motion, she had him by both arms, pushing him backwards, slamming him on the ground. His bow dug harshly into his back.
She pinned him to the ground. He stopped fighting. She leaned in and kissed him fiercely. His breath caught. She bit his lip as she pulled back.
“I might even like you if you ever pull your head out of your butt.” She stood up, then headed back down the hill to their small camp. Braden lay there, wondering what just happened. He wasn’t sure he liked it. However he was certain that when they went to the oasis, it would be all of them.
80 – Where You Go, We Follow
At the camp, they ate in silence. Max and Pack got up when they saw that the humans were awake. They grazed contentedly on the grasses of the wasted rolling plains.
Aadi watched everything. ‘Fascinating,’ was all he said.
“Everyone can just stop the madness!” Braden blurted out. “Fine. We’re all in this together. Here’s how it’s going to go. Micah and I up front, the rest of you behind us. They already shot at Skirill. At the oasis, they wouldn’t recognize you guys to open a door. They see humans differently. I’m counting on that.
“Master Aadi, do you mind if Skirill rides you? It would be too long of a walk otherwise. He can hop down as we get close, if that’s okay with you both.”
‘I’ve never been ridden before, Master Human. How would he hold on?’
“We c
an tie a blanket on. Ess can grip the rope?” he asked more than told. The Tortoid blinked a couple times, so they turned to. In short order, the blanket was held tightly in place by a rope wrapped around his body. He floated and swam to show that it didn’t restrict him. Skirill beat his powerful wings twice, lifting him into the air so he could glide gently onto Aadi’s back. He settled in, one talon gripping tightly.
“They shall sing songs of Skirill’s march to battle, a Tortoid as his mighty steed!” Braden laughed. Micah looked on, mouth agape at the view of a Hawkoid riding a floating Tortoid.
‘Now, Master Human, we do what we must. No need to poke fun. I swear that you shall never have the pleasure of a Tortoid ride. One turn, it could have kept your feet dry. Master Micah, you are welcome any time should we need to cross a swamp or river.’
“Yes, indeed. Everyone punish the bad Braden. When we all die this morning, you’ll feel bad that your last words were so hurtful.” Micah stepped forward, making a fist in Braden’s direction. “Okay, okay. You all win. When we survive this, and I say when, not if, we’ll sit down and talk about how much we can charge children for a Master Aadi ride. Instead of trading, maybe we can start a traveling circus?” They looked at him.
“A circus. Performers who do strange things for money.”
Aadi looked at him without blinking and slowly shook his head. Skirill bobbed as he did when he laughed. G-War sat silently by. He rarely found Braden’s humor to be funny.
‘Life or death awaits us over that hill,’ Aadi said in a soft thought voice. ‘We go, as friends, on a quest for knowledge. We will succeed together or not at all. Master Braden, lead on. Where you go, we follow.’
81 – Nothing to Fear, Everything to Fear
They walked toward the oasis, Micah and Braden side by side to block the view of their three companions. They walked boldly in the early morning sun, heads high, eyes alert.
“Here comes one,” Braden said more calmly than he felt as one of the strange Mirror Beasts broke out of the trees and headed toward them. It picked up speed quickly. He appeared to hover like the Tortoid, but he didn’t have to swim to move.
They stopped, not having to wait long before the Beast arrived. It hovered in front of them briefly. Then in a booming voice that seemed to come from everywhere, it said, “Greetings, Caretaker. Will you require escort to the New Command Center?”
“Caretaker? Again? Why are you calling me that?” Braden asked. He could hear G-War’s sigh behind him.
“You carry the band of a Caretaker. You are the Caretaker of Oasis Zero One.” Braden dug into his pouch and pulled out the item he had taken from the repair shop. The hologram called it a watch. He strapped it on his wrist.
“Yes, I am,” Braden answered boldly. “I didn’t know the New Command Center existed. Explain.” Braden fell quickly into the role that seemed to resonate with the Mirror Beast. It was wider than they were tall, taller than they stood, with arms that seemed more human than the tentacles of the Maintenance Bots. It shined and glimmered like the Mirror Beast at Oasis Zero Three. He expected it would resist any attack upon it.
“The New Command Center became functional three years ago. Hundreds of years ago, after the last attack, one Bot remained, far underground. It took resources to reestablish infrastructure. Over time, it dug the ore, processed the ore, and built the Bots it needed to build more Bots. It had to build the manufacturing facility from scratch. It built the New Command Center based on the design of the original Command Center.”
“You know what happened? You said war. Tell me.”
“This unit is a Mark V Security Robot. It is not programmed to teach history. This unit has access to a system which has logged that the event happened. That is all. This unit is programmed to provide security for the New Command Center. Your band allows you access. You may pass.”
“Access. To other humans?”
“No. You are the first human to return,” the Bot responded in its unemotional, mechanical voice.
“What about my friends?”
“The other human is your guest. She may pass.”
“What about my other friends? The ones behind me. You attacked one yesterday. You are not to attack any of them. They are my guests.”
“These mutants are not in our system. They could be enemies. Do you wish me to log them into my system as enemies?”
“No. Log them as friends. No harm is to come to them,” Braden said firmly, then repeated himself. “They are my friends. They are the Caretaker’s friends.”
“They will be protected like all creatures known to us and accepted into our system as non-combatants and allies.”
“Shall we then?” Braden asked his companions. Only Micah nodded. The others remained wary. Skirill looked back at his scorched tail feathers. He hoped the mechanical creature would stay true to its word.
“Your blaster is in need of repair and charging. Give it to this unit and it will be taken care of it. It will be returned when it is ready.” Micah hesitated briefly. The chance of getting it charged was worth the risk of not getting it back. If it was in the hands of the Security Bot, then no other human could get it and misuse it. She handed it over. The Bot took it, turned, and headed toward the oasis at a pace that they could follow.
82 – Everything to Fear, Nothing to Fear
The oasis was similar in style to Zero One, but much larger. The trees seemed natural to this part of Vii, and not strange like the ones in the desert. This oasis didn’t have big buildings, though.
The Security Bot took them to a nondescript building, one of three. Braden saw the roll-up door on the building next door which suggested it would be the repair shop. The third building lacked windows. Braden couldn’t guess what that building was for.
Once they arrived at the building of the Bot’s choice, it left them while it entered the building with the roll-up door.
Braden peeked inside. It was nearly identical to the shop at Oasis Zero One. He walked the few steps back to the building the Bot had guided them to. With a shrug, he stepped close to the door. It opened. They went inside--the humans, G-War, and Aadi with Skirill on his back, still clinging to the rope.
There was nothing in the room except another set of doors. These looked like they slid to the side. Braden stepped close. Nothing.
Micah looked at a protrusion beside the door. It was lit. She touched it and it dinged in response. The doors opened to a very small room. They wouldn’t all fit.
“Do you mind staying here, Master Aadi, Ess?” Braden asked.
“We ha’e no ‘lace ‘etter to go,” Skirill answered for both of them. Braden turned back to see the doors close. He tried the button and the doors opened again.
He stepped inside, followed by Micah and G-War. They stood in the room, anxiety rising as the doors closed. G-War panicked and launched his furry body at the doors, claws scratching their surface.
The doors didn’t move, but the room did. It started slowly and then picked up speed. It was dropping. They had the sensation of falling, but only briefly. The room slowed to a stop, and the doors opened.
G-War launched himself through as soon as he could fit. Micah and Braden hurried out shortly thereafter.
They were in a huge room. It was dark, but well lit. It was Old Tech. Everywhere they looked, they saw screens like the ones at the oasis. They saw tables and chairs. One complete wall consisted of a hundred windows with fantastic views. Their eyes couldn’t take in everything there was to see. Braden looked for G-War.
“G! Where are you?” he called. No answer. He started to fear for the ‘cat. He reached out with his emotions, finally touching his friend, who was almost insane with fear. There. He was under one of the tables. His eyes were wide in the darkness. He crouched, his claws extended.
Braden reached out and the ‘cat reacted, striking his arm with a claw but not raking it. Blood started to pool in the puncture wounds. “It’s okay, G. I’m here. Come. I’ll shield you.” Braden scooped up the ‘
cat and held him close. G-War buried his head under Braden’s arm. He felt the ‘cat relax slightly. Micah reached over and stroked the ‘cat’s back, purring to him.
With G-War, they walked slowly around the various seats and looked at the screens, but didn't touching anything. Braden looked for a place like the one he used when he talked with the hologram, but there wasn’t anything like that.
The wall of windows was actually a wall made up of small screens, melded together. It was like looking through the eyes of a hundred different Hawkoids. He pointed at one screen for Micah. She looked closely.
“That’s Max and Pack,” she said, fear creeping into her voice. “How can they see them from here? Where is ‘here’?”
“I think we’re underground. The Security Bot told us that one Bot was underground when the war finished. There has to be a hologram here somewhere.” He looked around to no avail.
Without anyone to answer their questions, they were lost as to what to do next. They understood that some of the screens showed parts of the world. Others showed images, like some he had drawn in his rudder.
Braden continued to absently pet G-War as he cradled the ‘cat tightly in his arms.
“Time to go. We can’t do this to G. Maybe we’ll come back, but this is enough for now.” They went back to the doors to the moving room and pressed the button. The doors opened and they stepped in. The room moved, upward this time.
When the doors opened, both Aadi and Skirill looked at them wide-eyed. ‘We are ecstatic that you have returned!’ Master Aadi blinked rapidly as he spoke. Looking at the ‘cat in Braden’s arms, he asked fearfully, ‘What happened to the Golden Warrior?’
“It’s a bit busy down there. Later, we’ll be able to describe it. But for this turn, we’ve seen enough.” When the sunshine struck the ‘cat’s fur, he looked up, then wiggled to let Braden know he was alright to get down. Like putting a baby in a crib, Braden gently put G-War on the ground. His fur stuck up in various places around his body.
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