Across a Sea of Stars

by Michael E. Gonzales

  "I see you remember how to hug," he said to her.

  She smiled up at him, "Oh, Cris, we call it the labar, you showed me nothing new." Then she kissed him. "And that, we call labaran."

  From behind him, he heard Tattie clear her throat. Cris stood. "Tattie, this is Bell, the Parenmerian woman I told you about who—"

  "Hello, Bell Fill Ha Fazen Deir," Tattie said.

  "Hello, Tattie Bogle. It's been a very long time."

  Both greetings were delivered in a cold, austere manner.

  "Wait a minute—you two know one another?" Cris asked.

  "I used to hunt the woods near Gala," Tattie said, "until I was told I was no longer welcome."

  "You shot a bolt into the door of Slimbah Cal Mender."

  "It was an accident; I missed a solma that was eating one of his peshema!"

  "Hello!" Cris said, grasping the arms of both women. "Can you two argue this some other time? Bell, where are Gabby, Mouse, and Lava?"

  Bell's features fell, her large eyes filled. "Gabel Os Grizelhos—Gabby, is dead. He stood up to the hordes sent to arrest us and they killed him before the entire village. Lava and Mouse are here somewhere."

  "Bell, I'm so sorry," Tattie said.

  "Let's go find the boys," Cris said, and they went to search the crowd.

  Lava and Mouse were together near the table, looking at the bodies of the dead guards. They were brought to tears at the sight of Cris and Bell.

  Cris noted the hum of conversation was starting to increase. He stood up on the table. "Let me have everyone's attention!" he said in a voice only slightly elevated. "First, we must all remain very quiet. Now, do we have everyone?" Most of the heads nodded. "Okay, this videkanica is our friend, Capek. He is going to lead you all out of here and into the woods to the east, I mean to the Ekalden. The Avory are with us and will protect you. Move to the Ekalden as fast as you can once you're out of the cave."

  "Where do we go?"

  Tattie spoke up, "Two days journey east of here, you'll enter into Geldneth lands where the mountains of Vorner's teeth greet the river Elnek. You will be seen approaching and met before you can cross."

  "Once in the care of my people," Tarnus joined in, "tell them Captain Tarnus has freed you from Bruckna the Sorgina."

  Cris got off the table and approached Capek. "Take them out, get them moving east, then stand by the Meerlow and wait. Okay?"

  Capek looked from the throng of Parenmerians and back to Cris. "I am certain I can be of use to you here, Cris."

  "There is no doubt about it, but I need you to do this."

  "All right, Cris, but I can return to find you."

  "Capek, we might need to get away quickly."

  Capek opened a small panel on his left side, removed a small silver disk, and handed it to Cris. "If you need me, twist this forty-five degrees to the right and press the center. I will find you."

  "Thanks, Capek. And here's my flashlight, so you can see getting back."

  Bell approached Cris, and asked, "What are you going to do? Why not escape with us?"

  "We are going to kill the Sorgina."

  "Cris, you can't. None can."

  "We're going to try."

  "Oh, Cris, you're being foolish—but this might be of help. She resides in the tallest of the towers. She is out most nights, but returns before dawn. You'll know if she is in the tower—it will appear to be burning."

  Cris said goodbye to Lava and Mouse again and gave Bell another labar and labaran, then watched as the entire village departed, following Capek into the caves.

  "Tattie, you take point with your bow. I don't want to have to discharge one of these unless it's absolutely necessary."

  "It's about time you let the rest of us share the danger," she said, and brushed past him.

  Not far from the table, a stone door opened to reveal the way out, a long narrow stairway illuminated with the smelly oil lamps. Tattie led the way, an arrow between her finger tips, her eyes scanning the path before her.

  At the top, a strong, heavy, wooden door stood closed and locked. In its center was a small, barred window. Tattie indicated with a motion of her hand that the nearby lamps be extinguished. Then she knocked on the door.

  From the other side came a voice, "Wa, zat you Begalus? Eh? Muglass, dats you den?" A face appeared at the small window. The guard, seeing nothing, unlocked the door.

  The instant Tattie heard the bolt slide back she sent her arrow through the tiny aperture. The guard fell dead, the arrow having passed through his left eye and into his brain.

  The corridor beyond was rather wide with an arched ceiling. Everything appeared to be made of the black stone. Light now came from much larger oil lamps suspended from the ceiling by chains.

  Tarnus grabbed the body of the dead guard and tossed it down the stairs, and then shut the door. "It is fortunate their oily blood cannot be seen on the black stone floors," he commented.

  The corridor led outside to the courtyard. Scattered about were large, unused blocks of the basalt-like stone, the remains of old fires, bones of many different animals and a skull that was no doubt that of a Geldneth.

  But what drew Cris's attention was sitting in the far corner—it was his Eagle. Cris asked Tattie and Tarnus to check the high ramparts for guards. Seeing none, they skirted the side of the wall and made their way to the corner.

  "It's my ship," Cris said as they approached. The Eagle looked much as it did when he first landed, except the port engine had been completely removed and was sitting aside, partially dismantled. Both airlock doors had been forced open. In addition, the probe had been taken from the Eagle's underside. The probe was sitting upside down near the engine; it, too, had been partially dismantled.

  Cris stood looking at the mess. He remembered his colleagues on JILL and his thoughts took him to the IIEA and his rejection for the Mars mission. He had certainly gone farther than Mars. Would any of those people believe all that had happened to him?

  He was about to turn away when his eyes caught sight of something out of place on the side of the probe. He walked slowly toward it.

  "I'll be a dirty son of a—"

  "What is it, Cris?" Tattie asked.

  "I didn't know, no one told me. This had to be Colonel Amar's idea, or he got his orders from IIEA or the White House."

  "Cris?" Tattie was greatly confused by Cris's angry ramblings.

  "I don't believe Major Selina would have sent me out there with this and not told me. The lab coats would never have approved this."

  "Cris!" The booming voice of Tarnus brought him out of his trance. "What is it you speak of?"

  "This!" Cris hissed the word through clenched teeth. His chest began to heave as he tried to control himself, he pointed at a sphere on the side of the probe. "This is a low-yield nuclear device, five kilotons. Most everyone thought I was dropping an exploratory probe, but this bomb proves they planned to destroy the crater!"

  "Bomb?" Tattie asked.

  "Yes, a really big bomb."

  "Can it be of use to us here, now?" Tarnus asked.

  "Hell, no, we'd have to be many kilometers away and—"

  "All right then, we cannot remain here. Look, the top of the high clouds turn to gold—the sun is rising. The Sorgina will return soon."

  "Okay—let me think—we have to make our way up to her tower, kill her, then find that ship of hers."

  They all looked toward the tall tower—at its base was a large double door. They headed toward it at a run.

  They were about ten meters away when they heard a sound that stopped them in their tracks. It was the sound of screaming—not one person, but many. The sound started small and far away but grew louder the closer it got. The horrible sound was reverberating off the interior walls of the fortress, so no one could tell where it originated.

  Then they saw it, above the ramparts, darker than the night sky, and just catching the reflected light of early dawn. A trail of black smoke arched through the sky perhaps two hund
red meters above the fort. It reminded Cris of a burning fighter aircraft as it fell from the sky. However, the head of this apparition contained no wounded war bird.

  The plume of oily, black smoke orbited the tower twice. The screaming became louder the lower it came. It then entered through a round opening near the top. The remainder of the cloud seemed to be sucked into the opening, then its excess wafted out of every window and hole in the top of the tower and its crooked spire.

  The Sorgina had returned.

  ○O○

  Few had ever laid eyes on the Sorgina, fewer still had lived to tell what it was they had seen.

  Like all Sorgina, she was possessed of great beauty, and great evil. Her desire was power, power over life, death, and all in between. Sorgina do not share power. All knew this—Caval Du Mal was surely aware of it, too. His plans must have been drawn accordingly, and of this, the Sorgina, too, must have been aware. Theirs must have been a tenuous relationship, at best.

  The Sorgina took her seat upon her rock throne. The stone was cold and felt good after her exposure to the predawn light. She pulled the darkness closer around her and let its misty chill permeate her body. She perceived something through the stone: a loss of life, warm blood, and the temporary presence of joy. She slid over to a wall and placed her hand upon the wet rock.

  "What troubles you, oh heartless stone?"

  In her mind she became aware that her plans were being upset. Her prisoners were somehow gone, and several of her guards were dead. There was a presence among the rocks that she was familiar with, more than one, and an old enemy was among them.

  She slid her throne back to the center of her frigid chamber and awakened her slave army.

  Her hate began to stir and swirl within her. Her icy blood seemed to freeze. She smiled to herself and cooed, "How wonderful."

  Under the west wing of the fortress, in another sub Nazerian chamber, the three thousand Ahs Dormis soldiers stirred and began their march toward the fortress above. Their single-minded mission: to capture all the intruders and present them to the Sorgina for her pleasure.

  ○O○

  Cris, Tattie, and Tarnus arrived at the door at the base of the tower, and slipped inside. Here there were no lamps. The only light was seeping in from under the door and through poorly sealed windows, whose glass had been replaced with rotting timbers.

  Before them was a wide stairwell, the only way into the tower. Once we get up there, will our weapons have any effect on a Sorgina? Cris wondered.

  At the top of the second landing, Tattie pointed out that an ancient tapestry covered the wall. It depicted the old story of the descent of the Portigalweg into the depths of the Nazer to hide the treasure of the Avory.

  Tarnus stopped to examine the thing. It must be centuries old. He pulled the tapestry away from the wall to look at the back of the massive cloth work.

  "Tattie, Cris!" he said. "There is a passage behind here."

  "Which way does it go?" Cris asked.

  "It descends, it's a winding set of steps carved directly into the stone."

  "Wrong way, let's keep going," Cris said, then turned and continued his way upward.

  Two more landings, and all noticed the light growing dimmer. Cris asked Tattie to join him and be his eyes in the event it got any darker. They were halfway up a set of steps when Tattie saw it flowing down the stairs like a thick fluid.

  "Cris, it's the black smoke!" she exclaimed.

  "Where?"

  "All across the steps and floor above."

  Without hesitation, Cris fired his weapon. "What happened with the smoke?" he asked.

  "It recoiled, but it's still coming."

  "Get me to the landing below."

  Once down, Cris fired two more bursts. By the flash from the weapon's discharge, he could see the smoke recoil, it was less the power of the projectiles he fired than the light and heat the discharge produced.

  "Tarnus!" Cris shouted.

  "I am here, Cris."

  "Take Tattie and get out of here!"

  "No!" she screamed.

  Cris fired three more times. "No time to argue! Tarnus, do it now!"

  ○O○

  Reluctantly, Tarnus grabbed Tattie, who struggled violently against him, and he started down, dragging Tattie all the way. As they descended, the rate of Cris's firing increased. He was in trouble. Tarnus intended to get his orbrena to the bottom and return to help Cris. How he was going to keep her down there, he'd not figured out yet.

  As they passed the tapestry, a new sound was added to that of Cris's fight above. They both recognized it immediately. Ahs Dormis, and by the sound of the shuffling feet and heavy breathing, there were a great many of them.

  "Back." Tarnus pulled Tattie along by her hand, and they both raced up the steps; here, Tarnus grabbed Tattie again and directed her toward the spiral stairs behind the tapestry. Above, the firing had stopped.

  The steps led down and down in a tight turn. There was insufficient light even for Tattie and Tarnus to see, this slowed them. Tarnus prayed that the steps did not end at some underground precipice or in a dead end where they could do no more than simply wait for death.

  A few more turns and a dim light became visible below. They reached the bottom and found themselves looking down a long narrow tunnel lit by those oil lamps. His weapon at the ready, Tarnus took the lead. He glanced back over his shoulder to check on Tattie. She was watching their rear, but crying.

  ○O○

  Cris awoke to find himself bound and sitting on an ice cold, wet stone. He could see nothing. It was bone chilling cold wherever he was. He felt as if he'd never be warm again. He shivered violently.

  A female voice filled the frigid air all around him, it seemed to be both close and far away, it echoed and reverberated around him and, somehow, its sound made him colder than he was already.

  "Cristóbal Salazar, pilot from the planet Earth. A veteran of war upon your own planet, and for some reason, you are haunted by the many acts of violence you performed, despite the fact that your own people call you hero and decorate your chest with tokens for your bravery. You are an interesting man."

  Cris looked about the dark, but saw nothing. "You failed to mention my winning that spelling bee in the sixth grade."

  "Among your own people, that would be called a sense of humor, and to display it in the face of certain death is another act of courage."

  "Am I facing certain death?"

  "Yes, Cristóbal, you are."

  "In that case, I should have been funnier."

  "I will be interested to see how a courageous Earth man faces death…a slow death. I will give you plenty of opportunity to cry out for the mercy of a fast release from pain."

  "Just how big a coward are you that you won't face your captive all trussed up like this?"

  In response, Cris heard a low chuckle, but slowly the smoke around him began to glow a pale, cold, blue color. Still, he could see nothing. Then, he felt his stone seat sliding slowly forward. The sound it made was like fingernails on a chalkboard. In front of him, something began to materialize. It was a figure sitting on a large stone chair. The figure was that of a woman, all dressed in blacks and dark shades of gray. Over her face was a sheer veil.

  Regardless, Cris could see she was quite beautiful. Of course, her hair was jet black. Her skin, though little was truly exposed, was an ashen color. When she rose, he could see she was quite tall, about two meters. She was willowy in stature and moved as if floating.

  She approached Cris slowly. "Here, Cris—this is as much of me as any living creature has ever seen. I hope you feel honored."

  "Oh, let me tell you, I'm ecstatic. Still—I understand why you live in darkness."

  "And why would that be, Cristóbal?"

  "Well, if I were as gruesome as you—"

  The dim light instantly vanished and Cris was again plunged into total, frigid, darkness.

  "Your rhetoric I now find boring," the witch said angrily. "But if yo
ur standard of beauty is Tattie Bogle, then I will remove her face from her skull and you may carry it with you to your death."

  "You'll have to catch her first."

  "And what makes you so sure I have not already done so?"

  "Because I'm here, alone, and you haven't started the festivities yet."

  There was a long pause in their conversation before the Sorgina resumed. "You are a clever man, Cristóbal. However, before very long you will see her, and her uncle standing before you, and you shall watch them scream, suffer, and die."

  The black smoke began to move, to swirl, faster and faster. He felt it all about him like a vortex of wind. His stone seat was pulled out from under him—or was he pulled off of it?

  Soon, he was plummeting, but he could not determine if his movement was up, down, or lateral. Then, he was on the ground at the base of the tower, and the black smoke was withdrawing into the highest window.

  Cris looked about. The courtyard was filled with Ahs Dormis, all attired as some sort of soldiers in leather vests and black cloth trousers. Those near him carried swords or spears. The rest carried rama. Two of them picked Cris off the ground and set him on another block of stone near the Geldneth skull. All the Ahs Dormis then stood motionless, only their struggle to breathe indicated them to still be alive.

  Cris glanced over at his Eagle and the probe sitting near it. If I could just get some uninterrupted time alone with that bomb, he thought to himself, I'd show that witch some light and heat she'd never live to forget.

  ○O○

  Down in the tunnel, Tarnus and Tattie heard the voice as if it were in the tunnel with them. "Tarnus—how are you, my old enemy? So nice to have you back, I had been told you were dead. Is this not fortuitous? Now, we can settle our old score.

  "Bring your orbrena, Tattie Bogle, with you to the courtyard. A friend of yours awaits the pleasure of your company. You have ten counts of the sun to appear. After that I will start removing his limbs."

  Tarnus and Tattie had passed a stairwell that ascended, but at the time, had opted against it. Now, they hurried back.