First, she had duties to attend. She was Lady Mikael Atia of the Inari, sole remaining heir to the governance and her people's last hope for survival. She had a colony to organize.
And organize she did. While the announcement that they would start a new life caused much dissent, the arrival at a world rich with life lifted the spirits of her people.
By the time they arrived in orbit over the new world a few days later, all supplies were packed up and ready under Atia's direction. The Miru surprised them by taking the large ship into the atmosphere, where they could fly and breathe. They analyzed surveys of the land, which was green with plant life, and a few dozen flew out for direct observations to report back.
An uninhabited island in the northern hemisphere a few miles from a peninsula attached to the largest land mass seemed like their best option. There they could settle in, set up their lives, and rebuild their society without interfering in the ways of the local inhabitants until they were ready.
In preparation for their new life, they carried trunks and boxes and crates from the hold to the nearest docking bay, where they loaded the shuttles.
Atia caught no glimpse of Darus through the bustle and commotion, but grasped the hope that she would see him again. With Lantis at her side and the crystal in her hands, she boarded the shuttle and strapped in. She hadn't seen the Miru again since their conversation but wished them—or it—well with her appreciation. Since the creature could read thoughts, she could only guess it knew how she felt.
Their shuttle followed the others from the large vessel to the open air, where many families already flew in the skies.
They would share the world with the natives, the ones the Miru had referred to as hassam. Their host had said these sentient creatures looked much like Inari but without wings. Land bound Inari.
Her people would never live on land for long. One day they would build a city in the sky, where they belonged.
Through the ride down, she watched out the windows with her son. Not until they skimmed low over the land did she catch her breath. Peaks of land rose high into the sky, some breaking through clouds, and long-legged animals raced from their approach. And flying creatures! This world had feathered creatures with wings.
Bless the Miru. They had chosen a good world for them. She could rest at ease at the promise it offered.
The scene faded, taking the sensations of the seat harness pressing into her as the ship slowed and leaving her alone in a tangle of memories circling her head. One moment, she was Raea at school, laughing and joking with her human friends; the next she was Atia organizing a new government and directing the construction of temporary camps while meeting and meeting and meeting with different individuals to assess their skills and assign them work.
[It was a long process, over a year on the new world.]
Raea startled. The thought hadn't been hers but had rung clear through her head. ["Who are you?"] She knew the voice, but she had to be sure it wasn't her.
[I am you. I was Mikael Atia.]
Right. And she was Samantha Carter. As if.
[I have been bound with the ones you call the Starfire. They wish you to see and understand…I had not wished anyone to know my shame, but now I see…They're right.]
This couldn't be real.
But what was real anymore? In the last two months she had learned she wasn't human like her schoolmates, her pendant was a collective of entities with amazing powers tied into her genetics and interdimensional travel was actually possible because of them, and other worlds existed with intelligent life unlike anything on Earth. Wicked cool, as Josh would say, but frightening in the possibilities.
[This is real, Raea, and you must return to the Risaal, to the memorial they hold.]
She shuddered and blocked her mind. ["No."] No more. Never again. Wake up, Raea. She wanted out of that vision.
[You must learn. I will not hold them back. I cannot, but they let me contact you. You must go back and free the others…]
The voice faded and physical sensations returned with life.
Atia's life.
Life Changes
"Raea! Raea! Wake up!" A worried voice disturbed the contentment of a balmy day. "Oh, God. Please, Raea."
A cool breeze ruffled the skirt around Atia's leggings where she stood on the balcony of what was becoming the palace of their land-based city. Three years already in the making, it would soon be finished. Those first few years on the island had been dedicated to finding food to feed them and creating shelter for all, especially through the first turbulent cold season. The years were also longer on this world, so that the cold season seemed interminable. Construction of the city proper had been secondary to shelter and food for all.
Over the pinnacles of rising fortresses of stone, crafted by those willing to learn under the guidance of the engineers, flew a shuttle from the mainland bringing more food harvested from their fields. They had studied the lifecycles of many plants within the confinement of makeshift laboratories. Using the knowledge gained, they started plots of the most useful plants. Through the cycles of this world, several of their kind had developed specialized knowledge of the native plants.
The food had proven compatible for them, despite the vast differences. From different parts of that world, they had found various plants, some poisonous but many nutritious and capable of supporting them, and many more bearing medicinal properties.
The hassam had been another matter. While appearing similar, they were savage and brutal among their own kind, often roaming and foraging for food rather than settling to use the land's resources to their best advantage. Most hassam fled from the Inari, while others bowed in respect. Helping them would take far longer than her lifetime.
But they had other uses. In a few faraway regions, the hassam learned more quickly than others. They mined the elements Atia's people needed to create a new city, while the Inari tended the fields to feed them and managed herds of the food animals in the region for easy hunting. Those hassam benefited from their knowledge and showed signs of developing a new culture.
She took some comfort in that, but everything occupied her every waking moment.
Even now, as she waited for a report from the engineer in charge of the new city construction, she was at the mercy of others' needs. Her life belonged to her people, serving them by administering their lives and directing the use of their resources to better everyone.
Her only relief came in seeing Lantis grow up and mature with the experience he had gained by shadowing the ministers in their duties. He learned quickly and demonstrated a skill beyond many girls his age to see the whole machine through the sum of its parts.
They would know his name some day, a great leader of the Inari. He would shine for House Mikael. Through the disaster had come an opportunity. She only wished it hadn't come this way.
["Lady Atia."]
Here she went again. Another problem to resolve.
She sighed away the thoughts and turned from her brief respite at the balcony. In the midst of turning, she froze, along with her heart.
The guard rose from her bow and stepped aside for a man she had almost forgotten in all the commotion of the last few years.
Darus. She forgot herself for a moment and stared.
["Lady. Garshivol Darus requests to speak with you. Forgive me, Lady, but he insisted upon urgency."]
["That's…all right. He's welcome here."] Her thoughts caught up to her as she waved the guard out and stepped forward, her eyes never leaving the man. ["What brings you here?"] Her mouth went dry on the hopes he had come for her, yet she knew that was unlikely.
Darus's brown wings lifted for a moment and tightened behind him again, his eyes dropping in respect.
Obviously, he had labored on this new world by the small frays at the ends of his shirt and the thickening of his arms since she had last seen him.
["Lady Atia. I…had to report it—them. The harvesters."]
Had Darus been assigned to one
of the harvesting crews? Now she knew why she hadn't seen him. The harvests were constant around the world, as different climates varied in their growing seasons so there was always something ready. The harvesters were always laboring in the fields.
["What about them? Why do you bring this to me?"] What had happened?
["I'm sorry, Lady. It's Supervisor Tenegral. She has been chasing the hassam from the fields. This is not unusual in Labrani Region as they are wilder than in others. But she is now killing any who dare approach. She would not listen to me, so I—I came to you."]
Killing the hassam? She had never authorized that. Inari weren't killers, even in desperate times.
Anger hardened in her chest and her muscles tensed, pulling her yellow wings close to her back. ["I authorized no such action. You did the right thing bringing this to me, Darus."]
He bowed his head low. ["Thank you, Lady."] He rose but hesitated to leave, his eyes down and his jaw tense with muscles bulging beneath the skin and fingers tightening at his sides.
There was something more. How much worse could it be?
["Darus?"] She almost dared not ask, but it was her duty to know.
["Lady Atia, I only wish to respect you and the good House Mikael has done for us, but not all are as benevolent in your name."]
["Your news is proof of that. It will be reconciled."]
His wings disappeared behind his back with the tightening of muscles. ["I know I should not ask. It is my honor to serve, but…they will know I spoke to you."]
They would know…
So that was it. Retribution. If Supervisor Tenegral was brutal enough to kill the natives, she would be brutal on Darus for taking this to Atia. Unacceptable.
Ideas swirled through Atia's mind. Revolutionary visions came to fruition. If that's how Tenegral wanted it, then she would learn to respect others through her own methods. Atia had been too occupied by her administrative duties and overseeing the rebuilding of a new home for the Inari to see the cracks forming in the foundation.
No more.
Darus would not be put in a position to suffer for Tenegral's crimes. Nor would Atia allow him to be gone long from her presence. A new idea took root. It would revolutionize their culture with her vision, paving the way for Lantis to take her place as she had always hoped.
Atia stepped close to Darus, aware of the odor of work on him but intrigued to be near him as she had been years ago on the Miru ship. A shiver of anticipation raced through her. ["Look up, Garshivol Darus."]
Slowly, his eyes lifted. Those charming brown eyes stole her breath with the face that had haunted her dreams many nights. She had felt a connection from the first time they met and had longed for it again, only to let her duties and the expectations of her people rule her life.
["Lady Atia."]
["Stand proud, Darus, if you will serve me."]
["I have always served you, Lady."]
Yes, she supposed he had, but not like what she had in mind. ["You will serve me directly from now on. As my…Inspector of Labor, you will oversee all facets of duties and report any breaches of conduct to me."] That should take care of Tenegral and any others who thought they could mistreat either their laborers or the natives.
Incredible! When he stood straight, not cowed, his whole demeanor transformed into something proud and majestic, despite the tattered clothes. There had been much more inside; she hadn't imagined it.
["It is my honor to serve you, Lady Mikael Atia."] His gaze warmed through her like the soft caress she longed to feel.
["You've done well, Darus. You acted honorably with good intentions. I would have nothing less of someone in my service. It will be your duty to advise the many labor supervisors, but there will need to be a meeting with the ministers to ratify your new position."] She would risk the support of some citizens for her views, but her new ministers had all been chosen for the values she sought. Darus was no different. They would accept him.
As they would one day accept Lantis.
Only one problem came of this. She could not fulfill her own needs as long as he served their people. Rumors would circulate of any affair, and her every action would be scrutinized.
She had doomed herself to admire from afar, always close but still alone.
"Raea!" The distant voice interrupted the connection to Atia. It was familiar, but faraway, like a dream. "Wake up. Please, Raea…"
It faded, leaving her standing in a vault, dark but for the center piece on the pedestal. From its glass case on the top of the pedestal at waist height, the aquamarine crystal washed the circular room with its faint glow.
["The secret of Lantis, who brought it from the homeworld."] Atia's whisper cracked the still air.
["By the order of Lady Mikael Akarin."] The deep voice came from behind her.
Her sister. Peace be on her. Akarin had done what she could to stop the Risaal from gaining too much power. In that, she deserved honor. She had done what was right for their world.
["Here it will stay for all time,"] she said.
["The Risaal will not come here?"]
Lantis stepped around beside her, and Atia laid an arm across her son's shoulders, now nearly level with hers. He had grown and matured. Her little boy was no less than a young man of intellect, more worthy than most women to govern their people after the training she had provided him.
["It's been more than ten years on this world and they have never arrived. The Miru said they took us across the universe, a journey that would take the Risaal hundreds of thousands of years. We're safe."] Finally. Many nights she had awakened after nightmares of the fall of the homeworld with the fear that the enemy had found them on their new world. With the nearing completion of the construction of a new city intended to rise into the sky, her fears subsided and took the horrible dreams with them.
With all luck, they would succeed in forming a new, stronger society, where male and female were equal.
The ground trembled beneath their feet. Again? She'd ordered them to wait.
Apparently she needed to make her point stronger. Atia whirled and rushed up the stairs outside the door of the vault of the crystal. At the top, she stepped into sunlight. Her hand went to the small communicator clipped to her top. ["This is Lady Mikael Atia. You are ordered to cease your tests. Do you understand? Shut down the city engines."]
No answer. The material housing the anti-gravity generators blocked all transmissions. Ahben depths!
A vast plate covered the ringed valley below the peak of one of the mountains where she and Lantis stood. Upon the plate rose the beginnings of towers, while the anti-gravity engines hid beneath.
["They're nearly ready."]
Lantis was wrong. Darus had reported from the workers the issues with the generators because of the difficulty converting elements on that world into those they needed for housing the power source. And the power source was another matter. She didn't understand specifics, but the engineers reported slow conversion of the fuel the generators required. She trusted the men more than the women with the proper training. How ironic that they should respect her more than the women.
They should not have started the engines yet, not even to test them. They weren't ready and could cause problems. She'd have to fly down to stop them herself, but she wasn't ready to seal the vault. She wouldn't leave the crystal until it was sealed from detection.
That left Lantis.
Yes. This would be an excellent test of the other's obedience to him.
["They should be stopped. Allow me, mother. You have…other concerns."] He glanced back down the dark steps into the vault.
Young man indeed. He would lead their people well. She saw it clearly in that moment. He had the confidence and the strength. She had trained him better than expected.
["Fly down there and tell them to halt these tests on your orders."]
Golden hair blew across his wry smile in the breeze. On the features becoming more angular and mature each day, his expression revealed a d
eeper understanding. ["Microscopic fractures in the casing could cause catastrophic collapse if pushed before the housing for the generators is properly cured."]
Impressive. Lantis was no one's fool. He had spent most of his time with the engineers for the new city, his city. He possessed an insatiable curiosity about how things worked and demonstrated a high capacity to learn the intricacies required to master a few difficult positions. He would be an asset to their new society.
Atia felt the smile beaming from her face and gazed into her son's eyes. ["I'm very proud of you. You're a gifted young man."] Only one problem remained—the old ways.
["Supervisor Sorakin will listen."]
[I hope you're right.] She bit her tongue and nodded as he lifted his wings. ["Of course. Go now. I'll stay with the crystal."]
["As you wish, Lady Atia."] He gave a slight bow and flew away.
If only she could feel as confident. But she couldn't weigh him with her doubts. He would need all his confidence to stand up to Sorakin Lara. The city engineer wanted her pet project airborne sooner rather than later and was a firm believer in tradition, but hurry would do them no good. There would be time to test the generators once the casing units were properly inspected.
Atia would not be responsible for a failure of the magnitude of their first city on a new world crashing from the sky.
Lantis's golden wings shone radiantly in the sun. Pride swelled in Atia's chest. If only Akarin could be there to see a male prove his worth in leading House Mikael.
The name would not stay, however. Once he found a mate, his offspring would be identified by the mother's family. That tradition would not likely change.
The ground trembled beneath her, this time loosening rocks to rain down around her. With her wings tucked close to her back and her hands over her head, she ducked into the vault. Curse those engineers for not listening to her. Their city wasn't even ready for testing. These tremors would destroy all their hard work before the new city was ready and destroy their ground city. They would be exposed to the cold season if their homes collapsed, and lands in the warm regions were prone to far worse environmental issues.
Crystal Tomb (Starfire Angels: Dark Angel Chronicles Book 3) Page 14