I glazed over the stack of books offering theories on quantum physics, as well as a history of his home on Terell. “This must be very difficult for you.”
His gaze met mine. “Is that so?”
“Well, not exactly, but I’ve heard your tale from a reliable source. Maybe you’d care to share it with me?” I asked, truly curious about him.
“What would you like to find out?” he asked.
“All of it. I was told Terell wasn’t much of a planet for a young man with big dreams,” I said, relying on what Regnig had told me about the man all those years ago.
“That much is true,” he said, giving me another smile. No matter what his expression held, I saw a sadness in his eyes that was unmistakable.
“Was your father a tree feller?” I asked, wondering how accurate Regnig’s information had been.
He shook his head. “Close. I’m surprised you’d know any of this. I’m just a man, one that disappeared over two thousand years ago.”
“You were intriguing to many, including myself.”
“My father bought the logs, stripped them of bark, and sold to someone else to process them. He was the middleman of all middlemen. The monotony of his day-to-day was suffocating to a boy like me. I longed for much more, and when I finally escaped Terell, I did end up in the arms of a slave trader.” His stare grew distant, like he was reliving the moment he’d been caught. “They threw me in a cage, beat me within inches of my life. My future boss and friend, Yonil of the Motrill trader ship Caste, saw me inside the cage while he exchanged with the thugs, and when they wouldn’t sell me to him, he bartered for my life with something worth more than me.”
“What was it?”
“An ancient artifact he’d kept on his bridge for good luck. To this day, I can’t confirm what it was, but from what the others told me, it was very dear and precious to Yonil. You see, he took pity on me that day, and I owe him everything… though now, he’ll have been dead for over two millennia, and I have no way to ever thank him again.”
“I have a feeling he knew how much it meant to you,” I said.
“That’s true. I worked with him for a decade, at first stacking boxes and helping negotiate, then becoming a buyer of antiquities. I made him a lot of money in those years, because I learned to have a good sense of what was valuable, and what would fetch him a higher market value in a different system. I loitered in lounges on seedy space stations, spending good coin on rumors, and found out who needed what. It was a prosperous arrangement for us both, but it all changed when I met Farel.
“Up until that point, even at nearly twenty-eight years of age, I hadn’t known so much as a hint of love, but seeing Farel on Relox Station… that was like someone stabbed me in the heart with a blade. Once again, we had to barter for her life; this time, it was I who fronted the cost, because it was only fair. She was worth all the riches in the universe.
“Hair as soft as silk, skin as smooth as water. She was the epitome of beauty, Dean.” He turned his attention to the books, and his fingers fiddled with a textbook spine. “Did your research discuss the genetic flaw in some Terellions?”
“I heard you didn’t age… or don’t age, I suppose.”
“That’s correct. I didn’t know it at the time, not until we were around forty. She began to change, to show signs that she was growing older, but I remained the same youthful man. The physical differences never bothered me, but they did her. She grew ashamed as she aged, and when she was fifty, she asked to move to somewhere secluded, away from others.
“We’d amassed a small fortune by that time, me hitting it big on a few archeological digs. You’d be surprised at the treasures left behind on some worlds,” he said softly.
“But they didn’t matter as much as her,” I told him.
“You bet they didn’t. We bought a place on Bazarn Five. I hear the planet has changed a lot since I lived there,” he said, adding in a chuckle.
“I think everything has changed in two thousand years.”
“I would assume so.” He stopped talking, and I could tell thinking about his wife was still a fresh wound.
“How long was it after she passed that you were caught by the Collector?” I asked.
He tapped the table with a fingernail before answering. “At least a hundred years. I spent all that time trying to find a way to return to her. I knew there had to be something that would help, a time travel device that could make me change the past.”
“And?” I asked, not wanting to mention the one I had tucked away under my house on Earth.
“I found one. Yes, I did. It was life-changing. The cache was on a hunk of rock in the middle of nowhere. The only reason I even heard of it was because of an off-handed comment one of my sources from Nebultra made. He mentioned a rock with an emblem on it, a symbol.”
“What was the symbol?” I asked.
“For a long-lost race. The Zan’ra.”
I leaned forward, the name sending a shiver down my spine. “What was the symbol?” I repeated.
“Four circles, two stacked on two. An X through them.”
My heart raced. “X marks the spot.” I had so many questions, but I held my tongue, letting him finish his story. That symbol was the same one Jules had seen on the planet that called to her. Those words she used and had cried out in her sleep ever since the encounter two weeks ago. Free me! How were they connected to the time-travel device I’d used to send Lom of Pleva twenty years into the future?
“Do you know of this symbol?” It was his turn to lean closer to me. His eyes were wide, and I sensed his distress.
I nodded but didn’t expand.
“On this rock, a piece of an ancient planet, I presumed, I found a cave under the surface. In it were a few artifacts and the time-travel tool,” he said.
“What were the other artifacts?” I asked, my voice catching in my throat.
“Nothing I could discern. I think they were either broken or rubbish.”
“Where are they?” I asked.
“In my hidden collection,” he told me.
“I’ve been there. Regnig did a great job cataloging everything. What items were they?” I asked, and he laughed in response. “What’s so funny?”
“That wasn’t my real collection. That was the secondary one,” he said.
“You mean you have another hidden treasure chest somewhere?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
He nodded. “I do.”
“What’s in it?” I asked, licking my dry lips and wishing I had some water. The name Zan’ra echoed in my mind, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that was the name of the race Jules had coursing through her veins.
“Everything.”
Eight
The Tedaus homeworld was directly beneath them, and Jules sat in the shuttle close to her mother, who also wore full Gatekeeper gear. Dean was with them, his youthful eyes glimmering behind the helmet of his armored suit.
“Do you remember what I said?” her mom asked.
“Listen, speak if spoken to, and be kind and courteous. We’re representing the Gatekeepers, Light, and the Alliance of Worlds.” Jules listed off the things she’d memorized, and her mom seemed pleased.
“And, Dean, what do you do if they ask you why they should join the Alliance?”
“Refer them to you?” he asked after a brief hesitation.
“That’s right,” Mary said.
Jules watched closely as they lifted away from the giant starship, leaving the hangar. They were piloted by Rivo, and she silently flew them toward the planet, slowly dropping in orbit as they rotated the world, seeking their proper destination on the southern hemisphere.
She was excited to be on her first real negotiation and interaction with an unknown race as a Gatekeeper. She’d looked at herself in the mirror earlier that morning, seeing a young woman in the reflection. Most of the time, she thought of Jules Parker as a little girl, one that used to tug on her father’s shirt sleeves and say things like “I
can help.” She smiled at the memory of the little innocent girl she’d been.
Jules wasn’t far off from her, even though she’d had to take on the burden of destroying another lifeform. She glanced at Dean, who was staring out the viewscreen.
“Mom, why is Papa acting so strange the last few days?” she asked her mom quietly.
The shuttle broke through the atmosphere, the ship rocking ever so slightly.
Her mom’s face gave it away instantly. “Nothing, dear. You know your father. He gets caught up in something, and becomes distracted.”
It was obvious she was keeping something from Jules, but this wasn’t the time to have it out. Not when they were about to meet the Tedaus on their own world, and not with Rivo and Dean in the shuttle with them.
“Okay,” was all she said, letting it slide for the time being.
“We’re going to reach their leader’s home in four minutes,” Rivo advised them from the pilot’s seat, and Mary sat still, her hands resting on her palm as she breathed deeply.
“Are you okay?” Jules asked her mom.
“Of course. This could be a great deal for the Alliance, and I really want it to be successful,” she told Jules.
“How come no one has met with them yet?” Dean asked. A good query.
“We asked to send someone before, but they weren’t ready. When I found out we were traveling in the vicinity, and I use that word loosely in regard to space travel, I requested another meeting, and they agreed,” Mary told them.
“Thank you for letting us accompany you,” Dean said. Jules smiled at how polite he was with her mother. He was a far cry from Patty in that department. Papa could hardly stand her whining and constant chatter, as he called it.
“You’re one of us now, Dean, and we’re lucky to have you two. Where do you eventually see yourself?” Mary asked while they made the last few hundred kilometers in the shuttle.
“I really haven’t considered that. I always thought I’d end up with my parents on Horizon, or maybe I could stay on Light, as long as you’ll have me.” He glanced at Jules, and her heart sped up slightly.
“Here we are.” Rivo turned to them as the shuttle’s landing gear descended, and they touched the ground.
The shuttle opened, and Jules noticed her mother grip the pulse pistol locked to her uniform, standing in front of them as she disembarked from the craft. Dean went next, and Rivo remained on the ship after being asked to wait for their return and to stay in communication with their starship above.
Jules wished she didn’t need the helmet, but they weren’t taking any risks. The landscape was a beautiful display of auburn and golden fields, and from the vantage point on top of a slight hill, it appeared as though the crops went on for miles in each direction. There was a structure here, a rustic home with an outbuilding, likely a barn of some kind. It reminded her of their house in the Midwest back on Earth, where Papa had been raised.
It was sunny, the system’s star a red giant. Everything had a slight burnt tinge to it, and Jules followed her mother, careful not to bump into her as she gawked around the area. The buildings were large, but she hardly noticed the beings until they were almost underfoot. She jumped away, startled, but her mother didn’t falter. They were only as tall as Jules’ waist, reed-thin and wearing the same outfits from the pixelated images they’d seen on Light.
“Welcome to our home, Alliance,” the lead Tedaus said, her voice smooth like water.
“You speak our language,” her mom said. “Thank you for learning.”
The Tedaus shook her head. “I had the modifications. We voted, and I was selected to bear the burden of communication.”
Burden. That was an interesting choice of words. Jules studied them. There were five in total, each roughly the same height, all of them skinny as a wheat stalk themselves. She guessed they’d sway in the breeze if there was one.
“We appreciate the effort. My name is Mary Parker, and I’m the head of the Alliance of Worlds board, as well as a Gatekeeper for the Alliance. This is Jules and Dean, and they’re recent graduates of our Gatekeepers’ Academy, here on their first diplomatic outing,” her mother said, her voice calm and friendly.
The Tedaus eyed them before speaking. Their heads were round, their hair golden like the crops. They had sizable eyes, blinking curiously, heads tilted as one stepped toward Jules. Their leader grabbed his arm, keeping him in their group.
“I am Awali. I speak for my people.” The others broke out in hushed tones, their words lapping like water on a beach. Jules assumed the communicator was female, if only because of the gentle curves on her cheeks, the difference in her stance. But she’d been taught never to make assumptions about this kind of thing in the Academy.
“We are pleased to meet you, Awali. Is there some place we can speak?” Mary asked.
Awali appraised them, her gaze lingering on each of them before returning to Jules’ mother. “We are speaking.”
“Do you have somewhere more comfortable? Somewhere we can talk terms, and…”
The Tedaus lifted a long skinny arm and pointed toward the fields. “There. We will go there.” She walked away from her group, the other four seeming totally fine with leaving her to be surrounded by three armed strangers in EVA suits.
Dean had remained silent, and so had Jules as per her mother’s instructions, and they kept their word as they trailed after the tiny alien. In a couple of minutes, they arrived at the edge of the fields, and Awali stopped, lifting a finger. The crops were taller than her, and Jules thought she felt something radiating from the Tedaus woman as she spun her hand in the air.
The crops bent, parting a path into the field. “How did you do that?” Mary asked quietly.
“What are you asking?” Awali asked, her eyes bright and wide.
“The crops moved for you.”
The woman nodded. “That is correct.” She entered the field, careful to avoid stepping on the plants. Mary followed, and Jules went next, moving as cautiously as she could. Dean staggered, bumping into Jules, and she spun to catch him.
“This is cool,” Jules whispered to him.
“You’re not kidding. A slight alien that can speak to plants. Suma would love this,” he said quietly.
They continued on, but only for a few minutes, moving slowly though the chest-high crops. Jules glanced toward the house and saw at least a hundred of the Tedaus gathered there now, forming a circle. She wondered what was happening but didn’t voice it, letting her mother take charge. Mary had loads of experience dealing with different cultures, far more than Jules did, even though she’d shared classes with various races at the Academy. This was different, more alien to Jules.
They stopped suddenly and pressed through the crops to arrive in a clearing. It was an oval in shape, reminding her of Papa’s old tales about crop circles. Even with everything they’d seen, he was still confident they’d been hoaxes. He’d once showed her a field near their farmhouse where a mysterious pattern had appeared when her father had been ten or eleven years old. He and his friends had spent a few nights out there afterwards, trying to spot a UFO.
Jules grinned to herself, thinking about her dad as a kid, Hugo’s age, trying to see an alien vessel. Times had changed, all right.
“Welcome to the Convocation,” Awali told them.
“This is where you meet?” Mary asked.
“Each farm has a Convocation within their fields, and this is mine. We gather inside during times of discussion,” Awali said.
Jules’ mother paused and reached a hand out to touch a stalk of the wheat-like crop. “You speak with the crops, don’t you?”
Awali’s eyes grew wider, but she nodded. “We do.”
“And they speak in return?”
“Inside the Convocation, yes.”
“And they moved for you out there, giving you passage, correct?” Mary asked.
“That is correct. We are one with the Penatrim.”
Jules guessed that was the name of thei
r crop. Cool air softly blew inside her suit as the temperature increased. Dean shifted from foot to foot, as if expecting a monster to emerge at any given second.
“Are you willing to share your Penatrim with others? Perhaps barter with the seeds so that others may grow the crop on their planets?” Her mom spoke slowly but not condescendingly.
Awali shook her head. “We cannot do that. We are the only ones who may grow it.”
“Has anyone else tried to cultivate it?” Mary asked, and Jules felt the tension in the Convocation escalate. The crops began to shudder, shaking as if there was a gust of wind, but there wasn’t; the air was calm.
“None can grow it. But… we are willing to share it, nonetheless. We nurture it. Trade with the Alliance,” Awali said.
Her mother nodded slowly, her helmet glinting with the red star’s glow. “That is favorable. What do you seek from a trade partner?”
The crops shook again, and Awali’s voice trembled. “Protection.”
“Protection? From what?” Dean asked, breaking his silence.
“From the Sprites.”
____________
The guards let me pass into the portal room, and I stepped inside, anxious to see what Regnig had to say about things. That would have to wait for another day, though. I didn’t like leaving at a time like this, but after my discussion with Fontem, I had to make a quick stop on Earth.
With Mary and Jules on the Tedaus world, I was even less thrilled about leaving Light. The portal room glowed as I walked inside, my boots clacking against the hard, shiny floor. The tablet lit up as my fingers found the surface, and I scrolled, finding Earth’s symbol.
Fontem had been quite forthright with me, and I appreciated it. But it still felt like there was something he was holding back as he told me about the secondary cache he’d hidden away. It was far from any civilized worlds, and he’d even allowed me to check the Crystal Map to see if there was a portal planet near his treasure trove. There was nothing for over five light years, meaning that if we wanted to get there, we needed to fly. Even with the powerful engines on Light, it would take nearly a year to arrive.
The Survivors (Book 12): New Discovery Page 7