Questor
Page 29
“We can investigate that in more detail later, Chang,” the captain said. “No blame is being assigned for this. It would appear whatever it was it’s beyond our understanding.” He took a breath and continued, “The fact is Mr. Hardesty has confirmed we exited in the same area of space as we entered, and that we’re about four days’ normal travel from Rhiava.”
“What!” Barlow was startled. “It’s thrown us backwards?”
“That’s one way of putting it.” It was clear Sullivan was as distressed at the news as the rest of his officers. It was probable Jon just felt worse. “Returning to Rhiava is our best chance for carrying out repairs. We won’t quite be welcome, I suppose, but I’m sure in our distress they won’t turn us away,” the captain said.
The idea of once again seeing Triena was painful, and oh so enticing. His memory showed him a vision of her the day they confessed their feelings to each other. Jon forced himself back into the present. Sara was talking again.
“… and at least if necessary we’ll have access to more resources if we need them.”
“Providing the Rhiava won’t consider they’ve given us enough already. After all, they did ask us to leave,” Piper commented.
“They just felt they were protecting themselves from contamination,” Simpson said.
“And they won’t feel the same when we return asking for more help?” Barlow replied.
“Enough,” Sullivan declared. “We’ve little choice. We can’t complete all the repairs in space, and there isn’t another safe world in this area that we know of. We’ll be limping to Rhiava as it is. We can but trust they will let us land if nothing else.”
The return journey took almost three weeks and everyone’s nerves were at breaking point by the time Jon announced Rhiava was visible on long-range scans, though other than the basic geographical findings the rest of the scans were useless. Chang couldn’t understand the problem and Robert Simpson was frustrated beyond belief because he checked and re-checked the scanners and was convinced they were in perfect working order, yet none of the expected readings could be picked up. No energy of any kind, no transmission system, not even any satellites.
“Is it possible the Rhiava have created a shield of their own to mask the planet and maintain their privacy?” Simpson pondered.
“Hmm, that’s a possibility, I guess,” Captain Sullivan responded. “Their technology is capable of something like that.”
“But I thought the whole point was to avoid using the technology,” Commander Barlow said.
Jon listened to the various suppositions and though he couldn’t be certain, he wouldn’t have expected the Rhiava to hide like that. Their chosen way had been to hide in plain sight and it had worked for centuries.
Lieutenant Piper added, “Besides I don’t think that would stop them receiving transmissions, and I think if they read us they’d have responded. They wanted us to leave but they wished us no harm.”
Jon frowned at Piper’s comment. Piper was right and that fact just added to Jon’s growing agitation. Something was wrong. He didn’t know what, or why he was so sure, but he knew. It didn’t feel right. He glanced at the captain, but decided there was no point saying anything. He had nothing to back up his feelings and as far as the captain was concerned that’s all it would be. Jon had never explained the specifics of his connection with Triena to anyone on Questor, and he didn’t even know if the contact had been severed when he’d left Rhiava, or if Triena may have just blocked it. He’d never known that much about their mental link anyway, he’d just accepted it, and he’d no idea what kind of limit there was to its reach.
At last, the ship limped into orbit around the planet. There was no sign of any kind of shield in the atmosphere similar to that put there by Midea, but neither were there any Rhiava satellites. Chang ran every scan she could without result.
“I don’t like this,” Captain Sullivan voiced the feeling of every member of his crew.
“Sir?” Jon spoke up, not needing to say anything else.
The captain sighed. “Very well, Hardesty. Piper, forward my orders to engineering to prep a small shuttle for immediate launch.”
Jon swallowed and asked, “Who do you want to send with me, sir?” Even now the memory of losing Manny hurt.
Before the captain could reply, Commander Barlow spoke up, “If you don’t object, Captain, I’d like to go along.”
Captain Sullivan nodded. “I had you in mind, Peter.”
Less than fifteen minutes later, Jon flew the shuttle away from Questor. Almost at once Barlow communicated with the ship. Sullivan had ordered constant contact, first to confirm the exterior transmissions were operating and then to ensure they continued to do so as the shuttle dropped toward the planet’s surface. Jon was relieved the system did work as expected, while at the same time his concern grew for the Rhiava.
Barlow reported they were going in to land.
As Jon brought the shuttle low enough to get good visuals of the surface what they found was unbelievable. The landscape was nothing like they’d expected to find, nothing remotely resembling what they’d left behind a little over a month earlier.
“What is this?” Barlow asked. “I thought you were heading for the village?”
“I was, sir. It should be below us, now.” Jon was as confused as Barlow and he was scared.
There was no sign of the forest below, let alone the village hidden there. Instead they were looking at the side of a mountain, scattered with huge boulders among a field of scree. There was little greenery and what they could see was scrubby and sparse.
Piper was asking the commander for an update and Barlow replied in a sharp voice, “Hang on, I’ll get back to you when I have something to report.”
Jon aimed the shuttle for the ancient ruined site, which had been northwest of the village and which had been covered by dense forest growth. However, when they reached the location of the once vast city all they found was more scrub and the edge of a desert which stretched as far as they could see. Jon caught sight of a couple of animals grazing on what little growth there was, animals that at first he thought he recognized. He flew closer, frowning at what he saw. The creatures appeared somewhat similar to the Argeela Lector had shown to Manny and him when they’d been attacked by the Midean patrol, except these creatures where maybe half the size and covered with thick scales.
“What the hell’s going on here?” Barlow demanded. “Everything is so… Those creatures they remind me of something.”
“I don’t know what’s happened, it makes no sense. And yeah, they look like a smaller version of Argeela, except for the scales.”
“And the horn,” Barlow added. He blew out a breath. “I don’t like the thoughts tumbling through my head,” he said.
“If you’re thinking what I am, then neither do I.” It didn’t make sense, but then neither did anything else. “What are you going to report to the ship?”
Barlow met Jon’s gaze, shook his head, and said, “I don’t know.” He chewed his lip as he thought. “I’ll just have to try and stall Piper as long as I can, though if the captain asks me directly—”
“I wish I knew how to explain this, any of it.”
“Jon, take us to Sierrie,” Barlow ordered.
Jon nodded and checked his coordinates before heading for the site of the abandoned Midean Base, though he already believed what they would find. Or rather, what they wouldn’t. He flew over desert, scrub and rocky terrain. He also saw various kinds of animals, some of them familiar and others rather different from what he’d seen on Rhiava before, yet somehow reminiscent of the dinosaurs of ancient Earth—huge, slow, and lumbering but thickly armored. Then he saw the first clear sign of water. A trickle of a river, widening as it flowed through meadows, through bush and at last forest, until the river fed a large lake.
“It’s beautiful,” Barlow said.
“Yes, it is and it’s where Sierrie used to be, or rather will be one day,” Jon said, voice tinged with
awe.
Barlow sighed. “Take us back, Jon.”
“God, this is going to be hard to report.”
“Piper to shuttle. Come in Commander Barlow.”
“Barlow here, Piper. We’re returning to Questor.”
“The captain is asking for an update, sir.”
“I’ll report in person. Barlow out.” He cut the connection.
Jon raised an eyebrow. “The captain isn’t going to like that.”
“He’s going to like our report even less.”
Captain Sullivan was astute enough to order Barlow and Hardesty to his ready room the moment the shuttle returned to Questor. It was clear as the two men walked through the ship that Barlow’s refusal to report via transmission had started rumors flying. Jon had the uncomfortable feeling of eyes following his every move, so much so that he was relieved when the door closed behind them. That was until he saw the captain’s expression.
Captain Sullivan waved them to sit, and without preliminaries, he ordered, “Out with it, Peter.”
Jon sat and listened as Barlow made his detailed report to Sullivan, watching the expressions flit over the captain’s face.
“You’re sure this isn’t some kind of trick perpetrated by the Rhiava?” Captain Sullivan asked, looking from Barlow to Jon.
“I don’t believe so. We flew over half the planet’s surface. As powerful as they seemed to be, I don’t think even the Rhiava are capable of something like this.” Barlow glanced at Jon before he continued, “Correct me if I’m wrong, Jon, but I believe you would’ve been able to sense if anyone was down there.”
“Yes. I might’ve only been in direct connection with Triena, but afterwards I was able to sense the presence of other powerful Rhiava. There was nothing. It felt…barren.”
“I think, sir,” Barlow said, “to verify our conclusion, a science team should be sent down. They should be able to date the rocks and compare them with some of the mineral samples we took onboard before we left.”
Jon had a lot of time to think while the captain disclosed the situation to the rest of the senior officers, Barlow fielding most of the questions. Jon was grateful his crewmates had let him be, left him to his thoughts.
The captain accepted Barlow’s suggestion, and it wasn’t long before Jon flew the larger shuttle carrying a full science team to the surface. It felt strange to Jon to be on the surface of this version of Rhiava, and even stranger he had no doubt at all this was an earlier version of that planet, millennia before the world he knew.
Now, sitting on a rock nearby, watching as the scientists milled about taking samples of anything and everything, Jon thought back to his time with Triena and her people, and he began to piece together those small clues that had passed him by then. Jon remembered the cryptic conversation with Mychlo when the young Rhiava had been so interested in confirming Jon’s name, even asking Jon to write it out for him.
The pieces were falling into place. He understood now Triena knew what had happened—what was going to happen—when Questor left on its journey home. The painful reality was Triena knew Jon had to leave with the rest of his crew because that was what he had done. With the cold chill of certainty, Jon recognized it was the one way Mychlo could have known his name before they met: because it appeared in the Rhiava archives.
Triena left the city behind seeking the solitude of the forest. Her people were being solicitous, too solicitous, so much so that she felt like she was being smothered. She needed space to think, to remember, to understand and even to forgive. She found a shaded spot and lowered herself to the forest floor. Leaning back against the tree, she closed her eyes and let her mind drift.
She was once again sitting with Mychlo listening as he revealed the most protected secret from the archives, the secret that had shattered her dreams and showed her the full impact of bearing the title of Spirit. Her first desire was to bury the secret deep inside and to beg Jon to stay with her, but her first desire was wholly personal and would have meant the betrayal of her people. She talked with Mychlo into the dawn hours and he’d helped her understand the true history of her people and the import of what must happen.
Just before she left him to face what the future must be, Mychlo touched her temple and said, “Forgive my impertinence for I’m not sure whether you’ll consider this a gift, but it can be at least a memorial. Read it when the time is right.” Feeling the memory slip into her subconscious, she frowned, not quite understanding, but she trusted Mychlo so she nodded and continued on her way.
She’d almost forgotten about it, until she’d met Mychlo’s direct gaze as she entered the council hall that morning. His eyes lit up and somehow she knew now was the right time.
Preparing herself, she opened the memory Mychlo had seeded in her mind to find it was a copy from the archive. She gasped as she recognized it was an ancient piece of parchment preserved through the ages with great care. At the top right-hand side was the name Questor, printed in block capitals beneath which was written in neat script: One-Year Anniversary of Our Arrival Here. Then at the left was the name of the intended recipient: Triena of the Rhi.
Knowing who it had to be from and feeling as if she’d been kicked in the stomach, Triena gripped her abdomen, rocking back and forth as tears flowed. Getting ahold of herself, she scrubbed at her cheeks and forced herself to look at the parchment again, her gaze scanning to the end to confirm the signatory: All My Love, Always, Jon Hardesty.
She swallowed, steeled herself, and began to read the words he’d written to her so long ago.
My dearest Triena,
* * *
I wanted to write to you the day we arrived here, the day I realized why you’d had to send me away, but then I knew that would be too soon. Whatever it was that Mychlo had found that made him recognize my name couldn’t have been written that first day. I may have recognized the facts of what had happened but it took me much longer to understand the significance. I’ve attached a separate statement of what happened to the Questor after we left Rhiava, but I wanted you to know I understand.
I’ll begin by saying it took a long time for the crew to accept we’d never leave here again. Sara and her engineers worked like the devil for weeks trying to find a way to make the Questor space worthy again. Those of us who’d had more contact with you and your people understood what was to be, what had to be. Without us making a new life here there would be no you, no Rhiava. It took time but it was accepted the ship was beyond repair and we’ve begun to build a new life here. I won’t pretend it’s not hard, terribly hard, but we’re determined and we will make a success of it. I admit it helps that I already believe – know – we succeed. You, my love, are proof of that.
And yes, I do still love you. With every fiber of my being. Though I didn’t understand the full cause of it at the time, I felt your pain as you sent me away. I believe we both lost the other half of our soul that day, and we can never be whole, but perhaps we can reconnect through the knowledge that you acted as the true Spirit of your people and perhaps that knowledge is what carries through time to eventually make the Rhiava the wonderful people of Triena of the Rhi.
I will carry you in my heart for the rest of my days. Dream of me sometime.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
I have been putting pen to paper, figuratively speaking, for most of my life but only in the last few years have I really pursued writing in a more serious manner, wanting to get my work published so others can read and hopefully appreciate it. I like to write in various genres, though science fiction, fantasy and historical are my favorites.
@LSGibson2
authorLSGibson
www.lsgibsonauthor.com
(100%); -o-filter: grayscale(100%); -ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share