Closer To The Core (25,000 Light-Years Book 1)

by S. Hansen

  Three flights of stairs from the base of the tower the floor vibrated and shivered beneath his feet. The ground shifted and slipped down causing him to lose his footing and slam to the floor. Opening up like a sinkhole it began to swallow him as his feet dragged him down and his hands struggled for friction on the tilting floor. His desperate fight for stability came to a crashing halt as he plunged to the base of the tower landing harshly on his back in the charred dirt. The fall knocked the wind out of his lungs and he gasped for air as the impact of his landing cracked the crumbling land beneath him. His eyesight began to blur in the confusion and pain. He felt himself tipping off a ledge and furiously scrambled to grip onto anything that would stop his descent.

  When his eyesight cleared he was staring up at a cavern and grasping the edge of a crumbling cliff. His memory flooded back as he recalled the time ripple throwing him into this scenario. Stark knew how this ended. His training caused him to instinctively shimmy along the edge to a sturdier ledge. But the blackened ground crumbled at his touch and he felt the wound on his right side open up causing the sharp pain, just as before, to course through him and the loss of the grip his right hand had on the rim of the sinkhole. A large chunk started to slope into the black hole jerking Stark downwards. He looked down at the inky void as the ground tilted further and further toward it. This time he would let his death be his choice. He didn't let the ledge break away and force him down instead his fingers released their clawing grip on the ledge.

  Concurrently Dantil fired inaccurately at the Renyan as he slid past the boarding stair case fortunately the shot hit the Renyan in the arm and caused him to misfire. When friction caused Dantil to stop smoothly gliding across the floor he selflessly strode in front of Polly who lay on the floor somewhat bruised. His gun was still raised and he rapidly fired at the Renyan before he could answer the cracking sound with his own. In the distance they could hear the defence tower collapsing in on itself and they knew they had to move fast. Dantil helped Polly to her feet briskly before leading her around The Asteria in search of any other intruders. When he was satisfied with the ships lack of uninvited guests he shepherded her to the pilot’s seat and disembarked the ship.

  Back out in the open space of the hangar Dantil searched the image in his mind for anything that might open the ceiling up for The Asteria. On the far wall he could hear a switch that looked promising but as he moved closer to it he realised it was out of his reach. Designed for Renyan use the switch was planted on the wall out of jumping distance for Dantil. The nearest ship was The Asteria but it was too far away for him to be able to stand on top and lean across. All the same he paced back to the Asteria and began to cling to her shell; his muscles stretching and flexing as he scrambled around her hull. Once he was on top of the central pod he steadily walked to the spanning window of the bridge before turning and sprinting agilely along her length. As he neared the rear of the ship his strides spaced out and his last step pounded into the metal as he sprung towards the wall. Sailing through the air he outstretched his hand and slammed into the switch before falling heavily onto the ground.

  He lay painfully and awkwardly on the ground listening intently for the ceiling. There was a loud thud before a grinding metal sound then the ceiling began to slide smoothly across, revealing the Renyan night sky as it did so. The orange glow had left the city and Dantil sighed with relief but his joints groaned when he struggled to his feet before he hobbled to The Asteria. Dantil found Polly frantically pacing back and forth behind the pilot chair. She had lain Stark's coat across the table. Dantil had taken Stark on his word and he was ready to set the ship on its course when the ten minutes elapsed knowing Stark would be aboard The Asteria.

  'I opened the doors, let’s get ready to go.' Polly continued to pace knowing in her heart that Stark had left the escape to them because he had not planned to survive.

  'I want to go back, we need to go back. Adam needs our help.'

  'What do you mean has he communicated with you?'

  'No, I just know he needs me.' Dantil was confused by the slight change in language although he didn't understand its meaning he noticed it was there.

  'He needs me to save him.' There it was again, it held an inexplicable meaning to him. Just as he felt that he was understanding humans, understanding love, he was confounded. But a dedication to the plan stopped his curiosity in its tracks.

  'He needs you to get the ship ready for flight, that was the plan, his plan.' Polly refused to listen, she stood waiting and hoping Dantil would change his mind, hoping Dantil would know how to save Stark. Dantil looked at her in confusion before taking the seat for himself where he calmly pressed a series of buttons sending the ship thundering to life. Polly felt the vibrations of the ships engine tremble through the floor and the sensation pushed her over the edge as tears began to flood her eyes. She spoke with the choking sound of pain and the skewed enunciation of a woman distraught.

  'Noo! Don't you dare, I won’t let you leave without him.'

  'I'm not going to, in four minutes he is going to be on the ship.' Polly shook her head in misery.

  'No he isn't, we have to save him.' Dantil felt lied to but he didn't know who had lied to him. Stark had said he would be on the ship and so far Stark had done everything he said he would do. That wasn't many things but Dantil had confidence in him. Meanwhile Polly had had little confidence in Stark's abilities throughout their time on Renya. On balance Dantil was inclined to trust Stark's word but Polly was incomprehensibly distressed so Dantil froze in a panic.

  Stark closed his eyes in satisfaction as his fingers surrendered their grip. The free fall through the rushing cool air awaited him. But a fraction of a second after he resigned himself to it he jolted to a stop, he was hanging by his left arm. He could feel a firm grip around his forearm and his hand instinctively returned the grip. As he opened his piercing blue eyes he was shocked to see the face of his rescuer. She spread her body weight across the ground as her plaited hair hung over the edge. Stark could see only a slight glimpse of strain on her face as her eyes looked deep into his while she pulled him up. Without a word between them each knew that Stark had let go and each knew that no discussion was currently required. Stark's feet scrambled for traction as he began to help her in her struggles to keep him alive. He heard the faint sound of a rip as the shoulder seam of her black jacket tore. Once he had gotten a leg onto the ledge he was able to easily roll himself onto the stable ground. He lay there for only a few seconds, staring up at her. His eyes began at her black boots, followed her fitted black trousers all the way up to the Browning Hi-Power 9mm holstered at her hip. She shared no expression with Stark but out stretched her hand again to help him to his feet which he accepted before thanking her.

  'Thank you, Agent Mazar.' She smiled half-heartedly at him. 'Soo, I'm bleeding a lot and can't really run but if you help me get to a hangar not far from here in ooh…’ He paused as he looked at his watch ‘less than three minutes we might actually get to leave this planet.' She calmly hooked her shoulders underneath his arm and pulled him forward.

  'Well I suppose that's easier than me stealing one of their ships and trying to teach myself to fly it.' They made rapid progress through the streets but the clomping Renyan footsteps were getting louder behind them. Stark struggled on through the agonising pain in his side and Mazar staggered on under the weight of Stark.

  'What happened to your ship?'

  'They shot it... a lot.' Most of their concentration was taken up by the desire to make it the hangar, leaving them little time for conversation as they moved. But as they passed through the hangar door, narrowly avoiding Renyan gunfire, a thought occurred to Stark.

  'Why did you save me?'

  'Daughter of my people.' She said the words in such a matter of fact way that Stark felt unable to question them. Recognising the ship design of The Asteria Mazar was urged on at a faster pace. She rushed Stark up the stairs and into the heart of the ship where she heard Polly.


  'No! We have to find him!' She was grasping feebly at Dantil's arms and spluttering through the tears as she begged Dantil not to leave the planet. The ship began to move in a juttering motion upwards and out of the hangar. Upon seeing the walls of the hangar sink below The Asteria and feeling the movement Polly resigned herself to grief and slumped onto the bench encircling the table where she gripped Stark's coat for comfort and laid her head on the table.

  'Good man Dan. Let's go.' Stark smiled through the thinly veiled pain as enMazar led him to the table before propping him against it and rifling through her pockets. Polly sat motionless and unable to speak as she watched Mazar pull a small packet from her wallet. The Asteria jerked heavily as Dantil struggled with the controls.

  'Can you make the alien stop the ear piercing noise?' Polly and Stark had grown so accustomed to not hearing the noise that it didn't occur to either of them that Mazar would still be able to hear it.

  'Polly take over the controls. Dan, you heard the lady, no more echo location. And Mazar, it’s normally me removing small packets from my wallet. I have to say I’m surprised but still excited.' Stark's initially commanding voice spurred Polly into action and before she knew it she was nervously guiding The Asteria smoothly away from the planet's surface. Whilst Dantil silenced himself and knelt in the corner. Mazar looked disapprovingly at Stark and purposefully tore open the small packet before sliding a curved needle out of its place.

  'Take your shirt off.'

  'Okay, but my safe word is flamingos.' Mazar’s expression did not change from its prior disapproval and she waited impatiently whilst he fumbled with the buttons of his waistcoat and pulled the t-shirt over his head. The Asteria rumbled through the planet’s atmosphere halting Mazar's movements just as she reached toward Starks chest with the needle. After the last jolt of movement surged through The Asteria's hull Mazar steadied her hand and began threading the needle through Stark's skin with the suture flowing behind it. She worked quickly and deftly as she closed the wound at Stark's side while he sat coolly watching her work and wincing only slightly. Polly set a straight course away from the planet as fast as she could and let the ship fly itself before she turned in the chair to see the needle pass cleanly through Stark's skin once more. She quickly turned away again and concentrated on the vast expanse before her. Mazar neatly completed the stitches and she examined his lip.

  ‘I see your lip is healing well.’ Stark used his tongue to fiddle with the wound before responding.

  ‘It would look even better if someone hadn’t split it open with a bottle…’ Polly put two and two together, made five and became aggravated by Mazar’s presence but she didn’t have the emotional energy to pursue the subject.

  Chapter Ten – Keeping Mum

  After fleeing the Ullar system Polly recalled that the Renyans were as yet incapable of interstellar travel. She imparted the good news onto the crew before they all took the opportunity to relax and regroup. With all four of them sat around the table, Stark's coat still lying there as a kind of lazy centrepiece, at first there was a shared sense of relief. This feeling quickly turned to an awkward silence as the humans each looked from one to the other before Polly's inner monologue grew tired of being inward.

  'What the hell happened? And who is she?'

  'This is Agent Bat-Ami Mazar, she is an Israeli agent and I assume she is here for the same reason we are. Mazar this is my next door neighbour Polly, no affiliation with any secret service. And this is Dantil, whom you are already seem to be aware is an alien from Drium.' As he spoke with a bored tone his hand gestured around the table emphasizing each person’s presence.

  'If she is a spy why hasn't she done any intelligence collection since she got here? You normally look all over the place and ask weird questions and she hasn't done either.' Polly continued to disregard Mazar's presence and speak solely to Stark.

  'What would you have me ask?' Mazar rested her interlocked hands on the table as she calmly examined Polly and when Polly turned her head towards Mazar she began to feel small and helpless.

  'Why am I here? Would be a good start as I, as Adam put it, have no affiliation with any secret service.'

  'Me too.' Said Dantil excitedly, forgetting Mazar would not understand his speech, before Stark made his suggestion.

  'How did I get the wound?' Mazar relaxed back into her seat moving her hands to her lap, all the time keeping her dark eyes fixed on Polly's intimidated face.

  'All those questions have the same answer although I can only guess at the alien’s question. And it's an answer I already have. So to ask would be a pointless exercise.' She turned her gaze to Stark and smiled condescendingly as she spoke. 'Agent Stark is a substandard agent and he is easily distracted.' Stark looked at her with slight affront but lacked the enthusiasm to defend himself verbally. The awkward silence returned as Stark considered his survival and Polly examined Mazar more closely, this time noticing the Star of David hung from her slender neck. She remembered the symbol that Stark had been drawing with his finger and as before made connections that did not exist. A growing queasiness had been washing over Dantil that began on Renya and with it had come a drop in his temperature. But suppressed any feelings of discomfort because he was keen to learn about the differences between human women, thus far only finding the difference in colouring, decided to leave the table and fumble clumsily away. After a short time the echoing tones could be heard by Mazar at enough of a distance to cause no pain but a small annoyance.

  'Stark?' He broke his vacant stare into space and swivelled his eyes to Mazar who was unsure what to read from his expression though it seemed melancholic.

  'Mazar?' He mumbled in return. As she tossed the appropriate phrasing of her speech in her mind she was interrupted by Dantil who entered the room holding a small object in his fist and carrying his small bag as though it were a toolbox.

  'Parta kraa skar Bat-Ami, U kamiiran lavir stunipari U nusvaan stil klurkan slip humans.' He stood a few metres from the table and outstretched his hand revealing the two small earpieces and a language chip identical to those that had previously been presented to Polly and Stark. Upon hearing her name Mazar became quite intrigued and a little disappointed she was unable to understand the alien before her. Mazar was boxed into the curved bench by the other humans but as neither of them seemed willing or aware enough to allow Mazar past she slid out of her seat and swung across the table toward Dantil.

  'And what do these do?'

  'Parima sku valir ark ud trim nad vam dumla par dumlapi U valir ritaslip.' Dantil proudly smiled as he pointed to the ear pieces and watched her as intently as he could without sound.

  'What is he saying?' Polly looked apologetically at Dantil before translating for him.

  'First he said, those are for you, he brought them because he wanted to meet more humans. Then he said they will stop you hearing the noise he makes. And before he tells you about the other thing I may as well just say they allow you to understand any language programmed into them, in this case Dantan.' Mazar graciously accepted the gifts and followed Dantil's physical instructions to begin making use of them.

  ‘So when I speak to you am I speaking English or Dantan?’ Polly and Stark looked at Mazar as though she were asking a profound question.

  ‘Oh you’ll be speaking English, unless you swap languages of course. I am also wearing a chip so yours will speak any language you prefer. If you were speaking to someone without a chip you’d speak a language they understood.’ Dantil paused as he had a thought on the matter. ‘Though I’m not sure what happens if you were programmed with a language you were physically unable to speak.’

  ‘What does that mean?’ Polly enquired.

  ‘My guess, it means you will still obliterate Hebrew.’ Mazar said dryly.

  ‘That’s awfully presumptive, it’s entirely possible I speak Hebrew fluently. I’m sure more likely he was meaning we’d struggle with Khoisan languages.’ Polly had hoped her wide knowledge of differing cultures would out
smart Mazar however she was already familiar herself with the group of African languages.

  ‘No doubt. Those clicks are difficult for some humans.’ She said dismissively, falsely implying she were capable of speaking any of the Khoisan languages. Then she noticed the sombre expression remaining on Stark's face. She had not known him long but she felt as though she had learnt enough about his personality to be concerned about his mental health on such an important mission. Mazar did not like Stark but she felt it her duty to ensure the success of the mission through the stability of fellow agents.

  'Parlez-vous français?' [Do you speak French?] She asked as a general question to all in the room.

  'Oui.' [Yes] Polly responded without thinking about the translation that had occurred regardless of her ability. Mazar looked a little disappointed and tried Stark again.

  'Stark? Parli Italiano?' [Stark? Do you speak Italian?] Stark's gloomy eyes rose to meet Mazar’s before he sighed and replied.

  'Sì.' [Yes]

  'Avete bisogno di parlare con qualcuno?' [Do you need to talk to someone?] Before Stark could respond they were interrupted by Dantil.

  'What would he need to talk about?'

  ‘.בֶּן כַּלבָּה' [Son of a bitch.] She searched around the room hoping for no understanding of what she had said but was out of luck.

  'So I guess it doesn't just translate Dantan then.' Dantil proudly responded to this statement as though it had been a question.