Elysium Shining

by Terri Kraemer

  “Got it!” She so didn’t want to talk like that the whole journey to wherever they were going. Why hadn’t she come up with a plan?

  Zoey put on the mask first, followed by the gloves. The world seemed bleaker through the lenses of the mask. Every detail was visible as far as her eyes could carry her vision, but a pale amber coated all of it like an awful movie from ten years ago. She passed her hand in front of the mask to check and be sure that her sense of smell wasn’t failing her, and there was no beak attached.

  She stood and walked with the rebels who were present. One of them whispered something about it being cramped, but there wouldn’t be any time to play around. Zoey tried not to think about what they meant before she reached the two stiern-boats. When Shungdi had talked about her trip here, yesterday; she’d mentioned one craft being here, but nothing about a second. Zoey wondered for a moment if she had come to the right street corner, which she had asked Shungdi about while they had prepared the kitchen space for recording Il’lyse’s statement.

  Cars drove through the intersection, their sirens blaring. By now Zoey had taken her first step onto one of the boats. Some of the Hulda’fi backed away from the craft and pulled out their pistols. The doors closed without them ever boarding, and the engine sounded.

  Whatever happens, hopefully Il’lyse will be happy living my life for herself. Be free, sis.

  The thought made her shiver. One of the Hulda’fi nudged her and said, “You’re fine now. Soon we’ll be home, and we can put yesterday behind us.”

  Resuming her faux pep, Zoey said, “I know. Fridays, am I right?”

  “Fridays?” The Hulda’fi who had spoken now scratched their head with a finger.

  * * *

  He slowed the motorcycle when they neared the police by the intersection. Dasos saw the officers shooting it out with an unseen number of Hulda’fi.

  “Shit, they’re taking off,” said Il’lyse.

  Behind a wall of hedges, the first of two stiern-boats lifted into the air. If Zoey had come here like her siblings both expected by now, then chances were that she was on one of the craft.

  The police captain said, “Thalassas, what are you doing here?”

  “Long story, captain,” said Dasos. “Did you see any of them with hair like hers?” He lifted a hand to point a thumb at Il’lyse behind him, and yet she outdid him by rising up and waving wildly.

  “I can’t say. Did your sister run out on you, or did you discover that you have a third one somewhere?”

  The sky groaned. The air distorted and twisted in a spiral until shadows and a few blurred colors appeared in the middle. The image held, and the edges flared with darkened hues from across the light spectrum. The first stiern-boat flew into the space, and the craft vanished. The air returned to normal in seconds after that.

  Growling, Il’lyse hopped off of the bike and went to one of the police cars. She grabbed the radio and turned on the speaker system. One man asked her what she was doing, but she ignored him. Dasos grunted and got ready to ride in and sweep his sister toward shelter.

  “Cease fire, brothers and sisters,” Il’lyse said. Her voice was more commanding than Dasos had ever heard from her in all of the years they grew up together. “Stop shooting. Stop fighting for the most vile lie we were ever told. No one else has to die today.”

  The firing stopped. The second stiern-boat faced her while it hovered in the air. She took steps away from the car, still holding the wireless radio, to take the focus off of the officers who stayed behind the car. A few of the officers might have been impressed enough to let her keep talking.

  “You call yourselves brothers and sisters,” she said, “but of what? You fight, but do you know at what cost? Do you know what so many of us have lost in the promise of pleasure?” She pointed at the boat in the air. “Help me find my little sister, alive and well, and I will promise you life. It sucks, it has moments void of pleasure or reason, but it is living. It’s real like my flesh and blood. Where is Zoi’ne?”

  And then the stiern-boat fired its side cannons.

  * * *

  They were outside of a mansion surrounded by wide gardens and a pond on one side. The stiern-boat descended upon a spot on the ground where the vegetation was minimal. When it stopped, the portside door opened. Zoey exited the vessel along with the Hulda’fi who were there with her.

  Admiral Fjorfolia stood at the entrance to the manor. He said, “Welcome home, children. Get your things ready. We leave here in seventy minutes.”

  “Lord Tunderek,” said one of the Hulda’fi, “I do not understand. Where are we going?”

  “Those of us who are ready will be boarding my ship. The Hastig Silver is waiting for us a megameter off from Natt Grans. The rest will have to stay here and defend this blessed home of ours from invaders who wish to take away our freedoms and pleasure. Your choice will be a noble one, should you stay.”

  So the Hulda’fi were doing something with Natt Grans? Zoey wanted to stop them while she was here, but she was outnumbered with no plan. She had time, at least. Time to think; time to explore.

  No, there was one person here that she needed to see. Zoey headed into the house and hoped to find the basement.

  * * *

  About five meters behind her there used to be a pristine sidewalk made from stone sets – used to be. It had exploded in a blaze behind Il’lyse, and she still felt the searing heat threaten to consume her clothes, hair, and neck. She remained standing.

  She raised the radio to her hand to tell the idiots piloting that boat that they had missed her, but she was quick to realize that the handheld device in her hand had been severed from the car. The cord that once kept the two together so that no one would run off with the radio by mistake no longer fettered her to the car. The distraction, though short, came to an abrupt end when a pair of rockets to hit one side of the boat. A third projectile came after; it was smaller and left no explosion like the rockets had done mere seconds before. The sounds of the engines flickered while the stiern-boat continued to move over the hedge wall.

  Il’lyse saw figures moving behind the wall before the craft dropped from the air, and one person screamed out for one short instant. They fell silent. Meanwhile the boat struggled with its power. This meant the shield conductors and weapons were offline while the craft sat where it had impacted the ground. She tossed the radio back to the officer and stormed across the remainder of the street in anger. She heard the sound of her former brothers and sisters scrambling to do something about the door, but they were failing at it.

  A single boat of this size held up to thirty people along with five days’ worth of provisions before it was too heavy to fly in the air in most planets with a level of gravity that was tolerable for the sustenance of life. Strip the provisions and the craft was able to hold five more people before crowding and air became the next issue. Il’lyse guessed the former to be how many people were on this stiern-boat. She guessed that was why it was difficult for them to operate the manual override for the door.

  It hardly mattered. It mattered less than the officers who looked on in curiosity, or the ones calling after her to get away. She pressed a single index finger on the front window of the vessel and looked at a few of the Hulda’fi in their masked eyes. They could hear her if she spoke loud.

  “Let’s try this again,” she said, “Where is Zoi’ne? Or do I have to go in there and ask every one of you personally?”

  “I surrender!” a number of distorted, muffled voices said. She could see a few of them smack their neighboring kindred.

  * * *

  “Excuse me, hi,” Zoey said as she approached one of the Hulda’fi. The Ginserei girl she’d found had removed her mask, as had many of the others. Zoey went on, “I did a dumb and got turned around trying to find something.”

  “Have you only now been blessed with this holy palace?”

  “Uhh . . .”

  “Not to worry, sister. Many of us were lost before we came here. What i
s it that you’re trying to find?”

  “I am looking for the basement. I understand there are two scientists down there. I need to see them.”

  “What? Oh. You’re that one. I had heard a rumor that they might be . . . oh, never mind. Take that door there, go forward two more rooms to the next hallway, and make a right towards the door next to the equine painting.” She got up close to Zoey. The girl proceeded to grope her butt with one hand, and fondle one of her breasts with the other one. “Don’t tire yourself out. Maybe tonight, when we’re all aboard the Hastig Silver, you can tell me about the Lady’s mercy you have given them.”

  “We’ll see.” Don’t panic, Zoey.

  “I look forward to seeing what you look like under your mask and without this suit of yours. I’ll catch you later, sister.” The girl headed back to whatever she had been doing before Zoey talked to her.

  Zoey felt like she was holding her breath as she followed the directions given to her. She was breathing, but the weight of the air burdened her lungs. She wondered what would happen if she got lost or the directions were wrong, or what to do if she had too many witnesses. She found the painting once she was sure no one was looking, and Zoey exhaled deeply before identifying Fe’remene in it, who was in the nude, save for a sparkling shawl hanging behind her.

  The platinum blond Aelf posed in the sunset like a goddess riding on a horse. The image appeared as though the Lady Fjorfolia was beckoning for her onlooker to join her.

  Shaking her head, Zoey entered the door by the painting and saw the stairs. The directions, in spite of how she’d gotten them, gave her a renewed confidence in what she was doing, but Zoey still had no clue as to what that was. She descended the wooden steps, expecting an echo that didn’t come; every one was a dull tap.

  At the bottom, she found a room lined with holed particle boards along most of the walls, all painted white. There was a large table with a machine and parts, and a smaller one with two wooden seats to the opposite side. A two-seater sofa sat flushed to the side of the stairs, and two matching chairs flanked the couch. Two more Hulda’fi stood guard down here, looking at Zoey rather than the door on the far end.

  One man entered through the door grumbling. He was human. The man stopped to regard Zoey before an Aelf joined him from the same door.

  Zoey looked to the guards and said, “Leave us. I have an order to deal with these two.”

  She hoped it would work. She had no such orders. Yet the guards nodded and went to the stairs. One said, “You’ve come a moment sooner than expected. We’ll be glad to be rid of these men.”

  Really? “Wait, I am early; you are correct. There may be someone up there who’s pretending to be me – a spy. Would you mind dealing with anyone else who comes this way?”

  “We would be delighted. We’ll even have some fun with them.”

  Both guards laughed and climbed the only exit from the room that Zoey could see. If she had a plan, then now would have been a good time for Zoey to learn what it was, for once in her life.

  The human, Doctor Wilde, said, “So it’s true then. We had wondered if our hosts would finish us when our usefulness was over. I believe I owe you, Valkoi’ves.”

  “Too bad I won’t be able to collect, Ethan,” said the Aelf.

  * * *

  The engines activated again. The stiern-boat lifted into the air with renewed energy and turned. There was no doubt that many of the officers wished to shoot it down due to what the vessel represented, but not one person fired.

  Dasos looked back at the ten men and women in uniform behind him. A few of them were police officers, and the rest were some Peacekeepers who had remained on the ground last night and joined while the Hulda’fi were being detained by the street corner. Now they sat within the stiern-boat while Il’lyse piloted it. She was under their watchful eye, but she had also volunteered to take them to Dereskoo. They agreed with reluctance and reservation.

  “How’s Heil’auin doing?” he asked one of the men from the Peacekeepers.

  “My cousin? Auin was doing well the last I spoke with him, about a week ago,” said the Peacekeeper, who then grinned. “He did say his current roommate is boring compared to his last one though.”

  “Compared to my family? I’m not sure that’s saying much.”

  “Indeed. So how are we getting past the lockdown, topside?”

  Il’lyse smacked three wide buttons in a sequence and raised a lever. Dasos had never seen her pilot anything for real until now, as opposed to the games they’d played as children, but here she seemed to own the pilot seat as much as their father owned the kitchen. Before he could pass the Peacekeeper’s question along in case his sister hadn’t heard it, the air in front of the craft twisted and changed in color. The anomaly that Dasos had seen a few minutes ago tore open again.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” said Il’lyse, “welcome to your first wormhole. Anyone caught trying to bail will be left behind at your peril. Sit tight and we’ll be on the other side safely before you know it.” She adjusted another lever.

  “So,” said Dasos, “when did you get your permit to fly one of these things?”

  “I never did.” She turned her head at Dasos with a stone expression, which turned into a mischievous grin. Without any glance forward she moved the boat into the wormhole. The lights flickered, and the engines rang.

  During the passage through the surrounding threshold into the unknown, Dasos felt his mind go numb and his heart twitch rather than beat. When he shook his head to regain some clarity, he saw that others aboard the craft had done the same. They all looked forward through the main window and gasped at what they were seeing. Dasos turned his gaze that way and saw a blizzard.

  “We’ve come to the right planet,” Il’lyse said, “but are flying in the wrong spot. I wonder why the wormhole sent us here and not the manor.”

  Static broke through the radio, followed within seconds by a man’s voice. It was Admiral Fjorfolia, who said, “Irenid Three, welcome back to Dereskoo. I have a specific task for you all. My facility below you is in dire need of evacuating, this time for good. Your sisters within will be shutting everything down and packing all of the necessary equipment that can be moved. Irenid Three, you are to help them board. Those of you who are aboard right now are to find your cold gear inside and ride the sleighs there to our manor. You have fifty-five minutes. Do you know where to land?”

  Il’lyse raised a finger and rotated her head sideways. She said, “Yes, Hallowed Lord,” disguising her voice.

  “Oh, very good. See you then.” The static sounded again.

  “I’m so going to need another shower after saying that to him. Now to find that entrance. If that facility is still running then they are making and utilizing more of their genesis nectar.”

  One of the Peacekeepers said, “I don’t suppose we have time to check all of the holes amidst those rocks?”

  “No need, and I wouldn’t recommend it. The gasses can kill you upon contact if you go in with as little as you’re wearing now. There’s only one safe cavern. It’s this one down here.”

  She set down the vessel with ease. Dasos still had trouble parking his parents’ car after he’d tried to learn how to drive, and here was his twin sister landing a spacecraft with precision and care. She was the one who had once crashed their parents’ car. Damn, Dasos had to up his game, he realized.

  “Everyone,” she said, “how would you feel about arresting the Hulda’fi laeknar, scientists, and guard detail within this facility? I would blow up the entrance on top of them, but our cannons are too low on ammunition to do any real good. Say yes and I’ll open the portside door, but you will need to hurry inside the entrance where it will be warmer. Say no and we’ll blast our way into the Fjorfolias’ dome where countless rebels will strike back with everything they have, and the genesis nectar below this rocky hill will continue to be produced. It might not be here, but you can bet it’ll happen.”

  “We’re really on Dereskoo?” s
aid one of the Trullwick Police officers.

  “We are. I apologize for your lack of jurisdiction, but desperate times and all.”

  A lieutenant from the Peacekeepers said, “Let’s do it. The Hulda’fi will not be expecting this. Let’s hit them hard before the main force of the Allied Peacekeepers arrives. Let’s make sure they can’t keep making this nectar with such a disregard for life.”

  “Now that’s what I want to hear.”

  * * *

  Zoey pulled off her mask. She said, “I didn’t come here to kill you, or whatever it is they’re planning.”

  “Ah, so it’s you,” said Ethan. “Shouldn’t you be off doing something fun with yourself, like preparing to leave for your Lord’s ship?”

  “I came here to see you.”