Pendulum: An Aes Sidhe Novel

by A. Omukai

  A. Omukai

  Pendulum

  An AES SIDHE novel

  First published by A. Omukai 2021

  Copyright © 2021 by A. Omukai

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  First edition

  This book was professionally typeset on Reedsy

  Find out more at reedsy.com

  For Narumi,

  without whom this book wouldn’t have been possible.

  “Next time you meet a climate-change denier, tell them to take a trip to Venus; I will pay the fare.”

  Stephen Hawking

  Contents

  1. Per Aspera

  2. Ad Astra

  3. Boarding

  4. Tuatha De Danann

  5. Preparations

  6. Jump to Gliese 667

  7. Where no man has gone before

  8. Descent

  9. Boots on the Ground

  10. Scavenger Hunt

  11. Plotting a Course

  12. Chaos

  13. Cloud Chasers

  14. Order

  15. A Temporary Goodbye

  16. Exploration

  17. Expulsion

  18. Excursion

  19. Explosion

  20. Examination

  21. Mycelium Sample

  22. Dreams

  23. Devouring Spores

  24. Momentum

  25. Conference

  26. Communication

  27. Ritual of Opening

  28. Taking a Breather

  29. Establishing Communication Compatibility

  30. Last Preparations

  31. Ritual of Balance

  32. Flow

  33. Shock Wave

  34. Return to Gliese 667

  About the Author

  1

  Per Aspera

  Dublin Spaceport almost vanished behind a yellow curtain when the sandstorm hit. The heatwave it carried took the young druid’s breath, and she coughed and spit out sand. The tarmac was too hot to stand on, but the boots of her uniform were made for extreme environments. Her suit was supposed to protect her from the sand, but without a helmet, that effect was wasted. The storm drove tiny sand particles not only in her mouth and nostrils but also down her collar, and only seconds later, her body itched everywhere.

  “Where’s my fucking helmet?”

  Deirdre turned her head toward the voice and grinned. Maya tried to shield her face with both arms, but in vain.

  “In the transporter, on the bench where we’ll sit down.”

  “Then where’s the fucking transporter?”

  Listening to the petite engineer cursing like a sailor was funny, but the looks from the huge, tough Fir Bolg marines were outright hilarious. She’d endure this sandstorm just to watch them react to her friend going berserk.

  A powerful gust almost knocked Deirdre over. She flailed her arms to keep her balance.

  “Fucking sandstorms!”

  A rough laugh from her side, then explosive coughs.

  The weather had gotten worse since she had last been here in Ireland, some ten years ago. Deirdre had spent most of her time in the druid circle and at the academy of the Space Exploration Agency in Luna City on the moon, and ten years were a long time.

  “Watch your mouth, lieutenant.”

  The voice from behind belonged to Kendrick, a fresh officer like them. His low, rich voice didn’t fit the ‘tall Lurikeen’ at all. His fifty-one centimetre stature towered over Deirdre’s ankles. Despite his small size, he stood like a rock in the storm, and the sand bowed around him, as if a force field protected him.

  “Fuck you, too, Kendrick.”

  He laughed like a goat.

  The transporter didn’t come into sight until it almost reached the ground, and then it was only visible as a silhouette.

  Like the Lurikeen, it didn’t get hit by a single sand particle, but unlike him, this was the effect of a druid spell.

  When it sat down on the ground, it drove a thick cloud of sand in her face, and that of everyone else. Wild curses and dry coughs were the answer.

  Her eyes hurt and tears ran down her yellowish face, leaving wet traces on her skin. Her hair was covered by sand and would take forever to clean. But the worst of all was tiny asshole particles going everywhere, even inside her clothes.

  The command to move was barely audible, but her AI spit out a notification. The group moved together, but not as orderly as expected from a unit of the Agency.

  Sweat formed on her skin and mixed with the sand. Deirdre’s scalp itched. She checked the temperature, thirty-eight degrees Celsius. A mild October day.

  The open door of the transport vessel looked like the mouth of a mythical creature, like a dragon’s, or maybe more like a whale’s, ready to gobble them up whole and disappear in the depths.

  The moment she entered the vessel, bright lights switched on and tinted the interior light blue.

  There it was, the helmet with the name tag. ‘MacBreen’, in white letters on dark green painted acrylic glass.

  “Per aspera ad astra,” Kendrick’s muffled voice came from behind. Then a moan of pain, followed by a curse.

  “Move it, Hightower,” Maya growled.

  The door closed with a metallic clank, and the sound of the engine drowned out their voices.

  Through trouble to the stars, indeed.

  ***

  The man at the podium droned on and on, and Deirdre tried not to fall asleep.

  “You are aware of the importance of your mission, and you are aware of your specific role. You are aware of the pressure the needs of humanity puts on you, and of the needs of our partners from the Otherworld.”

  She had heard all of this before, countless times.

  “Ad Astra” was a huge space station.

  The ring rotated at high enough speed to produce fifty percent of Earth’s gravity.

  Deirdre MacBreen was pale. Whether this was because of the low gravity environment, the ceremony, or because of the endless talk that wouldn’t stop, who could tell? If this would go on for much longer, she’d try to sneak out and take a break. The air was too thick, too hot, and the mix of excitement and boredom made her restless.

  “Your are the first to explore our neighbouring star systems and discover unknown places for us to settle. You are at the very heart of space exploration. Without you, humanity won’t survive the decline of our home planet. We here on Earth depend on you to get to your destination, and to come back and report.”

  The man had deep wrinkles and snow white hair that formed a sharp contrast to his dark brown skin. Commander Armstrong was the man in charge of the station, and luckily, the last speaker of the day. This was the first wave of exploration vessels, and she’d be on one of them, the Tir Na nOg, the Mag Mell or the Tuatha De Danann. Thinking about it made her heart beat faster and put a silly smile on her face. Of course it was silly. It was her smile, after all. She could stifle a giggle just in time, took a deep breath and listened on.

  “You know how dire the situation is, and that there is no time to waste. You have been provided with anything you’ll need to do your job, and you have been given the trust of humanity, the fair folk, and especially your peers. Show you
r worth. Show us we were right to invest in you. You are the ones to go on this first, important mission that will pave the way for the survival of our children.”

  Deirdre narrowly suppressed a yawn. She balanced on her toes and looked around at the others in the room. There were the captains standing left of the podium, behind Commander Armstrong, the mentors to his right, three each. No idea who the captains were. It didn’t matter, anyway. She was way more interested in the mentors. There was Sidheag O’Brien, the famous arch druid who first opened the permanent gate to the Otherworld, together with the two courts. Rumours had it she was not very talkative. She sure looked that part. Long, white hair in a long braid falling over her shoulder, matching the flowing white robe and the pale face perfectly. A fellow redhead, albeit turned white over the centuries. She was over two hundred years old now.

  “You have to be focused. I don’t have to tell you this, you already know what can happen if you don’t work well as a team. Remember the flight of the Icarus around Mercury. Esme Connor led a crew of veteran spacemen, and even she could fail. If she could, then you can. Always keep this in the back of your heads, there is no perfect human.”

  The short man next to Sidheag was Noah Ward, the famous arch druid of American heritage who had made the test flight to Alpha Centauri and back. His bald head dripped with sweat. Whether that was caused by the stage lighting, or his stature, she didn’t care to guess. Word was he was self-important and had a tendency to go on long-winded rants. If she’d end up under his tutelage, she’d throw herself out of the airlock. No way she’d survive a long mission with a man who couldn’t shut up. Life was too short to put up with that stuff, and she wasn’t even in her late twenties yet.

  Several points itched. Her head, the notorious point between her shoulder blades, her forearm. The humidity in the room seemed to have gone up, or if it hadn’t, it at least felt like the air would turn into liquid at any moment.

  The tall figure to the right was the legendary Brilann. Nobody knew his age. He was the stuff of legends - some said he could not die. A curse by The Morrigan herself held him upright until… yeah, until when? Hopefully not until they were underway, somewhere in the reaches of outer space. Then again, this was Brilann, a pillar of strength, no matter how fragile he might look. His long hair hung free over his slender shoulders, his blind, white eyes stared into a distance nobody could grasp. Little was known about his personality among students. Some said he was scary, as anyone would be after hundreds of years walking the earth.

  A sigh next to her expressed her own feeling perfectly. Deirdre turned her head and looked at Maya. Their eyes met, and both grinned. This was how it had always been, since they first met so many years ago. It felt like an eternity. It hadn’t, before this ceremony, but years must have passed during these - how long had it been? Deirdre called up the main menu of her system and checked. Almost an hour! They had been sitting for most of it, and her butt hurt. Standing for this long would have killed her feet, but for this speech, they all had gotten up.

  “Hope the old fart is finished before I fall asleep,” Maya whispered.

  “How can he stand for this long without taking root?”

  Both bit their lips. Laughing now was a sure-fire way to get them into trouble.

  Deirdre’s legs tingled, and she had to stretch them out right now. There, better. But it didn’t end with her legs. All throughout her body, the urge to move got stronger and stronger. This was not good.

  She turned her head, only to catch Maya fidgeting with something in her hands. She squinted her eyes to see what it was, and it turned out to be her old stress ball. Deirdre was relieved she wasn’t the only one having a hard time standing here, doing nothing.

  “I should have gotten one, too,” she whispered, gesturing at the little toy in her friend’s hands.

  “Told you so.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  Maya stuck out her tongue at her. Deirdre pretended not to notice, for all of one second, then burst out laughing. It didn’t take half as long to notice her mistake.

  Her laughter died the instant she looked forward at the speaker. He stared right at her. Worse, the arch druids did, too, except for Brilann - maybe. Everyone in her vicinity turned around, looking for the perpetrator.

  Blood rushed into her face and made her blush, probably even turn dark red. She couldn’t avert her gaze or look down at her feet, no matter how desperately she wanted right now. Trapped.

  Commander Armstrong cleared his throat exaggeratedly and renewed his grip on the sheet with notes in his hands. Only Ward was still staring at her, capturing her with his dark brown eyes, refusing to let her go. Her heart hammered against her throat.

  “I sincerely hope my speech doesn’t bore you all too much,” the commander said, and several people in the audience snickered. Not the captains, though, and not the mentors. The captains continued to stare straight forward as if nothing had happened, but they must have known what was going on. Finally, after what felt like forever, Ward let her flee his gaze and turned his head back to Armstrong, who had continued his speech. Deirdre couldn’t focus on it though. The iron ring around her chest loosened, and she could breathe again.

  Maya next to her chuckled.

  “Your fault,” Deirdre hissed.

  Maya grinned, then straightened her back and looked at the podium. Deirdre followed her example.

  The audience comprised all members of every crew of the three ships. Her fellow druids were a small group right in the middle of the pack, luckily not too close to the podium, but not far enough for her taste, either. Security personnel, quartermasters, clumps of scientists of various fields, bridge crew, marines. The ships were large. Her eyes wandered around the room. The two groups of faeries on opposite sides of the audience caught her attention. Their uniforms differed from hers. Even though they would be on the same ship, being part of the same crew, they were not officially part of the Space Exploration Agency. Rather than forming one organization to represent the Otherworld, though, they were divided into two separate entities, divided by court affiliation, much as humans had once been divided by nationality.

  The urge to move returned, and it got harder to keep it under control.

  Her stomach growled so loud, everyone must have heard it. In reality, that was rather unlikely. Nobody showed any reaction, except for, of course, Maya. Her giggle was almost inaudible, only almost. Deirdre poked her friend in the ribs, and the giggling continued, masterfully suppressed.

  “If we don’t get out of here soon, my stomach will eat itself.”

  “No big deal, you could lose a few pounds.” Maya winked and grinned from ear to ear.

  “What did you-”

  Armstrong fell silent again, and this time, not only he and the arch druids turned towards her. People around her had heard her words, too, and anyone further away quickly identified the reason the commander had interrupted his speech, by following the eyes of the surrounding people.

  “Lieutenant MacBreen. I wish to have a chat with you after this speech. I will wait for you in my office.”

  The crowd mumbled, but no clear voice reached her. The sound of rushing blood in her ears was louder than the annoyed or pitiful comments she felt more than she could actually hear. Just when she thought she had calmed down, she was back in the spotlight. There was no escape now. She would have to report to the commander, listen to the reprimands, and accept any disciplinary action that might come her way. She frowned. If only she hadn’t answered Maya, then she wouldn’t have to deal with unneeded trouble on the day that should have been the first day of her glorious new life as an explorer of distant worlds, paving the way for generations to come, carrying humankind to the stars, stepping out of the shadows of her famous parents… and all that.

  She took a deep breath. Reminding herself why she was here had helped. She would go to the commander’s office and take responsibility. It wasn’t Maya’s fault, anyway. She wouldn’t even mention her friend - Maya woul
dn’t rat her out either. Maybe if she showed remorse, they would let her off the hook without further consequences. All she really wanted was to get on board her new ship anyway, meet her new crew mates, and last but not least, put all those endless hours of training and the long lectures to actual use.

  Of all the druids in the program, she was the best. She could hyper-focus on demand and pull off what nobody else could, if only she got the chance. They wouldn’t kick her out just because she had exchanged a few words with Maya, would they?

  2

  Ad Astra

  Deirdre would go in, listen to the sermon, then get out immediately. If things went well, she’d be done with this and meet the new crew soon. Why was this such a big deal, anyway? She didn’t understand. After hours of listening to the speeches, wasn’t it perfectly natural to be bored and exhausted?

  Of course the commander wouldn’t see it this way, and neither would the captains.

  Maya and she had always been like this, only that her friend, being an engineer, had a different rank on board different tasks, different responsibilities. She would get away with a lot more than Deirdre, who, as a druid, had to get used to being watched all day long.

  A druid could run a ship into trouble, possibly annihilate it. She expected to hear that line again, too, and rolled her eyes preemptively.

  The light in this part of the corridor was muted and indirect. The floor, the walls, the ceiling, everything was in a silvery grey, and the air was cool. Her skin was hot. She took one more deep breath, then knocked. While she was waiting for a reaction from inside, her heartbeat went up considerably.