Old Secrets (The Survivors Book Thirteen)

by Nathan Hystad

“I think it’s part of his plan.”

  “How?”

  “The reason Fontem made us come in the first place. He thinks the Deities can help him,” she whispered.

  “Why? Who petitions a god?”

  Her dad arrived, frowning toward them. “Dinner almost ready?” he asked, making Jules wonder how much he’d heard.

  “Sure thing, Mr. Parker.” Dean plucked the scaled creature from the flames, and the others joined them around the fire.

  They ate crusted bread with the meat and talked about how many things could assist the Alliance, but Jules could only think about that coffin, and what she was going to do when they returned to see the rest of the Zan’ra. She needed to figure that puzzle out before she departed for Udoon. She was running out of time.

  Jules finished her food, watching Fontem from the corner of her eye. He was acting normal, as if there was nothing out of the ordinary, but his façade had been cracked inside his private cache. There was something devious going on, and she was going to find out what.

  One by one, their group headed for the comfort of the erected tents, and Jules waited until Fontem had retired to bed to leave the fireside. Eventually, she entered the tent she was sharing with her father, but kept her eyes peeled and her ears open.

  ____________

  “Good morning, boss.” Slate’s voice woke Jules from a deep slumber, and she opened her eyes, blinking at the bright morning light pouring through the open doorway.

  She’d fallen asleep! Jules ran her hands through her hair, tugging at a couple of knots, and climbed from the sleeping bag. No one was freaking out, so that meant Fontem was probably at the fire with the rest of them, having breakfast. She’d worried for nothing. She still felt the crystal bracelet around her wrist under her jumpsuit’s sleeve, and she kept it there. Its presence was oddly comforting.

  The air was crisp at this early hour, and she scanned the area, giving Dean a little wave when she spotted him. His hair was a mess, but she thought it was kind of adorable. Regnig’s beak jutted from the tent he was sharing with Fontem, and he exited, flapping his wings a few times.

  Has anyone seen Fontem? Regnig asked, and Jules’ heart pounded.

  “I thought he was here…” Slate spun around, then shrugged. “Guess I was wrong. Maybe he’s at the lake for a bath.”

  “Papa…” Jules’ breath caught in her throat. She should never have fallen asleep, but she’d been so tired, full of a great dinner.

  “What is it?” her dad asked, chewing on a protein bar.

  “He’s gone,” she told him, so sure of it.

  “Who?”

  “Fontem.”

  His face changed, shifting to a concerned expression she’d seen many times in her short life. “Are you certain?”

  She nodded.

  “Fontem! Where are you?” Papa called, but no one answered.

  “Boss, he’s probably at the lake. Let’s go check,” Slate told Karo, and they started off.

  “They won’t find him there. Papa, I have to go,” she told her dad.

  He grimaced but nodded in agreement. “Be careful. Left, left, right,” he reminded her, not that she’d forgotten the instructions from yesterday.

  “What are you doing?” Dean arrived, jogging over from near the fire he’d started again.

  “I have to go too.” She grabbed his collar, standing on her toes to peck him on the lips.

  “Where?”

  But she was already gone, floating toward the hole in the cliffside.

  The trip through the tunnels took far less time when traveling surrounded by her green sphere. She kept it glowing to give her light along the trail, and five minutes later, she slowed and settled near the three tunnel entrances, opting for the center one.

  “Please be open,” she muttered, praying Fontem hadn’t deactivated their access from this side. She walked through the portal barrier and arrived within the dome. “Thank you.”

  She shot into the air, moving for the peak of the dome, and searched for Fontem. The room was vacant.

  The stairs were closed, but she recalled how Fontem had activated them. She waved her hand in the air as he had, but nothing happened. Jules moved to the same location he’d been standing, trying the motion again, and the keypad projection illuminated. Nervously, she ran the pattern she’d watched Fontem use over the air, and the floor began to shake, revealing the stairs.

  Jules hurried down them, floating the entire time. The space felt ominous alone, and she felt the threat of every dangerous item here. Fontem was nowhere in sight. “Where are you?” she shouted, receiving nothing in response.

  Jules glanced at the door he’d told them was off limits, and it became clear. He’d tricked them into coming to this place. He had no means to travel so far, but he still could have found a ship to give him passage to Techeron, she was sure of that. But... he’d needed to know something first. All the time spent with Regnig, researching the Zan’ra and the Deities; it hadn’t been for their benefit. It had to be for his own objectives.

  Jules floated past the rows of devices, the containers with dangerous artifacts locked behind their walls, and landed at the black entrance Fontem had ordered them to keep away from. She set her palm on it and instantly sensed the portal behind it. “Damn it.”

  Jules peered over her shoulder and found one of the tall locker doors wide open. She ran for it and grabbed the empty box inside. It was twice the size of her hand, and the symbol carved on the top was only too familiar. Four circles with an X overtop. He had a device belonging to the Zan’ra and had taken it through the portal.

  She was about to force the door open when she remembered something from the day before. Jules returned upstairs, grabbing a leather bag she’d seen, and added a couple of items to it. She clasped the flap and slung it over her shoulder.

  Jules was angry she hadn’t felt the pull of the portal stone the day before, but with everyone around her and all the talk about weapons, she hadn’t noticed. Now it was like a tuning fork, vibrating in her hand.

  The door wouldn’t open. She searched for a keypad, but there was none. Jules closed her eyes, feeling the need to follow Fontem. Whatever he was after wasn’t good, and she suspected the fallout was going to be disastrous. She passed through the entryway, her body turning into another state for a split second. When she materialized fully, she took stock of the cramped room. The crystal lit up at her presence, but this was unlike any Shandra she’d ever seen.

  Jules pressed a hand to it, feeling its core. There was no icon table here, no option to choose where you traveled to, but Fontem had clearly used it.

  “This is a one-way trip,” she said slowly, her realization of the crystal’s power difference filling her. This Shandra might bring you to another portal. You could never travel through this one to arrive at Fontem’s collection. He was protecting his treasures, but also gave himself a quick escape, which he’d done this morning while the rest of their camp was fast asleep.

  Her mouth was dry, and she pressed her lips together, wondering for the first time if Fontem had drugged them during last night’s meal. Where had he gone?

  She stood over the rounded waist-high crystal, still touching it. Where had he gone? He had a Deity coffin, the Zan’ra symbol on the empty box, meaning he’d taken something that involved them.

  Lan’i’s words from when they’d chanted over the Deity’s underwater grave filled her mind. We used to have a tool to hone our powers for this purpose. That was it! Fontem had the device the Zan’ra had operated, the one that had been lost with Ja’ri.

  That meant…

  Jules activated the portal, urging it to bring her to Desolate.

  Twenty-Three

  The storm was fierce. The moment Jules emerged from the thrashing lake’s surface, she had to brace herself within her energy shield. Wind gusted against her, battering her defenses, and she peered in the direction of the ocean, seeing the unmistakable black skies. It was past dusk, and from here, she spotted
a handful of stars where the clouds had parted enough to reveal the time of day.

  Fontem was here.

  Her heart raced, and she tried to focus on her mission. She needed to stop Fontem from rousing the gods. Jules had considered doing this very thing, but not for her own selfish interests. The Zan’ra were dangerous, and if she was truly infused with the spirit of a Deity, she had an obligation to assist them. The urge constantly tugged on her subconscious, compelling her to free them as ordered.

  She sped toward the ocean, only pausing to hover over the destruction of the Zan’ra city below. Ja’ri had done the ultimate selfish act, killing her people to preserve her own life. Jules hated the Zan’ra she was impersonating.

  By the time she neared the churning oceanside, the sky was so black, she struggled to see. There was no hint of moonlight through the dense clouds, and Jules searched for Fontem. Lightning forked through the air, more hostile than the day she’d spoken to the Deity. It was down there. She stared through the giant waves, water splashing over her as they crested, striking the cliff’s face.

  Jules felt the others arrive. This was a new sensation, or an old one that she hadn’t recognized before this moment. The Four were here. She had to act fast, before they came and distracted her. Jules jumped over the cliff edge and crashed into the ocean.

  Inside the protective barrier of her sphere, she swam toward the coffin.

  She was too late. Fontem treaded the water near the coffin, and the circle on the box burned bright yellow. The shadow began pouring from the lid’s edge, and Fontem didn’t notice her as she approached.

  He wore an advanced scuba outfit, his face concealed with a mask, eyes wide as he stared at the Deity thrashing from the inside of the tomb.

  “Fontem! Stop this!” she screamed, and even under the surface of the water, he somehow heard her words. Another one of her gifts, she suspected.

  “How did you… leave me alone. This is my right. I found him, I have the right to petition him!” Fontem swam away from her, the shadow solidifying more with each passing breath.

  “You don’t know what you’re doing! It’s too soon!” she shouted, but Fontem didn’t care.

  Jules moved closer, trying to grasp his arm, but he recoiled. “I need this. You should have left me frozen in time. I can’t stand this! Let me ask my boon, Jules.” His face was slack, his words heart-wrenching.

  “They’re coming!” she told him, but he didn’t seem to understand.

  “Who is?”

  “The Four. Or at least, the other three of them,” she said.

  “Then I’d better be quick!” Fontem moved closer to the figure. She noticed the green gemstone in his hand, which had to be the device Lan’i had mentioned the last time she was here. The misty black vapor drifted in the water, moving in swirling patterns as a body began taking shape. Jules had only thought of the Deities as ethereal, and hadn’t expected them to be made of flesh and blood. He took on the color of the ocean, sharp protrusions forming at his shoulders, a bald head erupting from the shadows.

  You have done well, my daughter. The voice was jarring, stronger and crisper than before.

  “It wasn’t me!” she told it, but her denial felt irrelevant.

  “It was me! I demand something of you,” Fontem told it, and Jules cringed as the huge head turned to face Fontem. The Deity stood on the bottom of the ocean now, its immense height making its eyes level with Jules. They were bright, each one half the size of her body.

  Why do you speak to me? Daughter, remove him from my presence.

  “I can return you to the grave I freed you from!” Fontem raised his hand up, showcasing the pulsing green crystal.

  He laughed, the sound booming and terrible. Jules noticed she no longer bled as a result of her close proximity to the Deity, and briefly wondered what had changed.

  The Deity raised its giant arm. The water shifted and sent Jules and Fontem away, as if an intense current had taken hold of them. The device in the Terellion’s grip fell loose, moving toward the ocean bed far below. He scrambled for it, but the Deity rushed toward him, grabbing the man with a massive hand. Fontem fought to escape, but it was pointless. Jules assumed the god would kill him, but it didn’t.

  I thank you for releasing me. What is it you seek? the Deity asked.

  Fontem ceased his thrashing. “My wife… I… I need to return to her. To grow old with her in her timeline. To do it over again, but without my genetic flaw.”

  Jules heard the pain in his voice, and at once understood his reasoning for everything he’d done. If she’d encountered that with Dean, would she not want to do the exact same thing Fontem was requesting of the god?

  Is this all you seek?

  The question appeared to shock Fontem, and he stared into the god’s white eyes. “It is my wish!”

  Jules swam over to them, waiting for the Deity’s response, and it came very soon, with little deliberation. I shall make it happen. Go to her. Live out your days. I will replace the other version of yourself. You will have no memories of this timeline. You will grow old with her. Your genetic advances will be removed. Do you agree to this?

  Fontem’s eyes were wide, his mouth ajar behind his EVA mask. He nodded. “I agree to your terms!”

  Let it be so. The god released Fontem, and further black mist poured from the god’s fingers, swirling around the Terellion.

  “Goodbye, young Jules. Thank your father for me. Take care of my things. They are yours now,” Fontem told her as he spun, and seconds later, he was enveloped by the underwater whirlpool. When the waters calmed, he was gone.

  Jules shed a tear behind her shield: not for the loss of the man, but for what he’d just gained. It had been his single focus for so many years, and now, even though he wouldn’t remember it, he’d fulfilled his lifelong goal. He could reunite with his wife.

  “You can send people in time,” she told the god matter-of-factly.

  Does this surprise you? he asked.

  “It does. Am I truly one of you?” She was nervous for the answer. “If I go to the future to kill someone, can I return here, to my family?”

  Of course you can. I will have to show you, though. Release me.

  She was about to tell him he was free already when she felt the presence of the rest of the Four. The Zan’ra had arrived, and they weren’t going to be happy.

  Do not be fearful, child. I will handle them.

  The god crouched and sprang upwards, leading for the ocean’s surface. If he was going to stop them, she needed to help Patty before he did something irrevocable.

  Jules rocketed after the Deity.

  ____________

  I couldn’t wait any longer. It had been two hours since Jules had set out, and that was disconcerting. Our entire group was determined to find her, Slate armed and taking the lead. Karo carried Regnig, and Dean guarded the rear of the group, a pulse pistol gripped in his palm.

  “Slate, it’s left, then left, then right. I think you screwed up the last one,” I told him, and the big man stopped, Karo bumping into his broad back.

  “I don’t think so… jeez, I hate these tunnels. They’re too small. Remember how I feel about confined spaces, boss.” Slate spun around, as if searching for the answers.

  “You’re right. I think I know where we made the mistake. Everyone follow me,” Dean said, reminding me so much of a younger Magnus. Dean was a lot thinner, but he was growing, and he was taller than I was now, his shoulders broader.

  “Lead the way, kid,” Slate told him, and we returned to the previous split-off in the corridor system, opting for the other entrance. With Dean guiding us, we arrived at the portal in the center hole sooner than I’d expected, and we all piled in.

  “Jules!” I shouted as I ran into the domed room, which sat on an asteroid in some distant unknown system. The pale blue star hung above us, and Slate and Dean gawked at the immense beauty and power of it.

  “Jules!” I shouted again, scouring the room, running through t
he many rows of intricate artifacts. She was nowhere to be seen.

  “Over here, Dean!” Karo called, waiting for me at the stairs. We rushed down them, ending in the hidden basement where the weapons were kept. A couple of the crates were open, but there was no Jules or Fontem.

  I set a hand on the black entrance and rested my forehead on it. “They went this way.”

  Karo mimicked my movement and shook his head. “I should have sensed the portal yesterday.”

  “There’s a Shandra?” I asked.

  “The same, but different.”

  “Slate, we need to get at it!” I yelled to my commander, who was just arriving at the bottom of the stairwell. His gaze scanned the room full of armaments, and he whistled.

  “What do we have here?” Slate asked.

  “We have a dilemma.” I rapped my knuckles on the door. “We need inside.”

  “Any ideas how we do that?” Karo asked.

  Regnig hobbled over the last step, nearly tumbling over it. He caught himself on the wall and opened his beak wide. See the left edge? That’s a keyhole.

  I glanced at it, running a finger over the dark surface. He was right. There was an indentation, and I bent over, trying to peer through the tiny hole. “Everyone, scour the room. We need to find the key.”

  ____________

  The Zan’ra hovered above the water’s surface, the waves higher than ever as the massive storm expanded around them.

  Patty moved toward her as soon as the girl spotted Jules, but Lan’i was quick to order her to his side. Jules needed to touch her, to steal her essence before the Deity killed them all.

  “What have you done, Ja’ri?” Dal’i asked, her face contorted in anger. “You’ve sealed our fate!”

  “It wasn’t me, and stop calling me that!” Jules shouted in return.

  “You need to accept who you are, Ja’ri. You’re one of us. You’re one of the Four. Our leader. We followed you then, and we’ll do so now. Own the position, and together we can rule this universe,” Lan’i said, a confident grin cast over his face.