by Essa Hansen
Was this recollection loosely connected, like two of Abriss’s planets forming angles to each other for a brief heartbeat of orbits? Distant lights believing, for a flicker, that they were related?
Threi Cetre drawled on, “I’ve piqued your illustrious interest, sister. May I suggest we make a deal?”
“Fair deals are, again, not one of your strongest traits.” Serenity paved over Abriss’s surprise. She glanced at Leta behind her.
Happy shivers almost melted Leta’s knees. Abriss’s attention cut bladely, spilling awe like lifeblood.
“Why did you not contact me sooner, if this is real and so critical to you?” Abriss asked.
“You wouldn’t have believed me about the ship’s Graven tech until you could confirm it with your darling stars. And you wouldn’t help unless he was in Unity. It’s taken me a decade to force the boy there, but finally catching him will be easy now that he’s in your universe, within the spider Abriss’s great web.” Threi’s pauses were filled with smiles. “Give my fleet unrestricted access to Unity. Assist in Winn’s capture, with all your Dynast immanence and astrologian precognizance determining his location and intention. I’ll use the Graven ship to release myself from this universe I’m stranded in, and you can pry apart the ship’s shell and suck the crystal innards or whatever you wish for your Graven research.”
Silence leadened the room as Abriss considered. The astral terrain shifted around them. She observed it, but her brow twitched— there was something she couldn’t read about this situation. In the end, she donned a combative smile and said, “If this Graven ship is in Unity, I am free to acquire it myself. Why should I buy your assistance?”
“Because he won’t be there long, and your beloved Unity is too vast, and you know too little about him. The reason it took me a decade to force him there is because he’s sharp and he knows you can find him. But if I share everything I know about Winn’s natal details, your astrology will be just as razor-sharp. I can give you the exact Paraborn brood, the astrocartography, the universe where he grew and his little egg hatched. All of it.”
Abriss considered again, amber eyes sparkling with reflections. Patient, she tended to silence as strongly as her sibling loved to speak. When the wordless space grew unbearable, he filled it: “Besides,” he said, with a slight quaver. “You miss me. I can tell.”
“You think very highly of yourself.”
“How long has it been since you were in the presence of someone who didn’t automatically adore you?”
Abriss scowled. “I might ask the same of you. Power always did go straight to your head. You still have no—” She twisted fiercely, fixating on one planet. New lines sprang up and converged, reflecting periwinkle in Abriss’s glassy stare.
Whatever cosmic shift she was entranced by was palpable to Leta’s enhanced spiritual senses as well: a roar in the luminiferity, gaining force. The periwinkle planet glided closer to a line that aspected at a harsh angle. The Prime’s lips parted and her gaze darted to a star on the opposite end of Unity’s sphere. A ring of numbers filled with nines.
Abriss cocked her head, smiled a little, and whispered, “I agree to your deal.”
For the first time, her brother looked troubled. “You do miss me.”
The rising, vibrating curl of empyreal power that Leta felt finally broke over her in a wave. Her awareness mushed between the vast dark of time and the orrery and snatches of the present like glitters on a brackish pool. Her sensory world roiled. Whispers of a childhood scent, a field. Leta clutched her skull as the intensity blotted her brain. Then Threi’s voice—“Well. Splendid. This is all of him, for your predictions …”
Promised data beamed in and inhabited the air: Caiden’s birth details, brood and shipment, destination planet … pictures, a landscape Leta recognized as … home?
Footage.
Pastures as vast as a sea. Holes of fire punched in a faraway sky. Black cubes. Stench. Death. Teeth and teeth and teeth.
Then not footage but memories— blushes of color and fragrance and touch— filling up the white spaces in her soul that her training had scrubbed clean.
Rough, grandfatherly oak trees, spicing the hot air, shading her face as the tall grass swayed with a shush. Blue chicory bobbed among greens. Caiden lay beside her and time had stopped. Marred in grease from the work, sweat from their run, fatigue from helping her climb to the highest limbs, he was falling asleep. Breathing soft. Blond locks falling over his eyes.
Leta blinked hard back to the orrery. Her lips shaped his name. She smelled green earthiness, rich chicory, alfalfa, musk, and metal. Things were still happening in the room, gauzy and time-lagged.
She fought the urge to let her consciousness dissimulate and wriggle out of her body into the luminiferity, to seek out Caiden’s soul in empyrean dimensions where no multiversal distance could separate them. He was alive. Caiden. Her pulse unwound to a stop, she tried to breathe— and was slammed back to her body and the present moment by Threi hissing, “I recognize her.”
Abriss swiveled around to face Leta.
“And you, sister, arrange nothing without a reason, so she’s here for a reason and I know what it is.”
“Tell me.” Abriss motioned a freckled hand to Leta. “Come closer.”
Leta obeyed immediately, her feet tripping, body vibrating with energized confusion. Joyously, she obeyed.
Threi said, “Your Graves project has transformed her, but I recognize the girl at this age. I’ve seen her in Winn’s memories. She’s important to him, a keystone in his heart and mind.”
Important to him. Her own heart lurched at that. Crisp memories with sharp edges jammed up through her love of Abriss.
“Darling sister”— this, a snarl—“I think you have both hook and bait for our dear Graven boy.”
A dark chord in Leta strummed viciously. Neither of these powerful individuals had good intentions for Caiden.
Her family. Her childhood hero.
Then Abriss turned to her.
With Graven charm.
“Leta Nine …”
The edges of her resistance melted in the warmth of Abriss’s magnetism. Among all the orrery’s luminous forms, the stars, the concatenations and planets and swirls, Unity still moved with Abriss, its heart.
“Reseat in your Proxy and prepare a solo ship.”
The storm in Leta’s body polarized into obeisance, relaxed into a unified chord, the deep genetic love of this Dynast Prime. Adoration lifted her from a sinking sense of something wrong: a flicker of feeling spread thin by the blunt, heavy blade of time.
Leta replied, “At once, Prime.”
The story continues in …
Azura Ghost
Book Two of The Graven
Coming in OCTOBER 2021
GLOSSARY
Abriss Cetre— The Prime of the Dynast faction of Unity. She is a direct descendant on the Dynast family line, able to claim the highest rank of Graven genetics in any current living being. By her genetic nature, her presence inspires love and loyalty in all individuals and gives her immense control over her subjects in Unity. She is a master astrologian, able to read the motion of celestial bodies and divine information about events, individuals, and the past and future. Abriss maintains peace in Unity and pursues research into the Graven civilization. She believes that the Graven aimed to correct the erroneous multiplicity of the multiverse, uniting it back into central Unity to make space and time one continuum.
acceleration— Expensive and energy-intensive technology that can enhance an individual’s age by a specified time duration while also programming the brain and body with skills and knowledge. The process takes mere moments regardless of the amount of time the individual is accelerating. Acceleration can be paired with desenescence— reverse-aging— to invest an individual with abilities without affecting physical life span. Not all species are able to undergo acceleration.
Andalvian— A humanoid species whose chromatophoric skin cells act like colored pixels, reflect
ing their brain activity in changing patterns and colors. Andalvian emotions are expressed involuntarily on their skin, but their culture is stoic and dispassionate, valuing composure. They are sharply intelligent, straightforward, and honest, most often involved in the sciences. Their native language is rich with multiple meanings and contextual nuance, able to condense multiple phrases into one.
atmoseal— A thin membrane of energy and particulates that acts in the place of an airlock, sealing in pressure and gases without the need for physical doors. The atmoseal stretches over the opening of a passageway or ship aperture.
Cartographer— The Cartographers are a long-standing and diversely membered organization dedicated to mapping the expanding multiverse, understanding its content through study, and making it safe for travelers. They facilitate first contact with newfound cultures and organize ambassadorial trips to invite isolated worlds into the wider multiversal culture. They maintain a free, public database of information, and charge for specific chartings, while paying passagers for data on newly charted territory. Their resource and service hubs— Cartographer Dens— are scattered throughout the multiverse. Cartographers believe there is a holistic purpose behind the multiverse, and that basic knowledge must remain free and new worlds integrated into a sum whole of understanding. The Cartographers’ efforts in cultural exchange, education, and mediation has prevented or alleviated galactic wars throughout centuries.
Cartographer Den— Resource hubs on space stations or planets, scattered throughout the multiverse. There is at least one Den per universe of habitable size, located near a stellar egress when possible. They provide Cartographer services, including sales and purchases, medical, and mechanics. Neutral ground is strictly enforced in the “bar” section of every Den. Within Unity, the only Cartographer Den is located in Emporia.
Casthen— A private organization that has been monopolizing economy, trade, and mercenary services for centuries. They are governed by a Prime. Their ranks are populated primarily by hybrids from interbreeding and genetic engineering projects, focused on generating adherents adept at their roles or resistant to multiversal variances. It is rumored that the Dynast— who does not interact with the multiverse outside of Unity— contracts the Casthen to procure goods. The location of their headquarters, the Casthen Harvest, is a closely guarded secret.
chketin— A humanoid species common in the multiverse. Though muscular, powerful, and never shorter than two meters tall, they are a shrewd and intelligent species integrated deeply into Cartographer function. Chketin are slow to deliberate but stubborn in their final stance, leading others to nickname them “walls.”
clarient— Ethereal beings that parasitize physical systems. They are sometimes captured in machines and enslaved for computing. One theory suggests that they parasitize the brains of young nophek and are responsible for the gradual crystallization of gloss.
cloudsuit— A body harness netting that emits a membrane across the user’s body, like a second skin. The membrane’s material puffs apart into a vaporous field of protective particles that regulate personal atmosphere and protect from external factors. It allows for complete freedom of movement and condenses back against the body under extreme pressure but does not provide armoring. There are variations of this style of suit for use underwater.
crossover— The process of crossing through a rind from one universe to another. As physical and etheric parameters may shift between universes, crossover involves the individual’s adjustment to existential changes on the other side. Depending on the unique nature of the rind, crossover may harm or destroy certain species or transform others.
CWN82— A medium-size universe that was falsely reported to be unstable for crossover. These reports propagated by the Casthen faction allowed them to keep the universe exclusive to their use and away from scrutiny. Upon planets within this universe, Casthen organized the cultivation of nophek and feed production.
Çydanza— The Casthen Prime, who has been in office for the recorded centuries that the Casthen have existed. It is unclear whether Çydanza founded the Casthen or merely assumed control. Despite general opposition against the Casthen’s morally questionable scope of operations, Çydanza has never been accessed or assassinated, nor has she perished, leading to various rumors about her physical nature, or whether “ Çydanza” is more of a title than an individual. Though she makes broadcasts verbally, her appearance has never been recorded.
Dynast— The governing endarchy of Unity. The Dynast are dedicated to the harmonious functioning of all planetary systems within Unity, and the search for knowledge about the ancient Graven species. The Dynast’s centralized government is led by an assembly under control of an appointed Prime descended from the Dynast family. The Dynast believes that the fall of the Graven civilization happened at the same time that Unity was divided into the new, expanding worlds of the multiverse, and that these outer worlds are corrupt and unsuitable to touch.
Emporia— A large space station of colonized lightseep obsidian that is a hub for various factions in Unity. It is said that anything can be bought, sold, or sourced in Emporia. The station is located close to the border of Unity.
Glasliq— A rare type of starship, one of which belongs to Threi, a Casthen Enforcer. Its hull is constructed of a morphic liquid glass material adhered to an adjustable metallic frame, making it supremely agile and resilient against universal conditions. The outer material can change phase between a solid, liquid, or gaseous state depending on conditions.
glave— General term for a personally equipped defensive or offensive weapon. Glave technology varies in type and effect, and is sourced from a variety of cultures.
gloss— The most valuable substance in the multiverse, gloss is an extremely rare energetic material, developed inside the maturing brains of nophek creatures. It can take both solid and liquid form, and is utilized to power Graven technology and generate starship fuel. Some believe that gloss is produced when clarient parasitize the brains of nophek and crystallize the pineal gland and surrounding tissues.
Graven— An ancient civilization about which much is still unknown. In the distant past, an extinction event wiped out most traces of the Graven, leaving behind ruins and technology all over the multiverse. There are various theories as to whether the Graven participated in or even created the multiverse, or if they were wiped out in the same event that divided Unity into expanding daughter universes. Pure Graven genetics remain in the human descendants of the Dynast family, but their true biological form is undocumented. Graven genetics create a biological resonance that coerces loyalty from other beings. The effect intensifies by proximity and sensory exposure, and affects some species more fully than others.
Graves— A project in the Dynast’s Graven research that seeks to approximate the Graven species’s consciousness and sensory extension by conditioning a group of individuals through a complex biological process of radiation and gene transfection. The goal for the surviving individuals— the Graves— is to consciously access the luminiferity, a spiritual domain of collective consciousness freed from space and time, where information and shared consciousness is available non-locally. The Dynast hopes that this new information domain will give them fresh insight into who and what the Graven were.
holosplay— A detailed holographic display. Light organizes along a three-dimensional gridded field of tensor points in the air.
lightseep obsidian— The physical condensation of energy structures previously existing in spiritual, immaterial dimensions un-phased with physical reality. After the fall of the Graven civilization, the vibration of their lightseep slowed and materialized into visible matter, appearing crystalline and transparent. Lightseep is impossible to move, break, or tool, but many of the lightseep ruins throughout the multiverse have been colonized and repurposed using other materials inside.
luminiferity— The etheric, collective field of consciousness that exists outside linear spacetime. It is believed that individual consciousness
es are condensations of this field, and after death the consciousness re-expands into the luminiferity. The Dynast has been studying how to access the accumulated knowledge and experience inhabiting the luminiferity.
mauya— A delicate, semi-humanoid species accustomed to low gravity. Mauya are highly intuitive, and physically remarkable for their fleshy wings and long, crystalline hair.
memory jog— A process that stimulates the subject’s memory and records brain activity, which is then reconstituted into a visual recording of events. The process does not work for all species, and some experience debilitating side effects.
morphcoat— A jacket made of a morphic material that changes qualities in response to mental state or mood. Useful when traversing frequently between environments and temperatures.
multiverse— The whole conglomerate of variously sized bubble-shaped universes embedded within one another or stuck together like a foam. Their surfaces are “rinds” of energy that separate the differences in physics and other features between universe interiors. At an unknown point in history, smaller universes began to bubble off the outer border of Unity, the original singular universe and now the center of the inflating multiverse. On the fringes of the multiverse, new universes are constantly developing and expanding.
nophek— A rare quadruped mammal species from an unknown native planet. Their biology can only exist in specific universal parameters without medical intervention. Nophek are vicious and intelligent carnivorous pack animals. Reddish black in color, their muscular bodies range from one to two meters tall at the withers. They are covered in a mix of fur, mane, and rough skin. As a nophek matures, highly valuable gloss crystallizes within a gland in its brain.
passager— A free individual registered with the Cartographers as a multiversal explorer, bound to a code of rights and allowed access to Cartographer services.
Prime— The singular leader of a sufficiently large organization. Within the Dynast, Prime status is hereditary.