by Tor, Magus
As the young man left, Lord Camuse spun in his seat to gaze on the portrait of the Supreme Emperor that hung on his wall.
“It seems that the last phase of your plan is now engaged,” he muttered. “And I shall not fail you this time, Father.”
*
Maicee regained consciousness to feel a sharp pain coursing through his back, searing and stabbing as he breathed. Slowly, he managed to open his eyes but saw only a blank white ceiling above him. He struggled to put things together and make sense of them; it was the familiar smell of medical antiseptic that made things click into place. He shivered a little with cold, though his right hand felt strangely warm. Carefully turning his head to inspect his hand, he found that it was being clasped tightly by a pale Ausanne.
“You're awake!” she cried, noticing his movement.
“It seems so,” he grunted, the effort of speaking making his back burn more against the sheets. Then he remembered what had brought him here. “Were you hurt by the Fire Flies?” he asked with concern.
Ausanne shook her head, tears prickling at the corners of her eyes. “But only because you sacrificed yourself to try and protect me.”
She took a moment to breathe deeply, to control herself and banish the tears.
“Maicee, I owe you an apology,” she said when she was able to speak again. “I've acted like a spoilt child, ignoring you for the past few days because you hurt my feelings. And, well, I was wrong. I don't deserve a friend like you. I'm truly sorry.”
She bent her head, and Maicee turned in his bed, taking a big breath and holding it to ward off the pain as he very slowly pushed himself to a sitting position. In concern, Ausanne moved to help him, and then her face changed. Her mouth and eyes opened wide, her cheeks flushed. She uttered a small gasp and collapsed back onto her chair, still staring at Maicee.
For a second he didn't understand, and then he realised he felt cold, colder than before. The act of struggling to sit up had pushed his sheet down to his waist, revealing his naked chest. And his secret. Hurriedly he grabbed the fabric and pulled it back up to cover himself, but it was too late.
“Maicee...”
He sighed. “I guess the secret's out now,” was all he said.
Ausanne nodded slowly, still barely believing what she'd just seen.
“Um, maybe it's I, then, who owe you an apology,” Maicee said. He stared down at the plain white sheet in front of him. “I never meant to lie to you, Ausanne. I was sworn to secrecy. There was nothing that I wanted more than to tell you the truth.”
To his surprise, Ausanne started to laugh. She laughed until she was almost crying and until Maicee was close to hysterics too.
“I think we're even now, don't you?” she asked, wiping her eyes. “I... oh, Maicee, let's just start again. As sworn sisters, okay? And your secret is safe with me for as long as it needs to be. Though I wish you'd tell me why you need to be so mysterious and secretive.”
Maicee didn't have the chance to respond as Kabi entered the room.
“Well, well,” said Kabi, eyeing Maicee with renewed respect. “You never fail to surprise me.”
“What are you talking about?” asked Maicee, confused.
Kabi sat on the edge of his bed. “We won the battle. Because of you.”
Maicee looked askance at him. He really had no memory of what had happened.
“You somehow managed to conjure up a wall of spiked ice between you and those Fire Flies,” confided Kabi. “And not only did that soften the damage of the little bastards, but your spiked wall retaliated and killed the Mageling. From the look on his face as he died, he was just as shocked as you appear to be right now.” He laughed.
“I did not create the wall intentionally,” Maicee said.
Kabi shrugged. “No matter. You created it—that's all that's important. And you saved us. Bettie and her team suffered minor injuries, one of Major Ulsa'hi's men died, and another is severely injured. That is better than I would have expected for a confrontation this size. And perhaps you can aid the injured man when you feel up to it. It's a relatively simple arm reattachment, I think.”
Maicee stirred as if to get up, and Kabi held out a hand to prevent him.
“Rest first. The limb is stored properly, and the man is stable. It will wait.”
Feeling exhausted, Maicee nodded. What he needed now was good, deep sleep.
*
Lord Camuse sighed. Mageling Randale had been his only son and the only one of his children who had inherited his powers. He was pleased to sacrifice his son for the Supreme Emperor, of course; but though he felt no real grief, he did have a tinge of regret that a Mageling as powerful as Randale was gone.
He placed the report he'd been reading about the battle on his desk, stretched back into his soft leather chair, old bones creaking, and rubbed his chin. A ten-foot ice wall with spikes. That sounded an awful lot like the work of an Archangel to him. But, on the other hand, it did not sound an awful lot like the work of KabiOnn. Hmmm. Was it possible that the Emperor's trap had caught the wrong fly?
Pulling a map from his desk drawer, he pored over it, thinking. The enemy had been last sighted on a remote part of the island. The report said that they had taken prisoners. He assumed that the prisoners were to be used for information purposes, or why take another mouth to feed? And the enemy, whoever they were, would attempt to extort the location of the spaceship from their prisoners.
He laughed. Whoever they were, they were likely to find themselves in the lion's den if they made it this far. And then a sinister idea struck him, making him cackle even more loudly.
*
“We've intercepted a transmission,” said Ulsa'hi, passing the transcript to Kabi.
Kabi looked down at the paper.
“Lord Camuse... spaceship... launch... two days. I... noon... Jambur Hill.”
“The message was very garbled,” apologised Ulsa'hi, seeing Kabi's face.
KabiOnn nodded and pulled up a map on the large bridge screen. “We don't have much time,” he said. “Here is Jambur Hill.” He pointed to a spot distant from where they currently were. “It will take a day and a half to land here.” He indicated a small bay. “And then a further day and a half to cross the jungle to reach the launch site, assuming we don't meet resistance.”
Lucia had been listening and was studying the map over Kabi's shoulder. “Why don't we land here?” she asked, pointing out another bay. “It's closer. Your way will take a good three days.”
Kabi shook his head. “That is what they'll be expecting us to do. I dare say there'll be an ambush laid out. Trust me, it'll be safer to take the longer route. I have my ways to ensure we'll get there in half the time.” He grinned mysteriously.
Major Ulsa'hi rolled his eyes, but he had come to somewhat trust Kabi. The man was certainly an excellent fighter. “I'll prepare my men,” he said, leaving the bridge.
“I'll brief Bettie to take over command here. I'm coming with you,” Lucia said.
“It's going to be dangerous, very dangerous,” Kabi warned her, knowing that the information would make little difference to her.
The captain just shrugged. “So?”
He smiled at her. “Have it your way.” Then he had a thought. “By the way,” he added, “don't think that I haven't noticed the secret whisperings. I'm more than aware that Falorni, Ausanne, and you, at the least, know Maicee's secret now. I assume it was noticed during emergency medical care. Keeping the secret from the crew is obviously infeasible, but I should like you to remind everyone that Maicee's gender is not news for other ears. His life could be at risk.”
Lucia nodded firmly. “I'll make sure that message gets out,” she said. “And I'll be back to talk to you about our plans for this trip before we set off. We need to discuss things further.”
Kabi nodded, admiring the curves of the beautiful captain as she walked away from him and wondering what prompted her to jump headfirst into danger at every opportunity.
*
<
br /> It was dark when the Freedom silently slid into the small bay. Quietly, Lucia, Kabi, Major Ulsa'hi, and two of his men dropped over the side of the ship into warm, waist-high water. Half-swimming, half-walking, the small band made their way to the soft sand of the beach.
From the bow of the Freedom, Maicee sadly watched them go. He had badly wanted to join them, knowing that wherever they were going, some of his eternal questions would be answered. Kabi had assured him that whatever the others learned, he too would learn. But still, it wouldn't be the same as experiencing it himself. Leaning on the rail, he watched until the group was nothing more than a few flitting movements in the darkness, and he cursed his injuries that had stopped him from taking part in this mission.
From the beach, the group moved through thickening undergrowth until eventually they were in the deep, humid confines of the jungle. Each man had a small lantern specifically designed to throw light no more than a step or so ahead. Even so, Lucia found the darkness suffocating; and the strange, cawing cries of the jungle at night left fear in her heart, though she hid it well. Keeping as close to each other as they could, they made their way through the foetid foliage, trekking for miles as the night slowly faded.
By first light, a clearing was in sight, and Kabi bade Ulsa'hi and his men to rest for fifteen minutes. He, however, began scouring the surrounding foliage for something. Lucia followed him, noticing how his sharp eyes scanned the ground.
“What are you searching for?” she asked in a whisper.
“An entrance to a tunnel,” he said shortly, intent on what he was doing.
He searched the bushes thoroughly until a glittering reflection, white in the new sun, caught his eye.
“There,” he said.
By the time Ulsa'hi had gathered up his weary men, Kabi had already opened the tunnel and descended down, a large burning torch in his hand slicing through the darkness.
“These are ancient stairs,” he called up in warning. “Watch for the loose stones.”
The air inside the tunnel was heavy and musty, and the temperature was a good ten degrees colder than outside. Wrapping her cloak tightly around herself, Lucia quickened her step and caught up with Kabi. She said nothing as they walked the length of the tunnel, footsteps clicking quietly in the echoing space.
Soon, in the light of Kabi's torch, an archway appeared. He led them through it, out into a large stone chamber decorated with ancient graffiti. Smiling in delight, Lucia lit a torch of her own and swung it around the room, examining the rough, colourful drawings.
“It is not real art,” said Kabi, noticing her reaction. “It is nothing but the vandalism of children.”
Unlike Lucia, he could read the words and decipher the images on the walls and knew that they were nothing more than a collection of obscenities. But seeing Lucia's eyes wide with wonder, he decided not to explain to her what exactly she was looking at, instead smiling and chuckling to himself as he watched her reactions.
“There must have been so much creativity in this era,” she said as they began walking again, trailed by Ulsa'hi and his two men. “But why did they build all of this underground?”
Kabi paused for a second and looked at her. It had been a long time since he'd had feelings for a woman. At least the kind of feelings that he thought were growing towards Lucia. He did not want to disappoint her, but neither could he answer all her questions. Seeing the trust in her eyes, however, he nodded shortly and continued walking.
“I am bound by oath,” he said after a few seconds. “I am forbidden to tell you all that I know. I can satisfy no more than a small part of your curiosity.”
“I understand,” Lucia said softly, feeling the grit and gravel under her sandals as the trail became rockier.
“Many centuries ago,” Kabi began, “when humans first arrived on Archeonis, they were being pursued. These chambers, this city—for that is what it became—were built underground to avoid detection from the sky above. Knowledge of this place perished, along with those who once lived here.”
Lucia was burning with questions but, wary of Kabi's warning about the oath he had taken, refrained from asking too many. Confused, however, she couldn't help but ask: “Are you saying that there were enemies in the sky? Enemies from space?” That made little sense to her.
“More than you will ever know,” Kabi said seriously. “And sending a ship into space now will certainly bring them back again. Our pursuers believed that we could never survive the harshness of this planet, so after a time they left us to our deaths. But not only did we not perish, we multiplied.”
Feeling that he had said enough, maybe even too much, Kabi pulled an old document from his pocket. He studied it for a moment, then nodded, stopping.
“This is a map of the ancient city,” he explained to Lucia.
She took it from his hands to examine it, surprised at how vast the underground system was.
“Major Ulsa'hi, we shall rest here,” Kabi said, turning back to the men following. “We shall have three hours of rest before we proceed. We shall still make it to Jambur Hill on time.”
Lucia watched enviously as Kabi stretched his body full-length on the rocky ground, closed his eyes, and appeared to fall instantly into a deep sleep. She pulled her cloak around herself and, propped up next to a wall, tried to sleep too. But it was pointless. She could not help but be curious about this place, not to mention worried about what was to come. Sleep evaded her. Images of the graffiti that she had seen echoed around her head. One phrase in particular, etched in a deep purple, ran around and around: Our Lost Home. This place, for some, had been a sanctuary. And for some reason, the sanctuary of Archeonis was about to be breached. What was the Supreme Emperor thinking?
Chapter Twelve
Leaving the tunnels but staying below ground, the team came out into the true underground city. A trail of footprints was left behind them, clearly visible in the thick white dust that covered the roadways they followed. Empty buildings towered above them; streets forked off, blocked by a variety of vehicles. And everywhere they stepped, a plume of dust rose up into the air. Every now and again a large, sparkling pillar appeared, holding up the roof to the cavernous underground chamber. Windows stared out at them like empty eyes, and the detritus of lives long gone was scattered around them. This place, Lucia thought, is spooky and ever-so-slightly terrifying.
Far in the distance, she spotted a curved white metallic wall, and if she squinted her eyes she could pick out large black letters painted on the surface. N... w... H... v... n. It was a solid hour before they reached the wall itself, and then all five stood in awe, necks craned, taking in the massive metal sheet that towered over them.
Her eyes scanning the wall, she saw a small doorway. Strange. Then, further along, there was a rusty ladder seeming to lead nowhere. Odd. It took her a moment to put all of these things together and form a thought that made them all make sense. And even then, she didn't put it into words. Instead, she spoke softly to Kabi.
“There's something different here,” she said. “Something that doesn't make sense. The vibes are, well, different.”
Kabi grinned and nodded in approval. “Very observant,” he said. “This, my dear, is the real New Heaven. It is the spaceship that originally brought us to Archeonis. After crash landing on the surface of the planet, it was buried deep underground, and the city was built around it. The New Heaven proved to be an excellent administrative centre for the city. And, of course, at the beginning, all power sources and medical supplies were on board the ship. It only made sense to do things this way.”
“Which is why the whole city came to be known as New Heaven,” Lucia said, understanding.
“Indeed,” Kabi said. “Come, let us enter.”
He led the group a short way down the length of the metal spaceship hull until he found a stairway that led to a hatch. Agilely climbing up, he beckoned for the others to follow. As the rusty stairway creaked under their combined weight, Kabi turned the large locks on
the hatch and opened it just as the last man reached the top. A flood of fresh air rushed out to embrace them. Stepping inside, Lucia found herself in a long white corridor, bright and clean, in strong contrast to the city outside.
“Automatons keep the ship clean and operational at all times,” Kabi said, noting her surprise.
The man seemed to know exactly where he was going. So as he walked briskly down the corridor, they followed him, ignoring the rounded plastic doors on either side of them. Kabi reached an elevator and, pressing a button, took them all down a level. They stepped into a large chamber filled with containers full of things that they couldn't identify. A small, round automaton buzzed over, cleaning up the dust of their footsteps and seemingly chiding them for being so messy. And still Kabi walked.
As they exited the large chamber and entered yet another long corridor, this one decorated with pictures of places Lucia was certain weren't found on Archeonis, Kabi checked his chronos and called a break. There were still six hours until the launch of the spaceship; they could afford a rest. Ulsa'hi and his men went to examine the pictures they'd seen, and Kabi sat on the floor, lighting a Sigar and smoking contentedly.
“I don't understand,” Lucia said, coming to sit beside him. “This whole place looks like it was once a thriving city. Why was it abandoned?”
“It wasn't abandoned,” said Kabi, blowing out a plume of smoke. “It was emptied.”
“Meaning what?” She watched his smoke dissipate into the air.
“The leader of New Heaven at the time was known as Professor Calen Mandrake,” Kabi explained, still smoking. “He was the one who brought us to this planet. But humans are humans, wherever they're planted; and after a few happy years, factions began to evolve and conflicts began.” He sighed, shaking his head at the foolishness of men. “So Calen threw everyone off the island. Only he and the Archangels remained, continuing their research. And after the Professor died, the Archangels remained alone, until they were betrayed and then annihilated.”