by Bianca D'Arc
Harry stared hard at her for a long moment before heading to the door. He had what he wanted and he’d laid the groundwork for what was to come. The next move was hers.
Chapter Four
“Your presence is required in Council Chambers, Hara.” The voice came to Harry as he swept from his mother’s office. He was in such a state inwardly that he’d hardly noticed the set of soldiers waiting in the outer chamber.
Apparently, he was being summoned to meet with the Council. Harry had to work hard to tamp down the emotions running through him at the moment. The confrontation with his mother had been a long time coming and there was always a certain amount of frustration and even sadness when dealing with her. He loved her. She had given him life, after all. And she couldn’t understand him at all. For that reason he also pitied her.
Manipulating her had become something he had to do in order to keep his human family as happy and safe as possible under the circumstances. He didn’t like it, but he had to do it. Hopefully, the actions he’d just taken would begin the process that would lead to more freedom for his human family—for all humans on the planet—and a deeper understanding to the Alvian race. They needed to wake up, and if Caleb’s visions were about to come to fruition, it wouldn’t be long now.
“Hara?” one of the guards prompted him.
Harry gathered his wits and faced the two soldiers who stood waiting for him.
“Certainly. Shall we go?” He kept his tone as emotionless as possible, though these two would probably not notice anything less than a full break with decorum.
The surprise summons from the Council was something not completely unheard of, but it was still odd. Harry tried to imagine what they might be up to and drew a blank. He’d been more concerned about how to get the crystal from his mother over the past few days than with paying attention to Council intrigues. They could want just about anything.
The soldiers escorted him to the Chamber door and sent the signal inside to indicate Harry was waiting. Almost immediately, the great door slid open. The soldiers remained outside as Harry stepped in. The door slid shut behind him, closing and locking with an ominous click.
Closed session. Only the Councilors and one member of each of their staff were present. Bare bones. Undoubtedly top secret. Curiouser and curiouser.
Silence met his entrance. All eyes turned to him. Harry was used to being ignored until they were ready for him whenever he’d been summoned in the past. This time, something was very different.
“I am here, as requested,” Harry stated when the silence stretched. He bowed his head politely but did not lower his eyes. He would never do so to this Council. Not while humans were still held captive. It was a matter of principle he had decided on when he was just a boy, and he would see it through.
“A military archaeological mission recently discovered something in the far north. We believe it to be the remains of your progenitor, Hara. We require you to join the expedition, for the inscription on the portal states that only the true heir of Hara may open it.” Councilor Orin spoke for the entire Council in the bland tone only an Alvian could achieve.
Here he was discussing the most significant find since colonizing this planet, and he couldn’t even work up a grin. Harry felt truly sorry for his Alvian Brethren. They really didn’t know what they were missing.
Having had some time to find a new place once their scientists had realized their sun was in the final stages of its useful life, the Alvians had sent Hara, their greatest explorer, to survey a number of planets. He’d sent back information about a few likely candidates before losing touch with the mother planet for good.
The home planet had been evacuated years later, just before their star went supernova, dispersing their population in massive colony ships—each sent in a different direction. The one that had finally found Earth, centuries later due to the difficulties of crossing interstellar space, had sent an unmanned device ahead. That deadly device had changed the earth in ways humans could never have prepared for or fought against. Circling the globe with orbital pods, the device had seeded the earth with shards of Alvia Prime’s home crystal, retuning the earth’s crystal deposits with devastating effect. Tsunamis, earthquakes, even volcanic eruptions had plagued the planet for years and most humans had perished.
Even when they’d found out about the human population, the Alvians on the colony ship had already been so devoid of emotion they had merely shrugged it off as a slight miscalculation. They didn’t care. They couldn’t care. It had simply been bred out of them.
All that would change now. Harry’s gift of foresight had shown him images of the future that were troubled and inconclusive. He had compared notes with his uncle Caleb, who had even stronger clairvoyance than Harry. Caleb believed the things they had seen offered hope for both races sharing this small planet. After hearing the Council’s news, the images began to make even more sense. Caleb had been seeing frozen people for weeks.
“May I ask if the site is buried in ice and snow?”
A sharp look was as close as Orin could come to showing surprise. “The portal is at the bottom of a crevasse, according to our information. How did you know?”
“The Oracle Caleb O’Hara has been seeing people frozen in ice for weeks now.”
Harry didn’t see anything wrong in reporting something that had been recorded in one or two of his mother’s scientific reports. She was studying Uncle Caleb, and he was required to report the content of his visions, though he didn’t tell her everything. Not by a long shot.
Orin and a few other Councilors shuffled data sheets on their table. Harry was glad of the momentary distraction as a compulsion overtook him. A feeling of knowing. The next best thing to a full-fledged vision. He looked to Councilor Markus’s seat and the pretty young girl sitting behind him. Roshin 72. The girl he’d called Ro when she’d fumbled her papers in the hallway.
He saw her and a vision of a rose. A sweet, brightly blooming, flaming-red rose. Roshin held the flower and she was smiling, truly smiling. Her eyes were filled with happy tears as she gazed at him and sniffed the delicate blossom in her hands.
Harry blinked, but the double vision—that of the real world and the imagery of the vision—persisted. She was special. That’s when he knew he had to keep her near him. His instinct was to protect her at all costs. No matter if he had to drag her to the North Pole and back. He had to keep her with him. She was that important.
“Yes, I see the notation here in Mara 12’s last report. The subject reports seeing people in ice along with his nephew, Hara, and a young Alvian female.”
Harry was surprised by that last bit. Caleb hadn’t mentioned the girl to him, but Harry saw his opening and took it.
“Councilors, if I may,” he demanded their attention politely. “My uncle and I have discussed his recent visions at length. He described the Alvian female to me in depth and I now believe he was seeing Councilor Markus’s assistant. Seeing her face, I recognize the particular characteristics he described.”
The entire Council turned to look at the young assistant. She didn’t squirm under their scrutiny. She couldn’t feel embarrassment or nervousness. Not the way people with emotions could. But her eyes met his with speculation and a hint of accusation. She suspected him of making the whole thing up—which wasn’t far from the truth. Perhaps she had more insight than the average Alvian.
“I was going to suggest we send a clerk along on the mission to record the proceedings. It is my understanding that the location coincides with some kind of electromagnetic anomaly that will not allow the use of standard recording devices or other technologies. Someone should be along to take notes since this may be an historic occasion.” Councilor Markus was magnanimous in his offer.
Harry suspected he wanted to somehow take credit for this discovery. It would probably be a good political move on his part if the mission turned out well and some evidence of their lost exploration party could be found and returned to the Alvian people. It
would lend legitimacy to the Alvian colonization of Earth.
Harry didn’t really care what the motivations were. He just wanted Roshin 72 with him. No matter what.
“Then the matter is settled. The clerical assistant will accompany Hara on the military transport to the dig site. You will both depart as soon as suitable cold-weather gear has been supplied. Please make yourselves ready. The transport awaits you in the Council’s private hangar.” Councilor Orin signed the order as he spoke.
Roshin 72 didn’t question. She merely stood and went to the door, waiting for Harry to join her. They’d clearly been dismissed with marching orders.
The door slid open. They stepped through and it immediately closed behind them. The soldiers were gone. Apparently, they were on their own in getting themselves to the transport.
“I must return to my quarters to pack a few things. I will meet you in the hangar.” Roshin 72 was all business. As cold and emotionless as the rest of her race.
Harry wanted to reach out to her. He wanted to touch her cheek. To bring a smile to her face. The smile he’d seen in that pseudo vision.
But the time wasn’t right. Not yet.
He had to trust his vision that the time would come. He would keep her close and he would see that beautiful smile. See the sparkle of life in her pretty eyes. They just had to get through this expedition and all that it entailed.
She’d turned away from him without waiting for a response, already gone in her silent way. She didn’t make much noise. In fact, she walked with a gracefulness he’d seldom seen and had a calmness about her that appealed to him.
Harry realized he was staring after her and shook his head. He had to grab some stuff from his quarters and give Caleb the heads up—not to mention his family back on the ranch. He’d tell Uncle Mick what was going on telepathically and let him decide what to tell the rest of the family. He didn’t want to worry his adoptive mother, Jane, or his siblings.
Harry sent the message, glad once more that Mick was such a powerful telepath. Between the two of them, they had enough reach to keep the family connected while Caleb was stuck here in the alien city. That conduit would be cut off when Harry went on this mission, of course, but there were other ways. Not as efficient or as fast, but there were ways to get messages back and forth.
Harry made contact and filled Mick in on the basic information he’d been given. “I’ll try to keep in touch while I’m away, but I’m not sure I’ll have the reach. All they said was the site was in the far north. Other than that, I have no idea where on the globe I’m headed.”
“It’s okay, son. We’ll leave a light on for you here at the ranch and you tell Caleb we’ll go with plan B if he has to contact us in your absence.”
“Will do. Mick, he’s been seeing this for a while now. I think these are the people in ice he’s been foreseeing for weeks. This could be a turning point.” Mick would understand the emotions such a moment would inspire. Mick was always ready to support Harry emotionally, even though he was a man of few words by nature.
“If it is, we’ll be ready. And you know you’re ready. You’ve been working toward this your entire life. You were born ready, son. Don’t ever doubt it.”
Harry kept up the conversation while he gathered a few things from his quarters. There wasn’t much to bring. A few changes of clothes, though he’d be issued cold-weather gear by the military escort, so he only brought the necessities. He threw them haphazardly into a carryall as quickly as he could so he’d have time to spend with Caleb before he had to go.
Knocking on Caleb’s door a few minutes later, he was unsurprised to see Caleb ready and waiting for him. It was hard to surprise an oracle of Caleb’s ability.
“So you’re going then.” It wasn’t a question.
“As soon as I get to the hangar. They’ve got a transport waiting.”
“And the girl is going along with you?”
Harry shot his uncle a sly look. “Why didn’t you tell me about her before?”
Caleb grinned. “Life has to have some surprises, son. Even for people like us who can foresee parts of the future. I knew she had to be with you when you found the ice people, but more than that, I can’t say right now. The visions keep coming fast and furious. We’re at one of those nexus points where the future branches off into many possibilities. Choose your path wisely, Harry, that’s all I can say.”
“I’ll do my best.”
“The girl—” Caleb’s eyes took on an introspective look, “—is her name Rose?”
“Roshin 72, actually.”
“Her father calls her Rose.” Caleb’s voice sounded almost dreamy, and Harry recognized the tone as being one of memory from a vision. He’d heard it before.
“Father?” To Harry’s knowledge, none of the current generation of Alvians knew who their father was. They’d all been genetically engineered in a lab and raised in pods by the collective.
Caleb blinked back to awareness. “Father figure, I think. Leader of her sect.”
“Councilor Markus is the leader of the clerical workers.” Harry was confused. Markus didn’t seem to have much paternal instinct at all. Only political ambition.
“Not Markus. There’s another man in her life. Somebody in the shadows. He’s important but hidden. He’s her father figure.” Caleb laughed. “Your little girl has secrets, son. Don’t take her at face value. She’s more than she seems.”
“I’ll take your word for it.” Harry noticed the time and knew he had to go. “I’ll be in touch when I can. Take care of yourself.” He reached out to the man who had been a second father to him all his life and gave him a hug, which Caleb returned in full measure.
“I love you, Harry. Take care of yourself and that girl. She’s going to be important to the cause. Maybe important to you. Can’t tell yet for sure.” He shrugged as they let go. “Now go make us proud, Harry.”
“I’ll try.” Harry walked to the door, reluctant to leave the safety of Caleb’s presence. He was a bear of a man who’d always been there for him when he needed someone to talk to.
“You’ll succeed,” Caleb said with surety in his voice that went a long way toward calming Harry’s nerves.
A lot was riding on what would happen next. Harry knew it. Caleb knew it.
Only the Alvians were oblivious.
But that wouldn’t last too much longer.
In the days since Cormac 7’s discovery, the climb team had managed to clear a path that included a switch-back ramp that angled downward to the level where the pod was buried. It zigzagged through the more stable ice on one side of the crevasse and had been made using the half-dozen crawlers they’d used to get to the site in the first place. Skimmers could not rely on their instrumentation near the electromagnetic field put out by the pod, so travel had to be accomplished using more rudimentary vehicles that crawled over the surface.
The massive, lumbering beasts—mechanical monstrosities—were coming in handy moving the ice and snow out of the way. Cormac 7 spent much of his time documenting the portal and its inscription. He’d directed Fergal 51 and his team to clear the ice as best they could to either side of the portal, but they’d been unable to find the outer edges of the pod in either direction.
Cormac 7 was beginning to think the buried structure was more than just a simple pod. It could, in fact, be a much larger remnant of the original ship that brought the original exploration party here so many years ago from Alvia Prime.
Nobody was really sure what had happened to Hara’s original team. None of the old records from Alvia Prime stated where he’d perished, or even from what planet he’d last reported. It was a big mystery that had just been solved. Hara and his team had ended their days here.
Cormac 7 had been so engrossed in the project that he’d spent most of the day down in the crevasse, which the team had dug into to create something like an ice cave. There were engineers aplenty in the group now, to make sure nobody removed anything that might compromise the integrity of the s
pace they were creating. Cormac 7 trusted his team to do their jobs to the best of their ability around him while he concentrated on the puzzle of the portal.
Around the time scheduled for evening meal in their small bivouac, Cormac 7 heard a commotion as a new crawler roared into camp. He’d been expecting an emissary from the Council since making his report.
What he hadn’t expected was the beautiful woman who stepped down out of the crawler draped in fur. Or the Breed.
The native word had been adopted to describe the surviving inhabitants of the planet. Cormac also knew they called themselves humans, but for some reason, the scientists had taken to using the other word. Curious, and able to tap into certain databases without being detected, Cormac had seen enough data to surmise that the word Breed was a shortened version of the native term, half-breed.
Translating that term into Alvian led him to wonder just what the other part of the human DNA code contained. They were half human and half…? Cormac had his suspicions. Especially when looking at the man coming out of the crawler toward him.
It was quite obvious the man was a Breed, even if he did look more Alvian than most natives Cormac 7 had seen. He was solicitous of the woman and the crew. His manners were more Alvian than Breed, and from that observation Cormac 7 made an educated guess as to his identity.
The deduction was confirmed when the young man approached and introduced himself. The soldiers who had accompanied him stood behind on either side, almost like an honor guard. The pose was not lost on Cormac 7. The soldiers respected this young man for some reason. Either that or they had been ordered to show respect in such a manner.
The woman came with him, to his right and slightly behind. She seemed a shy young thing and her vulnerability appealed to Cormac 7’s protective instincts.
“Greetings. I am called Hara.” The Breed man held out his hand in the manner of human greetings Cormac 7 had observed. He held no disgust for the natives of this planet. In fact, his studies of the remains of their culture had given him a respect for what they had accomplished with their more primitive power sources and materials.