Pendulum: An Aes Sidhe Novel

by A. Omukai

  “Show me? Show me!”

  Adam smiled. He didn’t know why Winter Court fairies had such an evil reputation. He quite liked the officer, even though his utterly uninterested reaction to the death of the corporal had at first been a bit unsettling. Then again, who was he to judge? Xenophobia-related incidents made the news every day on Earth.

  “These are recordings of something I believe could be a life form, from the planet. Would you mind looking?” He said, while uploading the recordings from his AI to the ship’s systems. The Faerie raised his eyebrows. He turned around, floated over to his console, went through a bunch of menus, then opened the file. His display changed to the scene set on Gliese 667 Cc by night.

  The recording showed the scenery in front of the Wisp, the cloud chasers hovering in the air. All forty-eight of them.

  “These lights are what I’m talking about. I am calling them–”

  An alarm rang. The recording on the display got replaced by a schematic of the solar system Gliese 667 C. The ship, far outside the domain of the inner planets, had picked up the signal of something originating from the planet. Their planet. What was it? Looking at the schematics didn’t tell him anything. All that data was like a book with seven seals for him. He was a biologist, he reminded himself once again.

  “What’s going on?”

  The Faerie focused on the screen in front of him and did rapid adjustments to the scanners.

  The large display on the wall of the bridge now showed the same content. Adams had been staring on the smaller monitor, but switched to the bigger, easier to see wall display now.

  “Something has been fired from the surface of planet C. It is still accelerating. First scans have shown no energetic signature.”

  “What’s it made of?” The captain’s voice sounded curious.

  “Biomass, Sir. Can’t tell what exactly it is, but it certainly is biomass.”

  “Is it aimed at us?”

  “No, Sir. Let me calculate the trajectory real quick.”

  Fionnlagh’s hands raced over his virtual keyboard, inputting data at lightning speed.

  The picture on the huge display changed. The object, still close to the planet, was now projecting a line leading out of the system.

  And the display changed again. Now, it showed all surrounding solar systems as icons on a three-dimensional star map. The Faerie zoomed out. Additional systems appeared. The camera angle switched, appeared behind the object, facing in the direction it moved.

  “You won’t believe this.”

  “How would I know? You’d have to tell me first.” The captain seemed to be amused and annoyed, if such a thing was even possible.

  “I am sorry, Sir. The object is heading for Wolf 1061c.”

  “You are saying, it is aimed at another exoplanet, light years away?”

  “I know how crazy this might sound, but that’s exactly where it’s going.”

  Silence on the bridge.

  “Mr Adams, you were on the planet. What do you think about this? How can something be fired from the surface, aimed at a different star system, timed exactly right to hit a planet in transit?”

  “Sir, I don’t have the slightest idea. There aren’t even animals on Gliese 667 Cc, and especially no intelligent life we could identify. There’s also no technology to launch something into space.”

  The captain looked back at the display. He furrowed his brows, as if in thought.

  Adams didn’t turn back to the map of this area of the galaxy yet. His thoughts raced. To even perceive a planet in a system light years away, there had to be technology on the planet, and someone to use said technology. Nothing of this made sense. And then, the mathematics needed to calculate the exact position of an exoplanet over such a long distance, unbelievable. And last, how had this object been shot into space? Questions over questions, and no answers in sight. Here it was, the very first example of panspermia, and even in real time, and they weren’t able to make sense of it at all. For him, as an exobiologist, this was tragic. There was not even a way to make an educated guess whether this was just advanced technology or actual magic. Heartbreaking.

  18

  Excursion

  Deirdre had been drifting off slowly, her stomach filled and sleepiness setting in, when she felt something jarring she couldn’t identify.

  Startled, she sat upright, looking around the Wisp. They had switched off all internal lights, except for the navigation console, which didn’t really count as a light source, anyway.

  Something had happened, but what was it? There was nothing unusual going on inside the little chamber she called her temporary home. What was it then?

  Deirdre wasn’t quite awake yet. Thinking was a slow and tiring process. Her tail bone hurt. She was a clumsy idiot and deserved the pain, even though she had already decided not to learn anything from this incident. The pain wasn’t bad though; it was not what had caused her to wake up. She leaned back and relaxed. Maybe it was nothing after all, just the onset of a dream, kind of hypnagogic jerk, something that… then it hit her. Where was Cailean? She couldn’t feel his presence anywhere. He wasn’t ‘just far away’ either. In that case, she’d at least feel a hint of his presence in the undefined distance. He just wasn’t around at all. When had he dissolved his manifestation?

  Deirdre sat up again and frowned. She needed Cailean to find a usable place of power, at least one that actually still worked and hadn’t turned into some sort of trap yet, so she could open a permanent gate for the colonists. Now she had no way to find a place of power and could not complete her mission on Gliese 667 Cc. What to do? She could try to contact him in the Otherworld and call him back to her side. Yeah, that was exactly what she would do. Sitting here, brooding over why what had happened wouldn’t help her progress.

  She closed her eyes and started the usual routine.

  “Where am I in my body?” Only this time, she couldn’t concentrate on it at all. Not for a lack of effort. She drifted off into meditation, controlled her breath, but to no avail. If she wasn’t even able to focus on that much, she couldn’t hope to successfully call for Cailean. Her voice wouldn’t carry all the way through to the Otherworld. Deirdre didn’t waste time. It didn’t matter why it didn’t work, what mattered was, what to do next. She had never been the patient type, and in her experience, new insights would come while she moved forward, even if that forced her to backtrack occasionally. A cough woke up Ailbhe, Deirdre could hear her suit swish.

  Alright, then. Cailean had led her here before he vanished. Maybe he had thought his job to be done, and the place of power he led her to was somewhere around here. If that was the case, she should be able to find it.

  She stretched, scratched an itch on her thigh, then stood up. Pain shot through her tail bone. She stood bent over for a moment, feeling like an old woman, then slowly, carefully straightened her posture.

  She wasn’t so tired yet that she couldn’t go out and look, even if she didn’t find the place right away.

  Deirdre left the Wisp, then walked back over to the cliff where Cailean had waited for her earlier. The lake, spread out over a large valley, its other lakeside disappearing in the distance, reflected the night sky perfectly, as if no wind disturbed its surface.

  Somewhere around here, but where?

  She was looking around for a way down to the valley. There was the narrow ramp to the right, leading down a winding path, looking dangerous, but there seemed to be no other way around here. She would explore it, but first, she’s get in touch with the marine who accepted her call at once.

  “Sorry to wake you up.”

  “I wasn’t asleep. What can I do for you?”

  “I got a hunch that the place I’m looking for is somewhere around here. I’ll explore the valley below us. It’s gonna be a long walk, from the looks of it.”

  “Wait a moment, I’ll go with you.”

  While she spoke the last sentence, the outer airlock door opened, and the slender silhouette of the Ae
s Sidhe appeared in the opening.

  This was better. She’d not go alone anywhere, not after all that had happened.

  She felt cold, but a check of her suit’s systems showed her that her internal temperature was unchanged. She shrugged it off for now.

  Deirdre took her time. She slowly descended the ramp, step-by-step, slowly getting closer to the valley below her. It looked beautiful, despite its danger. But the same could have been said about every place she’d visited so far, including those two former places of power that had turned into something… different. This planet was fascinating, both by day and by night. Could she imagine settling here, though? No. Even though it was a pretty place, it was still an alien world, and the gravity kept reminding her she was not in Dublin anymore.

  It took quite a while to climb down the path to the lake, and when she almost reached it, she slipped again. With an effort, she suppressed a howl. The frozen ground was deceptive. Even where it looked safe, frost had taken hold and turned the underground into an ice rink.

  Thankfully, this time, she didn’t land on her butt. The impact sent a shock wave through the body though, and the pain in her tail bone flared up again violently, driving tears into her eyes. Tears she couldn’t wipe away without taking her helmet off.

  There was nothing to grab, nothing to stop the slide, and it only took a few seconds for her to reach the ground below her. Thankfully, she smashed into a large mushroom, not into a rock, which could have caused serious injuries. She needed nothing even worse than what she already had. Ailbhe was by her side only the fraction of a second later, but too late to do anything about her slide down the ramp.

  This was a pain in the ass, very literally.

  ***

  Deirdre scrambled back on her feet, with the Ghillie Dhu supporting her. She walked slowly, because any fast movement provoked additional pain spikes. Several places in her body hurt. Her tail bone, and now her chest, too. Even though it wasn’t serious at all, only after she had a coughing bout, and even then, it was more annoying than painful. Now, it radiated a sharp sensation that ran around her ribcage like a ring of steel.

  Wonderful.

  She looked down, but could see nothing through the fabric of her suit. Of course not. What had she expected?

  “Body temperature rising, currently at 38.1C.”

  The synthetic voice of her suit startled her. Timing had never been her ally, and it wasn’t friendly to her now.

  As she saw it, it could only get better from here.

  The lake lay before her, soothing, and she forgot her pain for a moment. Planet F hung over the landscape and met its reflection on the surface of the lake, including the asteroid belts circling around it. With no light sources anywhere, the stars were clearly visible and added to the already impressive sight. But she wasn’t here for sightseeing. There had to be a place of power here somewhere, or if not, she’d better find out soon and call the Wisp to pick her up again. Deirdre had the feeling that her cough wasn’t as harmless as she had thought, and she wouldn’t be able to concentrate properly on the gate opening ritual, if it developed into something worse.

  She didn’t feel any effects from her fever just yet, and the pain was bearable — her tail bone was way worse.

  She walked a few steps to the shore of the lake and looked around. It wasn’t so easy to see all the details clearly, despite it not being entirely dark. The light of Gliese 667C, reflected by planet F, wasn’t as bright as that of the full moon at home, but it turned out to be bright enough for her to orient herself.

  She had no idea which way to go. Standing at the lake, there weren’t many options. Behind her, the cliff, which she didn’t feel like scaling right now. She wasn’t even sure if she could climb up again, and back to the Wisp, even with help from the marine.

  Should she call the vehicle right now? Maybe not yet. It was still possible for her to explore the area by foot. She turned left and walked along the foot of the cliff. There was only a narrow strip of land for her to walk on, and way ahead, the land met the rocky wall. Something over there piqued her interest.

  The wall of the cliff lay in the shadows over there. Maybe there was something for her to explore. Carefully, she walked over to the potential cave, over the stony ground, which wasn’t covered by that mossy plant she had found everywhere on the planet. The entire area was a slippery trap. During the day, the temperature hadn’t been high, but the humidity levels were exceptional even so. By night, this humid air froze and made for dangerous territory.

  Deirdre felt hot now, even though her suit automatically adapted its internal temperature. Just a few minutes of walking, and she already got tired. Gravity, her injury, and the stress of those last few days finally took their toll. Cailean not being with her, and Adams being back on the ship meant that there was only Ailbhe to help in case anything went wrong, and if something happened to both of them, they were out of luck. She had to be less of a Deirdre MacBreen and more of an adult now.

  Being on an alien planet over twenty light-years from home, however, was a psychological burden. Deirdre normally wasn’t as sensitive in that regard, and she wouldn’t start being that type of person today. She straightened her back, flinched when her tail bone sent another shock through her back, and strode forward, as fast as she could, without slipping again.

  Soon, that dubious spot in the wall came into sight. She had been right. The cliff wall opened up before her eyes, leading into a veritable grotto. Was it possible to get inside without entering the water? There was only one way to find out.

  “Fuck it,” she growled.

  The Aes Sidhe next to her raised an eyebrow and strode out faster. She disappeared in the opening of the stone wall.

  Nothing would stop her now. Not the tail bone injury, not the annoying cough, not her heightened body temperature. She didn’t have any reason to be optimistic, but somehow, she got excited. Her intuition told her she had reached a waypoint on her mission, or would soon.

  Deirdre balanced over to the opening, one hand in permanent contact with the natural wall of the cliff, and walked inside.

  Her eyes opened wide.

  The walls were covered with luminescent fungi. Green and blue lights, mirrored by the calm water, turned the grotto into a magical wonderland. She walked in deeper, along a long tunnel. The light from the mushrooms calmed her down, and she walked slowly, careful not to slip again. Ailbhe walked in front of her, graceful like a cat. Deirdre couldn’t even hear footsteps.

  She walked deeper inside. The light from the mushrooms didn’t illuminate the place enough to grant sight past a few metres, but enough to get by without lamps. She continued her walk and made out a small island deeper inside.

  A strange premonition manifested inside her. Could she actually feel something, or if it was wishful thinking, longing for a resolution of her mission?

  There was no way to get over there without stepping into the water, but there was something on the island that drew her closer.

  She stepped into the water, one foot after the other, slowly and carefully. If there was a difference in temperature between air and water, she couldn’t feel it, of course, but the displays inside her helmet showed her that the water was slightly over zero degrees Celsius. The surrounding air was at minus four.

  The shape that had attracted her became clearer.

  This was not a stalagmite, it was a monolith. The closer she came, the better she could make out the exact contours of the black stone standing in the exact middle of the island, almost reaching the ceiling of the grotto.

  The water wasn’t deep. During most of the walk, it didn’t even reach her knees, and the deepest spot went up just to her thighs, almost to her hips. Her suit protected her from getting wet. When she sat foot on the little island, she looked up to the ceiling, and the light from the mushrooms made the whole scenario seem surreal. She walked up to the monolith and laid her hand on its surface.

  She felt nothing special. What had she expected, the stone
slab turning into a handsome prince? She laughed, and her laugh turned into a cough again. A wet cough this time. She’d have to use the med unit on board the Wisp when she came back.

  “Do you need help?”

  Deirdre shook her head.

  Yeah, no idea what she had thought she’d find, but this artificial-looking thing on a small island inside a grotto defied any expectation she might have had.

  And yet, she knew, she had arrived. The entire room here, such as it was, bristled with magical energy. It was as if she had to just reach out for it to grab it.

  This was awesome.

  Normally, she would slowly reach for energy in the ground through a long ritual, then lead it up her roots, through her trunk, into her leaves. But here, it was so plentiful, it would just wash over her, go through her completely and turn whatever she tried to channel into the form she tried to achieve immediately and effortlessly.

  “Was about time.”

  “What do you mean?” The voice of the marine sounded confused.

  “Was talking to myself, like a crazy cat lady. I think this is what I’ve come here for. The reason Cailean is gone. If I’m not mistaken, we’re pretty much right below the Wisp.”

  She activated her AI and called up a map of the region.

  “Yeah, right beneath. We’re there, Sergeant. This is what we came for.”

  Now, all she had to do was to open the gate to the Otherworld, and to Earth, and her mission would be complete.