Vane continued for them. “We decided that when–not if–more of these immensely powerful devices were encountered, we would do our best to study and comprehend them, and seek to control any and all interaction with them. Also for the good of all.”
Master Jo gave their conclusion. “Only one person living truly knows what occurred on that fateful day in that hour. And by all logic, he should have been slain by whatever resulted from that cataclysm. We had meant to destroy him ourselves, not only for his gross disobedience and defiance of our will, our laws, and our very ways–yet somehow, he managed to escape and elude us. He even found some way to stave off the terrible fate awaiting him. When he fled Janosha, he was filled with such terrible Cosmic energies, raging so out of control, that he was a threat to anyone or any living thing that he came near to.”
Vane spoke once more. “We thought the outcast was merely running away somewhere to perish on his own. To our mind, no being could survive what he had endured–what was so unstable within himself.”
Naero rose up defiantly, her blood up, her fists jammed on her hips.
She had heard enough.
Aunt Sleak sensed her mood and tried to pull her back.
Naero jerked her arm away out of her aunt’s steel grip.
“You filthy hypocrites. My Uncle Kean suffered great and permanent loss and harm at the hands of one of these devices. So dangerous, that you won’t even let yourselves remember what it was, or what it did to him.”
“He is an outcast,” Vane roared. “He directly disobeyed us, and nearly destroyed all of Janosha–until you came along to finish the job! You of all your Clan have no right to speak his lost name ever again!”
Naero stood up to him. Let him strike her down, if he must. “I will speak his name, if I so choose. I will dare to shout it from the heavens if I must. This isn’t about what Kean did at all. This is about all of you and your inadequacies. All of you failed, just as you are failing with this artifact. The High and Mighty Three Mystic High Masters–three frauds more like it–failed to control this device. And who bore the brunt of that failure? Surely not any of you, but my uncle did so–my blood!”
She stepped away enraged, and then whirled upon them, extending and accusing finger. “You blamed him for your failures, for unleashing forces none of you could control. And then you made him your sacrificial lamb. Once you murdered him and took his life, the problem would be solved. The terrible forces contained within him would be extinguished with his life. Your guilt and your crimes would be covered up. Even if he escaped, you bastards fully expected him to suffer and die horribly, somewhere on his own, where you wouldn’t have to watch his torment. I’m glad he found a way to survive, and spite you hypocrites ever since!”
Naero crossed her arms in front of herself and whipped around, giving them her heaving back.
At that moment, she wished she could destroy them all. Perhaps she should transport herself to the artifact right now and fling her arms around the damn thing.
Master Jo tried to reason with her. “Naero, there is some truth to what you say. But there were many other things going on at that same time that also affected our actions, decisions, and what happened, as well. Your then uncle openly defied and disobeyed direct orders–not once–but repeatedly. And many persons died because of that. He nearly killed your own mother, his sister, whom he claimed to care about. He was out of control, with what you would call his own Dark Beast. We were barely able to suppress and contain him, just as we did with you. But despite our best efforts, he was going to explode at some point, and possibly take out all of Janosha. We had to destroy him, before that took place, somewhere safe. But he broke free, and escaped before we could do so.”
“And look at what happened?” Vane said. “Not only did the outcast survive, he became a renegade, and an outlaw, reviled for his treachery and duplicity–responsible for countless deaths on all sides of nearly every conflict since that time.”
“A life the Mystics drove him to,” Naero noted.
“A life he chose,” Aunt Sleak said, “but none of that can be changed. The question remains: What do we do now with this situation, and this artifact?”
“The only thing we can do. We keep Naero away from it at all costs, while we continue to study the artifact, and learn more about its secrets.” Master Tree said. “That way, we avoid repeating any of the mistakes from the past. Our only defense will be knowledge.”
“And once again,” Naero said, “I ask, what would happen if I did interact with this thing?”
“Theoretically,” Master Tree noted, “some kind of merging or re-combination. The device will either become part of you–or you will become part of it. We’re not certain how much of either.”
Master Vane snorted again. “I’m still not certain Maeris’s mother wasn’t infected by that first device as well, back then. Look at the trouble we’re having with her three children–showing the same dangers as their former uncle?”
“Those effects were triggered by their contact with the Kexxian Data Matrix,” Aunt Sleak said.
Vane persisted. “Can we be certain of that? Danner never came into direct contact with the KDM, for years.”
Jan jumped in. “Danner came into contact with it through his connection with me, at the same time that Naero and I did. Yet it is true that by then, he was already a powerful psyonic genius.”
While they still argued, Naero called up one of the holoscreens again and replayed some of the vid footage, zooming in on the artifact statue’s face.
Master Jo looked over at her. “Did we miss something, Naero?”
Naero paused.
Suddenly she grew even more worried.
Om noticed it at the same time.
“Its mouth was moving. The statue was saying something,” she said. “It was talking all the while.”
Everyone stared at her.
“What was it saying,” Master Tree asked.
Naero started watching the vid close-ups from the very beginning.
“It was speaking something in Kexxian,” Naero said.
No, Naero. It was singing…in Kexxian.
Naero felt frozen stilettos of ice slicing through her veins. “I…I recognize that tune. I know that song. I’ve heard it before. I’ve sung the words.”
“Why would it be singing in Kexxian? What was it saying?”
Naero cleared her throat.
Yah-duu Ah Shah Lah! Shah hah lah shah-dae! Yah Jhah Vah Shah-Lae! Ae duu vah. Ae duu vah shah lah!
High Master Tree received an emergency com from Spacer Intel and the Marines back at the western camp. Tree brought it up on screen.
“Master Tree. The alien artifact has taken the statue form again and is on the move. It has turned due east, and is walking strait toward your coordinates on the east coast. Oh, no!”
“Captain Valmont, Valmont,” Tree said. “What is happening? Report!”
“It…it just vanished, High Master. It must have transported. I say again, the artifact is gone–off all scans.”
“Track it, from orbit if need be. Locate it. A Cosmic energy source that enormous cannot hide.”
Tree turned to Naero. “Don’t sing anymore, Naero. Pilot, launch immediately. Get us in orbit until this crisis is over.”
Naero felt the Mystic starship lift off, fearing that they could be zapped by the strange artifact at any moment.
Was it Kexxian? Was it attracted by the KDM? Was that why this thing was after her?
12
High Master Tree came to Naero and her people an hour later, in orbit around Thanor-4, with the latest updates.
“The situation has stabilized. The artifact statue is making a precise, concerted search of the continent of Nashara–in overlapping spheres. It apparently scans each circle for about fifteen standard minutes. We don’t know how it does so, but we’ve computed its sensory range to be about one hundred kilometers.”
Naero nodded. “Does it know about the other continents? Does it even understand that
it is on a planet?”
“Why would it not?” Master Tree said. “We must assume that it can do all of this and more. It has even transported into the ocean, to the exact center of its next search diameter, if that happens to be offshore. It could search the entire planet if it chose to do so. Nothing we know of could stop it. Yet, it does not seem to have the ability to fly, or to leave the planet’s surface. It can only move from one stationary position to the next–within its transport range.”
“Then how did it get here?” Jan asked.
“That, we do not know. We assume now that they are Kexxian artifacts or devices, from what Naero has said. If that is true, they could be millions of years old. Who knows what their function is? But we will continue to attempt to study this one, and any others we locate.”
“So,” Naero said. “What do I do now?”
“Simple. Those of you who are adepts will resume your training–including you, High Adept,” Tree told them. “We have yet another secret camp set up on Thanarra.”
“Near the locals?” Shalaen asked. “The native near-humans?”
“Close enough. And we are also close enough in species to pass as some of them. They think we are priests and priestesses of their sacred gods. Even in their violent societies, such religious orders are revered, respected, and almost never accosted or harmed. Most Thanorans consider it a great sin to harm a holy man or holy woman, and that affords us protection, respect, and freedom of movement among them. We can go almost anywhere–unquestioned–and be welcomed and well-received. They value our wisdom and knowledge, especially as healers.”
Naero was puzzled. “If I’m busy training, will I even have need to go among them?”
Tree smiled. “I am making this part of your training, High Adept. There is more to being a Mystic than martial training and Cosmic energy manipulation. The Thanorans present constant problems to be solved. They come to us for help, almost on a daily basis. Anything from lesser disputes and disagreements, to other matters of great import. I want you to work with them, and myself and others will observe how you perform among them.”
Naero was at a loss. This was an unexpected shift. It was just like the High Masters to catch her off guard, and put her out of her element in order to test her under duress.
As Vane once said, everything was a test. Naero guessed that they wished to distract her also, to keep her mind busy, and definitely not thinking about the unstoppable alien artifact that was hunting for her.
She still felt as if she needed to protest. “But, I don’t know anything about these peoples or their cultures. I don’t know their language.”
High Master Tree frowned slightly. “Use a translator, like everyone else. Adepts Chang Fu-han and Chang Lijuan will accompany you, along with many others. They are experts among the Thanes, and have been here since the beginning. The Thanes know and highly respect them. Identical twins such as them–especially among the holy ones–are considered rare and powerful magic.”
The Chang sisters arrived at that moment, smiling at Naero.
“Skim our many reports and research on Thanian culture and practices,” Fu-han said. “We will catch you up and teach you how to act, and what to say, and how to dress among them.”
Lijuan jumped right in, as she usually did. “We will teach you about the four main peoples and city states: Thanarra, Vaedor, Kallos, and Maedor. This is a time of great strife among the four city states, and we have been trying to negotiate a lasting peace between them, ever since we arrived.”
Fu-han shook her head sadly. “To no avail. The city states are packed so close together in the same bay, only a few days away from each other. They are so warlike and competitive, they hardly have the concept of peace.”
Naero stared back at Master Tree. “And you expect me to step in, and help solve these problems?”
Tree looked back at her. “I expect you to do your best and try hard. I did not say that I require you to succeed. The only stipulations I make, are the same ones we all operate under, among backwards sentients. We cannot solve their problems for them. And we are not here to uplift them, or give them new tek before they are ready for it. We are not here to pick their leaders. They must do such things.
“But we can counsel, guide, and influence them, and help them learn to use reason and logic, to make the best decisions that they can make–for themselves. And this is very important: Unless we are forced to defend ourselves, we must never use violence among them. They expect us to be peaceful and refrain from doing so. It will discredit us greatly if we behave as violently as they do. They must learn from their mistakes.”
Fu-han added. “Any tek we bring with us must be concealable. We have had cloaked fixers design translators, comunits, and other devices that are disguised as local adornments and jewelry. Even if they leave our persons or are stolen, any devices we carry are programmed to become inert and inoperative.”
“That is enough for now,” Tree said. “All of you get some rest. You will need it later today. After your morning training sessions on board, prepare yourselves and go down to Thanarra.”
Naero went to her quarters.
The Changs sent her their many data files, prioritized in the order they thought she should scan them. Lijuan brought her three sets of Thanoran dress and gear, Naero’s size. Two sets for daily wear, one set for court visits. The natives were a feudal society, complete with feudal hierarchies.
Naero tried one of the outfits on. It consisted of linen undergarments that were wrapped and tied. Then a linen shift–which doubled as a nightgown, and finally, a wool tunic that went down to the knee, and was usually dagged. The priests and priestesses of the local deities wore garments that were off-white or slightly gray, but always trimmed in blue, to denote their status. They also wore hoods, trimmed in the same color, and simple leather belts around their waists, usually with a useful leather pouch or purse to carry things in.
They wore soft leather boots, trimmed in fur, that rose to the knee. In the heat of the high summer, they wore leather or woven sandals.
Priests carried no weapons, unless you counted the small iron utility knife that all Thanorans carried, and a wooden spoon kept in one’s pouch, used mostly for eating meals. If they traveled, the natives wore a small leather pack or shoulder bag, and carried a leather waterskin.
Only the warrior classes wore armor and carried weapons: iron mail shirts, coifs, mittens, and leggings, studded leather coats of plates, round and kite shields, and conical, iron and leather helms with nasal guards. The most common weapon was the iron axe, and then the spear, and various horse bows that fired iron-tipped arrows. Although, the local mount was actually more of a domesticated elk or reindeer-type mammal, called a gult. The natives had no horses, and they used saddles, and reins, but had not developed stirrups, yet.
There were various types of iron swords, but swords were expensive, and exclusive to the nobility or their bodyguards. Both males and females of the proper class, apparently, could become warriors. The development and use of steel was haphazard at best.
The mark of a warrior remained the axe and spear, and the long, iron-hilted fighting dagger or short sword, called the karath.
As a priestess of the local gods, Naero would wear an ocalo, a small circle of ornate, knotted and polished silver or brass on a leather cord or chain. This was the holy symbol that they used to pray and heal with, the eternal circle, a mandala of infinity.
Naero waved Lijuan off. “That’s enough for now. I need some sleep. We can go over more later today. I don’t usually wear clothes to bed, but I’ll sleep in these to get used to them. Thanks, Lijuan.”
Her friend nodded, and said good night.
Naero flopped down onto her sleeping panel and almost instantly dozed off, native garb and all.
13
After lunch, Naero was already tired. Her sparring sessions with the Order Adepts on board the Mystic vessel went well, but it was exhausting, especially after a night of short sleep. She wor
e her new clothing all that morning.
When she had the time, she could program her nanosuit to imitate the local style of clothing. That would be much more efficient in the long run.
She napped on the cloaked shuttle that transported them down to a secret mountain starport near the foremost city state of Thanarra. These were the natives who actually referred to themselves as Thanes.
From the hidden mountain starport, the adepts would transport into a much closer cave complex that posed as a sacred burial place, and a shrine to the gods, guarded only by the Mystics. From there, Naero and her companions would make their forays down into the sprawling city state of Thanarra, and across the Bay of Thanarra to the other three city states beyond.
Thanarra was a walled city with three main walls, with towers and gatehouses guarding the access points from without. Soldiers manned and patrolled the walls. The city itself radiated out below them in concentric rings and spokes of streets, punctuated by larger stone and tile roof buildings of one to three stories tall, and even what looked to be walled estates near the coast and others strung up into the mountains in other directions.
Although it was a bright, sunny afternoon, the wide streets were still bustling after the midday meal. Pedestrians walked about on their business. Many used walking staffs of wood, plain, polished, carved, or even decorated. The staffs seemed to denote some sign of social status.
Wealthier citizens also rode various gults. Naero spotted patrols of soldiers, marching in ranks with shields and spears in groups of a dozen or larger–some patrols mounted on gults, moving from one city garrison to the next in their circuits. People made room for the patrols.
There were countless carts and wagons with solid wooden wheels. A few gult chariots, pulled by one to four gult. The city was punctuated by simple circles and squares, with fountains or wells. From the little Naero had read, Thanarra was blessed with the richness of fresh aquifers running under it from the mountains.
Spacer Clans Adventure 3: Naero's Fury Page 10