And Snark. Well, he had promise. Not your average cat at all. Not handsome by any means, but still quite, interesting. And he seemed interested in her, which was going to be fun exploiting.
Brindle questioned her continuing presence on this mission. She'd not really wanted to stay on the Cat Homeworld, and this seemed the best way of continuing her adventures around the galaxy. But really, if something didn’t happen soon, she was going to go mad.
Anna was in her room. She was dreading another vision. They were disturbing, and didn’t seem to give her any useful information. Vasily was a devil. He was sadistic in his torment of the other Anna. And when she had the visions, she couldn’t do anything about what happened. She had to be as passive as the other Anna.
She could feel the vision coming. It was always like her reality melted around her, and was replaced by another.
This time it was the cold evil. She could feel emptiness. No emotion. No feeling. Just being. Control. It reminded her of her dreams of Anna and Vasily. This need for control over others. A righteous feeling of superiority of thought and decision, and others would be better off with this being’s decisions. Of always being right. The coldness penetrated her. Not just a lack of warmth, but a complete absence of understanding. In both response to temperature, but also temperament. It wasn’t just evil, it was devoid of balance, of context, of justice.
It was of itself, impossible.
The vision ended and she returned to the room. Anna curled into a ball on her bed, and wept.
Thirty Three
They arrived at the planet with the stone circle. It had another unpronounceable name. It was a planet well populated, with a dominant being of a sort of dog. This went down like a lead balloon with Snark. They worked out the standing circle of stones was a local tourist spot, with a landing site, and amenities fully catering for a range of alien visitors. Unlike Perdita, this was still functioning, and evidently raking in the gals.
It was decided Snark and the cats would remain on Seasprite, given the dog species. Anna and Jamie would take the shuttle down to the landing site, and quickly check the standing stones for any relevance to their mission.
Guided to a spot at the landing site by an orbital station, they were greeted as they disembarked by a dog being. A centaur dog body, was topped with a dog face atop a dog torso. They could see lots of different dog species within the overall dog-being category. This one was a golden colour, with large floppy ears, and brown intelligent eyes. Its tongue lolled, and it drooled as it greeted them.
"Welcome to the Standing Stones," it exclaimed excitedly.
Its tail wagged rapidly as it downloaded a guide onto their tablets, which would give a 'tour' of the facilities, and the standing stones themselves. They were about to ask it questions about the stones, when it ran off to another shuttle.
They followed a few beings to a large complex of shops. There were a large number of other beings perusing the goods in the stores, and generally wandering around making a nuisance of themselves, reading brochures, and taking images of everything.
They made their way through the crowds to the trail which led towards the stones themselves. Several of the other tourists gave them curious glances. What was this species? Were these the new humans? They tried to be surreptitious in their gazes, but failed miserably.
"We’ve attracted some attention," said Jamie.
"Never mind," said Anna, feeling a bit freer than usual. "Let’s get on."
They walked quite a distance, and found the entrance to the Standing Stones, like an observation point over a spectacular view, which is what it was.
They stood in awe.
Rather than what Anna had glimpsed in the caves at Perdita, she could now see the full impact of the Stones from a distance. They were incredible. Standing stone sentinels from a distant age of endeavour. They stood in the weak sunlight, in their twin circles, as if a witness for times past. The stones themselves had been subject to weather, earthquake, and the ravages of civilisation, however most of the stones still stood upright. A few had fallen over, and some were missing.
There was a new building standing before you entered onto the plain where the stones stood. It had a museum, and some explanation of the various archaeological digs and studies.
Anna and Jamie looked at the exhibits, and read the cards. They couldn’t find any references which would help them with the Destiny Stone.
They followed the other tourists out to the stones. There was a viewing circle around the stones, and a small fence. There were signs which were translated as 'Do not cross the fence line'. The fence was obviously there to mark the perimeter, and discourage beings from wandering amongst the stones themselves, and potentially causing damage. The fence was not very high, so as not to block the view, as if it was more a representation of a boundary, than a real obstacle.
The path outside the fence led them all the way around, and they walked in awe. The stones were impressive. Not on the scale of modern architecture, but thinking of when they were likely to have been erected, and the level of society which had achieved it, it was stunning in its conception, vision, and realisation.
There was an eerie quality to the stones as well, even with the bright chatter of the other tourists intruding on their thoughts and experience.
"Can you hear a kind of humming?" Anna asked Jamie.
"Humming?"
"Yes. Almost like a singing or ringing tone. Like a bell or gong struck, and the resonance after the sound has almost died away."
Jamie stopped and listened.
"Can’t hear anythin’ apart from the quacking of these tourists," Jamie commented sarcastically.
They stood in silence and looked at the stones. Jamie took Anna’s hand, and she let him. She squeezed it slightly. They stood for some time in companionable silence. Then Jamie turned Anna towards him, and looked into her eyes.
"Anna."
"Jamie."
A brawny hippo tourist family barged by them, and they stood apart.
"Do we have to?" a hippo child was wailing.
"Yes. Just shut up, and I’ll give you some sweets when we get back to the shops," replied a harassed mother hippo.
They looked at each other and laughed. Jamie kissed her softly on the lips. The soft kiss started friendly, but lingered as if it was something more. They could see some other tourists bearing down on them, so Jamie took Anna’s hand and pulled her with him as he stepped over the fence. He waited for an alarm, but nothing obvious happened. They walked briskly towards the stones, still holding hands.
Up close, the stones were magical. Anna could feel the sense of history, of ages, in the rough-hewn surfaces, marked by centuries of weathering. How long had they been here? Who had made them? The fact they were almost the same as the circles in the Perdita caves was amazing. Similar stone circles had been documented on the old Earth. The sense of the continuity of ages sunk deep into Anna’s psyche.
Perhaps this was what it was about? Race memories? Genetic imprinting? Some kind of inbuilt pattern to the development of species mirroring the same patterns and forces of the universe itself?
She stood at the altar stone and looked down. Disappointingly, there were no carvings on the surface of the stone. She placed her hand on the stone altar, which this time was intact. Her vision shifted. She was there, but not there.
She looked up.
There were no tourists, nothing. No Jamie. Just the wind blowing across the plain and through the stones. Next to her instead of Jamie, was a figure, a very tall, what looked like a human but wasn’t a human, which was all she could describe it as. But the figure was tall, and so was she. She was a being like this one. They stood by the altar stone, and the figure beside her moved over to one of the other standing stones. He, and she could see he was a he, used a laser pen to mark some figures into the stone. She watched, and moved to stand beside him.
"Will they follow?" she asked him.
"We will see," he replied.
/> "Will they be the righteous?"
"It’s with the gods," he said, and smiled.
She smiled back, and gazed full into his eyes.
Anna saw her own face reflected there.
Jamie looked into Anna’s face. She was having a vision. Her eyes were glazed over, and she didn’t respond to him. He could see a commotion at the tourist building. They didn’t have much time.
"Anna?"
No response.
Time had shifted.
Suddenly she was the other Anna, Anastasia. Beside her was Vasily. He was carving something roughly into the standing stone.
Their entourage were wandering around in the stones, with the dogs chasing various smells. It was raining softly. They were getting very wet, even though they had rain jackets on.
He finished, and made a self-satisfied noise. "There. I’ve made my mark on history. When I find the amulet, and combine it with the Stone, people will revere my words."
He turned and looked at her.
"You look lovely in this light," he said.
It could have been romantic, only his face was contorted in a sneer. He stepped back and strode away, calling the others to him, like the dogs they were.
Anna put a hand to the stone. She could feel its power. She didn’t understand who had built these circles or why, but she understood the song they sung. She felt she'd been here before.
"Anastasia!"
She sighed, turned, and followed her master.
"Anna!"
Anna came back to herself. She was standing at one of the standing stones, with her hand up against it. She could indeed feel its power. She had been here before.
"We’ve got to go."
Jamie was beside her again, but was pulling at her arm.
"Wait!"
She took several images of the carvings in the stone. One was very weathered, and almost not recognisable. She hoped the images could be enhanced later. The other she had only just seen Vasily carve. It was the same Cyrillic writing from the Perdita stones. This was more recognisable, as it was cruder, and hadn’t been there as long as the other writing.
She looked at Jamie, who indicated a direction with his head. There were several dog guards approaching them. They looked official, with black uniforms, unlike the tourist guides who'd not been wearing uniforms at all.
She took some more images. Quickly accessing the ship's systems above them, she used their sensors to take an image of the whole site, so she could work out the location of this one, in relation to the others.
The guards were on them, when she put her pad into her backpack.
"You’re off limits," shouted one of the dog-guards.
"You’re not supposed to have crossed the fence-line," shouted another.
They closed in.
"Sorry?" placated Jamie, with his hands up to shoulder level, and obviously empty.
He mimed not understanding.
"Our translator unit is on the blink," explained Anna to the nearest guard, who didn’t look at all impressed.
The guards didn’t believe them, and took hold of an arm each, and roughly escorted them from the site. They were lucky they didn’t search them, and find the pad with the images on it, and confiscate the lot.
Making their way back to the shuttle, Anna filled Jamie in on the visions.
"So, the ‘gods’ came here furst, and then Vasily and Anastasia," he repeated.
"Yes. It’s the first time I’ve seen the ‘gods’. It was weird. It’s like different versions of me have been here in the same place, but at different times, and with different reasons. How can it be?"
Jamie shook his head. Perhaps she was just dreaming all this?
"I’m not just dreaming all of this," she said as if reading his mind. He looked at her sheepishly. "It feels so real." She sighed. "I’ve had visions all my life. Some of them have come true. Some were of the documented past. They are real. We just have to make sense of them, so they can be of use."
"I believe you," he said.
And he did. When she was so sure, as she was now, he did believe her. Even if it was difficult to explain rationally.
They kept going towards their shuttle. Deep in thought, they didn’t notice someone following them. They were about to board, when a figure rushed at them from behind a neighbouring vehicle, and held a gun level with their heads.
"Stop, or I shoot."
The figure was wearing a cloak with the hood pulled up, so it was difficult to see what it was, only it stood at their height. They raised their arms with palms facing him. Jamie knew he could shift his suit, draw a gun, and return fire, while the suit would protect him, and Anna’s, her. He wondered if their assailant knew too.
"Easy," said the figure.
Dark eyes shone out from under the hood, while the face was largely in shadow. Four legs and hooves projected below the cloak. It wasn’t a dog then.
"What do you want?" asked Anna innocently.
"You. Board your shuttle," he ordered.
There was no way Jamie was going to let him board with them as hostages, take over the shuttle, and then board the Seasprite.
"What if we say no?"
The figure’s body language showed hesitation.
"Then I’ll shoot," he exclaimed.
Jamie and Anna just stood there. The figure lowered his aim, and shot at Jamie’s legs. Jamie felt the impact, hopped a bit as the momentum of the shot was moved by the suit through his foot, and drew his own weapon. The figure in the cloak fired again. And kept firing. He was unloading an entire clip in rapid fire, at the same point on Jamie's leg. Jamie fired back, and missed, since he wasn’t exactly used to firing while hopping. He idly wondered whose stupid idea this had been. He continued to feel the impacts, and used the hop to jump sideways. He fired again, now using the odd hops to control his movement as combat routines in his PC took over to control his movements and aim.
The figure dodged most of Jamie’s fire, taking some hits, but kept firing. Jamie wondered what was he wearing under the cloak? It wasn’t a suit, but had to be some kind of body armour.
With their assailant fixated on Jamie, Anna opened the shuttle hatch, and dodged inside. She'd felt several slugs hit her, and she knew she’d have bruises.
"Jamie!" she yelled.
Jamie jumped back into the hatchway, firing both guns at the figure.
The hatch shut with a clang.
Jamie fell onto the deck with a thump. He tried to get up, but collapsed back again in pain.
Anna looked at him in disbelief. He looked as if he was going to faint. He pulled himself together, and she supported him in getting up, although one leg seemed useless. She helped him to the small seating area for the shuttle. Jamie groaned with the pain, and asked her to find a pain killer, since his medical monitor wasn’t coping. There was no med unit on the shuttle, but looking around, she found a basic first aid kit, designed for a range of beings.
She gave him some pain killers with water from her bottle in the backpack. She knew she needed to get him to one of Seasprite's care-units as fast as possible.
"Jamie!"
She looked at him. He was pale, conscious, but sweating. He smiled, but she could see it was forced.
"We need to go," she said. "Can you fly?"
He nodded, but she could see he was still in pain. When the pain killers took hold, would he be able to focus? She hoped so. There was no way she could fly the shuttle, even though she’d watched Jamie and Snark countless times. She knew what to do, but doing it was another thing entirely.
She helped Jamie into the pilot’s chair. One leg was sticking out straight at a peculiar angle, while the other was under the console. He was still conscious, but what if he blacked out mid-flight?
Jamie started the pre-flight checks, and talked through what he was doing with Anna. He turned on the co-pilot's controls where Anna was sitting. She might need to fly the shuttle at some point, and he needed her to understand the basics.
Th
ey were ready. Jamie was pale, but seemed in control. They exchanged instructions from the ground-based traffic control, and lifted off.
Anna established a coms link with Seasprite, and gave them an update. Snark prepared to be ready to move the ship into place, and engulf the shuttle, rather than the shuttle fly into the hangar area, if he needed to.
Jamie was obviously in a lot of pain. Anna put a hand on his arm, and he glanced at her, trying to smile reassuringly. It didn’t work. He talked Anna through a number of simple procedures. It kept him thinking, so he didn’t just pass out, and she repeated the steps to herself. They flew towards Seasprite.
They were almost there, when Jamie lost consciousness. Anna panicked. What was she supposed to do? Think! She told Snark.
Snark wasn’t sure he could pull this off. He hesitated, trying to weigh which way to do it was the safest.
"What are you doing?" asked Seasprite.
"About to manoeuvre the ship so the shuttle flies into the hangar."
"And what will you do after the shuttle crashes?"
Snark kept his retort to himself for once.
"Is there an alternative?"
"Of course. You let me do it. Only I won't be doing that."
"What will you be doing?"
"This."
Anna was relieved when the speed of the shuttle dropped, and it began to move on its own. Within minutes, Seasprite had it docked in the hanger, and connected to the airlock. Patters and Sissness helped Jamie and Anna disembark.
Jamie was moved to the medical bay, and helped into a care unit. With the care unit sealed, he shifted his suit back to a belt, and the care unit started assessing his injuries. Outside, they watched as the diagnosis was displayed. There was nothing more serious than bruising, but Jamie wasn't going to walking briskly for a while. The care unit gave him a proper pain killer, interfaced with his medical monitor, transferred over a set of instructions to it, and then opened again.
Destiny Stone (A.I. Destiny Book 4) Page 15