The blue stone reminded her of the eyes of the boy on the Collector’s ship. Once the drive was powered up, she could imagine the energy changing in this space, filling her bones.
“I have to say, this excites me every time,” Papa said softly.
“It’s the most powerful ship we’ve ever built, Dean. Would you like to see it on?” Sarlun asked, and Jules’ dad didn’t hesitate.
“We can do that?” he asked.
“Sure.”
They were on the top balcony, and they moved to the edge, where Sarlun lifted a bar to allow them entrance to the small lift that would carry them to the ground level. It was tight with everyone on it, and Brik had to let his tail overhang into the open air as they lowered.
A minute later, the bar lifted on the other side, and they stepped onto the white floor. Everything was so shiny, so sterile. Jules had spent years in a classroom, waiting for this day: when she’d be a real Gatekeeper, traveling around in a vessel like this, moving through portals to help people. It had all come true.
The wall was full of touch screens. It was one large screen, she corrected herself. Wherever Sarlun patted it, the central system menus appeared, and he showed them how they activated the drive.
He brought them through a series of menu lists, and added his personal code into the system before being granted access to the controls. From there, Jules watched with interest as he initiated the drive sequence.
Jules stepped beside her mom as the room began to glow. The crystals in the tube started to grow brighter, first at the bottom, then the light cascaded upward until the entire cylinder was shimmering. She was right. The power coming from this chattered her teeth. No one else seemed to be affected by it, so she didn’t say a word.
“Is it hot?” she asked.
“There is no heat transference. We’ve blocked that with the construction of the holding tube,” Sarlun explained, and Jules walked over the shiny floor, setting a hand on the clear surface of the drive. It was cool to the touch.
“We can power the thrusters up from here, but you’ll mostly be controlling such functions from the bridge,” Sarlun said.
“Are you sure you don’t want to join us on this trek?” Papa asked the Shimmali man.
“No. This trip is for the younger generation,” he said, and Jules realized she had no idea how old Sarlun was. “Just take care of my daughter, and she’ll tell me all about it.”
“I will. You know that,” Papa said.
“More like Suma will take care of him,” Mom said, getting a laugh.
Jules spun slowly, taking in the ambiance of the drive. She thought engineering might be the best room she’d seen yet. Suma would be spending endless amounts of time there, and Jules wanted her former instructor to teach her everything she could about the drive and how it worked.
“Are you ready to see the top deck?” Sarlun asked.
____________
Our quarters were luxurious, even finer than the suite we had on Horizon, if that was possible. We had three bedrooms, a huge living space, and a gourmet kitchen. It was equipped with three full bathrooms, and I thought they may have outdone themselves. Mary smiled as we toured it.
“Nothing like customizing your own quarters on a starship, right, Dean?” she asked.
“You did this?”
“Yes, I did. They asked, I told them what I wanted. Seems fair,” she said, running a hand along the top of the couch. The wall had a screen that ran twenty-five feet across and ten feet high, and it showed a perfect view of Shimmal.
Jules was checking out her room, which was twice the size of the one at our condo, complete with a huge desk and seating area. She was going to love that.
Our floors were the same white as the rest of the ship, and the walls dark gray, making the space feel even larger. “I have to admit that I like it.”
Mary’s hand found my chest. “Good.”
“You sure you’re going to be happy living on a starship for the foreseeable future?” I asked her.
“You bet I am. I’ve seen the way your face lights up every time we’ve discussed the mission. You’ve missed this, Dean. You need it.” Mary’s smile faded.
“I’d be fine, regardless.”
“No, you wouldn’t. Dean Parker has sat on the sidelines long enough,” she told me.
“What about fending off Frasier and his team?”
She rested her hands on my shoulders and gave them a squeeze. “That was you saving the world again. See what I mean? If I stopped you from sticking your neck out all the time, people would die. I’ve learned to let the universe take control. Who am I to hold a Recaster back?”
“That’s just Regnig’s theory. There’s no proof of anything,” I told her, leaning in for a kiss.
“Well, you’ve done a great job of recasting my path, so it’s partially true.” She moved away, sitting at the table. It was long enough to sit eight with ease, and I ran a hand over the wooden surface.
“I hope Mag and Nat are safe. Something feels off about this one,” I admitted.
“I agree. Do you think they’re keeping anything from us?”
I shrugged. “They’ve never asked us to watch their kids before. I mean, Magnus knows trouble follows me, so it must be dire if he wants them under my watchful eye.” I let out a gentle laugh.
“He also knows there’s no safer place than with you on Light, because you wouldn’t let anything happen to the kids.” Mary’s eyes glistened as she spoke, and I sat at the head of the table, gazing over the living room and kitchen.
“This is a little much, even for Sarlun.”
“I think it’s just right.”
The screen behind me beeped, and I turned, tapping the tablet embedded into the wall. Slate’s face appeared. “Hey, boss. We weren’t expected yet, but do you mind if the bridge crew comes aboard early for a peek?”
I saw Suma beside him and shook my head. “By all means. Light is your home too. Be welcome.”
“Is there any food here yet?” Sergo’s voice asked, and Slate turned, telling the Padlog to keep it down.
“See you on the bridge?” Slate asked.
“You bet. Be there in five.”
The screen went dark, and Mary made a tsk sound with her lips. “I was hoping for some time alone.”
“Gross. Can you two not do this while I’m around?” Jules said from the hall near her bedroom.
I winked at Mary and cleared my throat. “We only meant to go over some crew files,” I told her, but Jules clearly wasn’t buying my fib.
“Sure. Did I hear Uncle Zeke?” Her green eyes shone brightly.
“You bet. Want to see the bridge with us?” Mary asked, wrapping an arm over her daughter’s shoulders.
“Yes, Mom. Of course I do!” Jules and my wife hurried ahead, and I followed them into the hallway.
A short time later, we were at the far end of deck six, nothing but oversized double doors separating us from the bridge. I’d seen it in the early stages, when they’d asked me to captain her, but I expected there’d been a few tweaks since then.
“You first, Captain.” Mary stepped to the side, waving me forward. The others approached behind us, and I smiled at them. Everyone was here, all wearing street clothing.
Sergo was with Walo, and he was the first to us. “Captain, good to see you.”
“Sergo, I see Walo hasn’t learned her lesson yet,” I told him, grinning.
“Sir, I’m a changed man,” he said, and Walo shook her head.
“That’s what he says, but I don’t really believe him either,” she joked.
Rivo came over, wearing an expensive-looking suit, the sheen of the green cloth shifting as she moved. “I still can’t believe you’re joining us. What’ll happen to Alnod Industries without their leader?”
“Hopefully, they’ll keep making profits, so I have a home to return to,” she said. Her blue skin appeared slightly darker, her eyes full and healthy.
“You look good,” Mary told he
r.
“Thanks, you too. Nice haircut,” Rivo said.
Loweck and Slate, followed by Suma, were next, and we all said our greetings.
“This is us,” I told them. “I hope you’re not expecting some big uplifting speech, because I don’t have one.” I touched the keypad, and the doors opened, revealing the bridge. I took a deep inhale and stepped through for the first time as Captain Dean Parker.
Once I was inside, the others poured after me, excitedly moving to their future stations, and I slowly walked to the center of the bridge, taking in the sights. There was a circular bulge from the ceiling above me, with panels of soft lighting around it, stretching across the bridge.
The four main consoles were divided into pairs by a footpath toward the viewscreen, and I walked toward them, impressed by the intricate construction. The chair and console desk heights were customized to their main users but could be adjusted for the backup crew. Each console was covered in a dark screen, with lights surrounding it. I tapped one, and a menu appeared.
The viewscreen was what really drew my attention. Instead of one rectangular display like we were used to, Light had three, each slightly curved, creating a panoramic view of space in front of our starship. They extended from the floor to ceiling, making it feel like we were in space ourselves.
“What do you think?” Slate was beside me, hands on hips.
“I think this is just what we needed.”
“I agree.” Slate led me to the rear of the bridge, where three seats were in a row, giving the best view of the entire area. “This is yours.” He pointed to the center one and took a seat to its right.
“And this one?” Mary asked, arriving with Jules.
“That’s for our resident Gatekeeper,” Slate said with a smile.
“Have a seat, Mary,” I told her, and she did, moving around in the supple cream-colored leather.
I copied her, taking the captain’s chair. It felt good. Right. Slate was beside me, a big grin on his face.
“What’s that?” I asked, pointing to the ceiling a few yards ahead.
Suma sauntered over, her snout bending further as she touched a computer screen at a console at the edge of the bridge. “This is where we feed our communications.” She hit something, and Sarlun appeared.
“Glad to see everyone on board,” he said, his image slightly pixelated, the colors partially off.
I stood, moving toward the projection. I ran a hand through it, seeing light cascading over my fingers. “This is interesting. What happened to the good old-fashioned image on the viewscreen?”
Suma answered for her father. “The Alliance has been building these inter-vessel communicators for the last year, and we’ve begun testing them. They’re a good way to remain in contact, even over far distances. Thank you for demonstrating, Father.”
Sarlun seemed about to reply, when his projection vanished, leaving the space empty again.
I yawned, the long day catching up with me. We were supposed to be heading to our vacation getaway for the night, but there was one more place I wanted to see. “I’ll leave you all to tour the ship as you’d like.”
Suma pressed something else, and the same female Shimmal AI I’d seen last year popped out of thin air. “How can I be of assistance?” she asked in perfect English.
“We’d like a tour, please,” Suma instructed it, and the AI nodded, walking through the doors.
“I guess we’re supposed to follow her,” Slate said, exiting first.
Soon it was just the three of us on the bridge. Jules was almost floating with excitement. “This is so fun, Papa. Can we…?”
“See the portal?” I finished for her.
“Do you always read my mind?” she asked.
“Only when you’re thinking the same thing as me.”
The portal was on deck two, and we moved there efficiently, the trip taking five minutes. We all knew this portal had been harnessed from a vacant planet. We’d sent a team of four Gatekeepers to explore, ensuring we wouldn’t be disrupting anything by removing it from the world.
The doors to the portal room were locked, and I used my override code to enter, the lights slowly illuminating as we stepped inside. Symbols glowed along the walls, and I recognized at least half of them now. I suspected Jules knew where almost all of them would bring you. She’d studied them for years.
The portal stone itself was gorgeous, shining a bright green. It was a cluster of crystals, jutting from a long and flat base under the clear table.
Jules walked over to it, her eyes burning hotly.
“Is something wrong?” Mary asked her, but Jules didn’t reply.
We were standing near the exit, out of the transport range, but my girl was near the table, her hand shaking as she touched the surface, bringing it to life.
“Honey, stop it.” I began to move for her, but it was too late.
Six
Jules couldn’t hear anything but the thumping of her heartbeat. The portal was speaking to her, drawing her in. It was much the same as it had been when the Nirzu valley people’s god had called her. She caressed the table, scrolling through the symbols: not of her own volition, but being powered and directed by some outside force.
When she saw the symbol, four circles butted together with an X through their center, she knew it was the right one. She thought she heard Papa, and she wanted to stop and tell him it was okay, but she pressed the icon, and the room was filled with white light.
She instantly placed a sphere of protection around herself and found she was in a body of water. The portal room was dark, and she used her abilities to create a torch of green light on her left hand. She held it up to her surroundings. The room was closed off, nothing but worn stone, the symbols on the wall wiped away from erosion from ages under water. Where was she?
The compulsion to enter the portal concerned her. She also wasn’t confident what the symbol for Light was, but she touched the stone and saw the picture in her mind. She felt better knowing she could return. Her parents were going to be so mad at her. Jules nearly left but stopped herself. There had to be a reason she was brought here.
She searched for an exit, floating through the water inside the cramped stone-walled room until she found that the opening was actually overhead. She swam through it in her energy bubble and pressed through some thick water vegetation, disrupting some brightly-colored sea creatures. There had to be a thousand of them shooting in all directions, their skin a phosphorescent yellow color.
The water appeared deep, with no surface in sight, and she focused, ensuring she’d be able to find the portal stone again. It still called to her, so she’d be able to return home when she figured out exactly where she’d traveled to.
Her dim torchlight showed a wall ahead, and she moved for it, seeing it was an underwater cliff face with openings every few yards. It was too perfect and symmetrical to be natural, each cut-out in the rock approximately two feet high by four feet wide. She stuck her left hand in, curious what was inside, and gasped from within her bubble when she saw the skeleton.
She checked another opening, noticing more bones. She scrambled away from the cliff, unable to count how many of the slots were in it. If each of them had a body…
She moved up now, heading for the surface, her heart racing from the sight of the skeletal remains. She hadn’t looked closely enough to see what their physiology had been, but from the quick glance, they appeared quite humanoid. Two legs, two arms… a skull.
Her instincts were to return to the portal and find her way home, but her curiosity at the planet trumped them. Finally, several unsettling minutes later, she breached the water, using her powers to float above it. The sky was foggy, a cool blue star casting an ominous reflection from the smooth-surfaced lake. It was clear this was no ocean, since she could spot land in three directions.
Jules cautiously hovered over the water, her sphere nearly skimming it as she made for the nearest land. From here the devastation was evident, even before
she’d seen the half of it. There were craters in the ground, rubble where a city once stood. She set herself on the ground, keeping the bubble of energy around her. Jules wasn’t certain what the air was like and wasn’t about to test it, not with the skies so angry and no visible life near her.
The ground was sandy, and she crouched, touching it. Not sand, but perhaps crushed stone from the ancient city. A symbol was hazily etched onto a chunk of rock, and she recognized it as the portal icon. This place almost felt familiar, like she’d been here before, long ago, but she was only fifteen, and that made no sense.
It was like a distant déjà vu. The craters ran deep, and there were four of them, two stacked on two. Wait. This was meaningful. Jules shot up, moving high over the desolation, and she peered at the ground, seeing the craters and rubble forming the exact symbol for the portal. This was a sign. Someone had done this to show their power, but who? When?
Jules moved steadily, racing across the landscape. It was all dry, devoid of vegetation. There had been life under water, but here, on the dusty surface, there was nothing but rocks and dirty uneven land. She found another city eventually, this one in the middle of the continent. It had to have been huge once, but there was nothing left but the same pattern in the earth. Four circles, uprooted buildings forming the X over them.
She lowered again and walked among the holes in the ground. She found white chunks mixed with the rocks and she touched one, pulling a bone out. She dropped it and looked around, seeing more and more white pieces everywhere. These cities were massive graveyards. She wanted to cry for their loss, but she didn’t know them, and it had been ages ago. Her cheeks remained as dry as the sandy landscape.
There was a reason she’d been brought here, and she tried to decipher what it was. Floating high over the debris, she closed her eyes, concentrating. She felt the tug of the portal far to the west, but there was another tug from the opposite direction. It intensified as she flew toward it, until her teeth were clenched, her hand shaking.
She was over an ocean this time. Huge waves tumbled at the shoreline, creating giant whitecaps. There was something in the depths of the water, something drawing her to it. She thought about the Iskios, and how they’d tricked her parents into thinking they were the Theos, there as friends. Nothing about this felt welcoming. The force beneath the ocean was menacing, a threat, and perhaps a younger, more impatient Jules would have dove beneath, her curiosity stronger than her common sense.
The Survivors (Book 12): New Discovery Page 5