The Survivors (Book 12): New Discovery

by Hystad, Nathan

  His words translated as he walked, and we listened closely to his discussion about the city. “This was the central hub of Carlino. The business quarter, if you will. We had industry around the country, and their head offices were all located in these towers. Is your way like this?”

  I nodded. “Sure, most of our cities have a downtown region like this. On New Spero, each Terran site has their own central area full of high-rises and business towers.”

  “Then we are not so different.” Brik followed the roads, and our suits’ lights powered up, brightening our path. “And you lived here for six of your months?”

  “That’s right. If only we could have activated more of the metropolis.” Suma’s mouth formed a straight line. We’d tried hard to replicate the power grid we’d managed to crank on the first visit to the city, but had failed. We couldn’t bring one of the derelict ships to life either. Everything was too old, too worn from the harsh air and constant electrical storms, not to mention the barrage of rain that always threatened to sink the municipality.

  “That should have been simple enough,” Brik said. “But you’re lucky you didn’t do it. It was too dangerous.”

  Suma stopped, placing a hand on her hip, and she tapped her foot impatiently. “Is that so? I thought you were just a kid. What could you have known about the power grid?”

  “I was trained as a mechanical engineer on the colony ship. We were going to duplicate the grid structure on our new world, so I was well informed on the construction. You only need to fix the central stones. We disconnected them before leaving.” Brik continued down the block.

  I recognized the street now. It was the same one where the Pleva Corp bots had rolled after us when they’d arrived right before our rescue crew. I saw one that we’d blasted with our rifles, and walked over to it. The hole had entered its chest, rendering it useless. Slate gave it a light kick.

  Mary walked closer to me, and I noticed her hand settle on the gun at her hip. This place held a lot of fond memories for the four of us, but also a lot of trauma.

  “Where are you taking us?” Slate asked.

  “To my home.” Brik answered our questions as we went, and we walked like that for another hour before we arrived near the outer edge of the city. I remembered scouring this area before, the rain pouring on me as I searched for something… anything of use to us for our stay on Sterona. Brik stopped at a squat building, the house beige, the walls square and unappealing.

  “Is this it?” Mary asked softly, and the man nodded slowly, staring at it.

  “This was my childhood home.” He walked toward the door and pressed it open. The floor was wet inside, the ground musty and moldy.

  “Let’s give him a moment,” I suggested, and the others nodded, remaining outside.

  I glanced to the forking lightning as we waited, and wondered what had really caused this chaos on their world. Even Brik didn’t seem to know.

  He exited the home some time later, and he wore a solemn expression, but smiled nonetheless. “It was a delight visiting. Thank you for this gift.”

  “It was our pleasure,” Suma said. “Now show us this power grid you were mentioning.”

  ____________

  It was all becoming clear. Fontem was rushed to the medical bay, and Jules stood behind Loweck, who was leaned over the console in the security office. They’d worked backwards from the footage, starting with the hangar.

  “Let’s watch this again,” Loweck said, playing it at normal speed. The camera they used was over the hangar’s entrance, and aimed toward the far corner of the large open room.

  Patty arrived first, and Jules glanced at the Pleva Corp ship. The ramp was lowered, the lights on inside, and that’s where Fontem was, fiddling with the robots that Brik hadn’t been able to activate.

  The boy floated, hovering inside a blue energy shield, nearly the same as the one Jules had instinctively used, only the weave pattern was slightly different. Patty skipped along, moving toward the craft, and Jules heard an intake of Dean’s breath as they watched his sister enter it with the Zan’ra youth. Seconds later, Fontem was thrown from the ship.

  The boy lowered near the Terellion, and when Fontem reached in his pocket, Lan’i shot him with tendrils of energy, sending him crashing into the empty crates. That was where they’d found him.

  “Fontem’s lucky he wasn’t killed,” Loweck said.

  The Pleva Corp vessel fired up, blue thrusters lifting it from the ground, before the main thrusters pushed it from the hangar’s exit.

  “Patty, what the hell are you doing?” Dean asked himself. “Where have they gone?”

  Loweck tapped the console, asking Rivo on the bridge for an update. Rivo voice sounded tired and disappointed. “They escaped. No sign of them anywhere.”

  Loweck’s palm slapped down hard on the table, and Dean paced the office, muttering to himself.

  “So this is the boy she’s been seeing? How is this even possible? That door’s locked!” Dean looked ready to punch something.

  Loweck switched the footage to the two of them moving through the corridors. They encountered a pair of crew members, and Lan’i sent them flying to the side, crumpling along the walls. Patty didn’t flinch as they continued on. This didn’t seem like her old friend. Patty could be selfish, but this was downright cruel.

  “Show us the vault on deck one.” Jules leaned forward, staring at the feed as Patty arrived. She glanced around before using a code on the keypad, the code only a few of them were supposed to have access to. “Looks like she had it.”

  “Where were the guards?” Dean asked.

  Jules thought about it and remembered there was no one in sight the last time she and her father had visited him. She told Loweck this, and the head of security stood up angrily. “It’s my fault. I should have been keeping a closer eye on things. When we arrived, I placed a constant team of two to watch the door…” Her fingers moved over the keypad, switching menus, and soon she stopped, going silent. “The schedule’s been adjusted. Someone’s been in my system messing with things.”

  “I think it’s clear who did this.” Dean stood tall, hands on hips. “She’s always been smarter than people give her credit for, but this… I don’t know how or why she did it.”

  “Can we see inside?” Jules asked, trying to recall if there was a camera in the holding room.

  Loweck shook her head. “It’s just a chemical storeroom that we’re keeping him in. There were never cameras on the plans.”

  “She’s visited him before. You can tell. How did she deactivate the time field?” Jules asked, seeing the way the two of them looked at one another as they burst from the confines of the previously locked doorway.

  “He’s dangerous. I’m glad no one was hurt,” Loweck said.

  “No one? My little sister is with that… thing.” Jules cringed at the venom in Dean’s voice. Thing. Lan’i was like her, and it was clear what Dean thought of the boy.

  “We have to stay calm. We’ll…” Loweck was cut off by Dean.

  “Stay calm? We need to be searching for them!”

  “Dean…” Jules spoke softly.

  “Jeez. What about you? You’re his kind. Can you find him? Track him down somehow?” Dean asked, his gaze staring into her bright eyes. She felt his rage and wanted nothing more than to walk away and forget him in this state.

  “I don’t know how to try,” she admitted. “We’ll find a way.”

  “I need a ship,” Dean said, moving for the exit.

  “No. You’re not leaving Light,” Loweck told him. “The captain will be back soon, and we’ll figure this out.”

  Dean appeared ready to argue, but he didn’t. Instead, he just stalked away from the security office. Loweck tapped the console and spoke into it. “Make sure no one enters the hangars. No one. Good. Thank you.”

  “I hope your parents return quickly,” Loweck told Jules.

  So do I. Jules closed her eyes, trying to see if she could sense the Zan’ra, but
there was nothing tugging on her mind.

  Eighteen

  Surprisingly, we’d never been to the main power grid sector of the city. It wasn’t in the center, as we’d expected. It was outside of town, closer to the forests and freshwater lakes, and it took us another hour to arrive. As much as I was enjoying being on a ship like Light, there was something invigorating about walking on Sterona, feeling the breeze on my face as the sun began its slow rise.

  The suit was keeping my body warm, since the air was cool at this hour, and we neared the building, which was nothing more than a single-story nondescript cube.

  “This is it?” Suma asked.

  “That’s right.” Brik reached for the handle and turned the lever. “My uncle used to work here. Gave me the tour a few times. It’s what made me want to enter the field in the first place.”

  It was dark inside, and our suits sent wide beams of white light into the cramped area. “Doesn’t look like much.” Slate peered around, picking up a multi-limbed tool. “Hey, boss. Remember this thing?”

  Suma laughed, recalling our first time using the grease gun years ago. “Now I understand.” She moved to the middle of the room and shuffled a few boxes out of the way. A hatch sat there, slightly ajar. “The system is below ground.”

  Brik nodded. “That’s right.” He tugged the hatch open, the old metal hinges groaning in protest. It fell over with a clatter, causing me to jump at the noise. The opening was pitch black, and I thought of the massive monsters we’d faced underground.

  Slate appeared to be thinking the same thing. “Who’s first?” He grinned at me.

  Brik didn’t hesitate. “I’ll go.” He started down the metal rungs, his bootsteps loudly echoing in the chamber below as he traversed the ladder. Slate went next, followed by me, then Mary, and lastly Suma. There were about thirty rungs, and I hopped down the last couple, landing with a bang.

  “This is it…” Slate whistled as our flashlights found the central power source. It was the same crystals as the smaller one had been. Brik moved to the edge of the room, flipping on a switch, and lights cascaded from the high ceiling.

  “How does that still work?” Suma asked him.

  “Stored energy in these stones.” Brik moved a panel in a shiny metal box, showing some glowing blue crystals encased in glass.

  A giant gemstone sat in the middle of the room, the bright lights sending rainbows over the dusty dark floor. It called to me, and I walked over, setting a gloved hand on it. Even dark and absent of its glow, I felt the vibrations it was giving off. “This powers the city?” I asked.

  “Mostly. It sends power to the other sites, like the rudimentary grid you activated years ago,” Brik told me.

  “Can we get this running?” Suma asked.

  “I don’t think I should,” Brik replied.

  “Why’s that?”

  “I haven’t been fully truthful,” Brik said, and I squinted at him, wondering what he was talking about.

  “Brik, what are you keeping from us?” I asked.

  “We were told not to talk about this part of our past.” Brik averted his stare, looking to the crystal rather than me.

  “You can tell us. We’re your friends,” Mary assured him. “What are you hiding?”

  Brik sat down on an old chair, the springs complaining loudly. “We caused the electrical storms.”

  “With this?” Suma pointed at the stone.

  Brik nodded. “I suppose there’s no harm in telling you.”

  We gathered around, sitting on various things, me opting for a waist-high crate full of tools, and waited for him to tell the story.

  “We were attacked.”

  Slate perked up at this. “By who?”

  “They came one year, telling us we had to leave this world behind. That they were taking it from us. They had ships… a fleet, even. They were stronger than us, more powerful and trained in the art of war. We are a peaceful people. You can see that, right?” Brik asked, his face pleading.

  “Yes, Brik, we understand,” Mary told him.

  “Do not think less of us for what we did.” Brik’s gaze settled on the crystal again.

  “You turned it to a weapon,” I whispered, and he nodded.

  “They gave us time to vacate: twenty-five years. Some thought they were bluffing; others spent the time we were given to create a defense. They didn’t want to leave Sterona and refused to be bullied from our planet.”

  “What happened?” Slate leaned forward, resting his palms on his knees.

  “We left, but the one faction still wanted to set a trap for the newcomers. If we couldn’t have the world, neither could they. The enemy arrived as we departed, right on time, and the weapon was deployed. The energy sent a barrier over our atmosphere, destroying their ships as they entered. Once it was over, the electrical storms remained.

  “After a while, it was safe enough to pass through and into orbit, but not before all three of the enemy ships had been destroyed. Of course, we were already leaving.”

  “Did anyone suggest you return home? I mean, the bullies were gone,” Slate said.

  “We considered it, but there were far more in their fleet. This was but one envoy,” Brik told us.

  “So you disabled the weapon and left. But you escaped the bad guys and found a new home. It sounds like it worked out for you,” I told him, glad to have a better understanding of just what had taken place on Sterona.

  Mary smiled at me, grabbing my hand, but Slate had one more question. “Who were they? This race that came charging in making demands of you?”

  Brik swallowed hard and met Slate’s stare. “The Arnap.”

  My pulse raced, and I tapped the translator, making sure it was working properly. “Did you say Arnap?”

  “That’s correct. They were clear about that.”

  Slate rose, and we all followed suit. “What is it?” Brik asked.

  “Our friends Magnus and Nat are on a mission right now. One they told us was extremely dangerous,” I told Brik.

  “What does that have to do with my story?”

  “Magnus said that there was a race that committed genocide on a planet’s population, and he was being sent in Horizon to investigate the allegations. The race’s name was the Arnap.” I headed for the door, anxious to speak with our friends about the new information we’d just gathered.

  ____________

  Once we arrived at the portal high above the city square, we had a decision to make. “Do we head directly to Horizon?” I asked, searching for their symbol on the portal table.

  “Boss, first we should return home first, then drop Brik off,” Slate said, and I nodded, agreeing with the plan.

  A minute later, we were inside the portal room on Light, walking for the exit. As soon as we pressed into the corridor, we were greeted by two of Loweck’s bulky Keppe security guards. “Captain, the bridge requests your attention.”

  “What is it?” Alarms rang out softly through the halls.

  “I’ll let the chief of security advise you on that,” the first guard said, leading us toward the bridge. Brik trailed along, and I didn’t stop him. The trek took a few minutes, but felt like an hour with so many things racing through my mind. Was it Jules? Had we stumbled on something terrible?

  The bridge doors slid open, and Loweck stood near the entrance, arms crossed. She appeared relieved at seeing us. Slate hugged her, and she pressed him away. “Captain, the ship is gone. The boy and Patty took it.”

  “What? What ship? What boy?” I asked, following her to her console. Sergo buzzed, and Walo rose from Suma’s seat as we approached.

  “You have to see this for yourself,” Loweck said, pointing to the viewscreen. The camera feed was of our hangar, and I watched the ship, the ramp extended, the lights on inside. Patty entered the hangar, and I could swear she glanced at the camera, smiling. Then Lan’i appeared, floating in a blue energy sphere, moving quickly for the landed vessel.

  My heart pounded hard in my chest. “
When was this?”

  “A few hours ago,” Loweck said.

  “Why didn’t you come and tell us?” I asked, furious as I saw Fontem being tossed like an old rag.

  “Because no one was hurt… badly.”

  “Fontem’s okay?” Mary asked, and Loweck assured us he was fine, with minor injuries.

  A thought entered my mind, and I chided myself for not asking sooner. “Where’s Jules?”

  “She’s with Dean. They’re… he wanted to go after them, but she’s calmed him down. Then he wanted to go to Horizon, but we kept him away.” Loweck frowned as we watched the ship leaving the hangar.

  “And what happened there? This kid knew how to fly a Pleva Corp freighter?” Slate asked.

  “Seems that way.” Suma leaned over, pausing the image. “Where are they now?”

  Loweck sighed. “We lost them. Quickly. We should have been able to chase them down.”

  The ship had a blue light around it. “I think he might have added something to it with his… powers. Probably why you couldn’t track it.”

  “What are we going to do?” Walo’s voice was high, nervous.

  I stood straight-backed, certain this was an important precipice of our mission. On one hand, we needed to deliver Brik to his people; on the other, the Zan’ra was gone from our ship, with Magnus and Natalia’s daughter with him. Add to it the recent news about this Arnap race that Horizon was going to meet, and we had a real mixed bag of disasters all at once.

  “We’re going to leave the Zan’ra for the moment.”

  “Captain, I don’t think we should be letting this… Lan’i escape. You’ve seen what he’s capable of.” Slate said it quietly, as not to openly question my commands, only now wasn’t the time.

  “My orders stand. Someone find Jules. Tell her and Dean to meet me at the portal.” I watched the screen, the hangar empty on the right half, Fontem lying inside a crate along the far edge of the room.

  “Captain, I still think…”

  I cut Slate off with a hand in front of me. “Be on alert for Lan’i’s return, and continue on a slow course for the Ginda system, at least until we have a better handle on things,” I ordered, and stalked from the room, no one muttering a word in opposition. Mary was on my trail, catching up to me as we exited the bridge.