As the Zephyr flew in with the Ki’an ships to join the stream of fleet vessels tearing for the gate, Miros’s voice broke across the open channel. “The last transports and merchants are through! Set your gate coordinates for home and go!”
The Corum, Nomvikeli, and Tanamar’s group of Birdwings swept the field below, blasting non-stop shots at the converging Drahkian ships, while several Birdwing formations streaked around the perimeter, fighting off warships to protect their escaping comrades.
Magnus opened a quick channel to Yuri and was surprised when he picked up since the Tori captain was no doubt one of the leaders flying the perimeter. “Stay safe, Yuri. Ulu and Desta send their love.”
The birdman let out a wrenching warble of pain. “You, too, Mag. Call me when you get home.”
When the channel closed off, Magnus gripped his console, tensely watching the holo while the Pleiadian vessels in front of them poured through the gate in droves. “Only a few more seconds, people!”
As they approached the enormous ring alongside the Jutsu, a cold shiver of fear swept up Magnus’s spine when his eyes caught sight of the Drahkian moon appearing out in space directly in line with the primary portal. “Oh god, no!!” he shrieked an instant before the Zephyr shot through the transport zone back into the familiar blue space above Tarsus’s portal.
The holo readings shifted instantly to reflect the stream of ships heading through peaceful space toward the orbiting stations below. The bridge officers turned baffled eyes to their captain who was staring at the holo and trembling.
“That moon just moved over Sahara’s gate,” he explained with a shaking voice. “Rhona, move us to the side for a few moments. Hurik, are all the other Tarsian ships through?”
“Yes, all but the Corum.”
“Check Sahara’s gate coordinates. Do they still show up?”
“Yes.”
“Keep checking. Let me know if they disappear.”
The bridge officers sat in nervous silence, watching the image of the gate for any sign of movement. Too many heartbeats went by and Magnus’s apprehension skyrocketed.
In a dazzling burst of sparkling metal, the Nomvikeli shot through the ring, followed a second later by the sleek form of the Corum.
“Miros! Amara!” Magnus cried out over an open channel, flipping it on speaker for everyone else to hear. “Thank the Prime you made it! That moon appeared beyond the portal just before we came through.”
“Yeah, we saw it, too,” Miros replied in a frayed voice. “I thought we were all about to become dust particles.”
“The Birdwings?”
“Yuri’s fine, Mag. They all made it through. We were the last ones out.”
“Sahara’s gate readings just went dead,” Hurik reported gravely into the link.
“Well, there’s no going back now,” the admiral declared with a heavy exhale. “I’m sorry, Amara. It’s a bitter day for all of us. I’m sure you and your people need some time to grieve. Why don’t you head down to Krii. We have folks on the landing fields waiting to help.”
“Thank you, Miros, we will. It’s been a long, hard road for everyone.” The Meropean admiral sounded bone-weary and close to the edge of breaking down as she signed off of the channel.
“Mag, you, too. The Zephyr’s going to stay put for a while so they can finish those repairs. We’ll stay up here with the Corum on portal duty. The quiet will do us good.”
“Alright. See you on the ground, Miros.”
Magnus shut down the link and slumped back in his chair. “Rhona, would you kindly take us home?”
The Zephyr made its way down to the portal grid behind the Nomvikeli and waited for the proper coordinates from the Portal Center below before dropping through the energetic network. Minutes later as they neared the landing fields of Andara’s capitol city, Magnus sat forward and watched the screen on his console showing a view of the sprawling pavement below. He was startled to see the acres of concrete within the trade and fleet sectors completely covered with people and ground vehicles in the areas surrounding the landed starships and transport vessels carrying Meropean refugees.
“We have to land out at the edge of the pavement,” Rhona relayed. “There’s no more room at the moment.”
“That’s fine. Bring us down wherever they tell you it’s safe.” As Magnus scanned the busy activity on the ground, he realized that most of the people pouring out of the Saharan transport vessels were children. “So many of them,” he muttered, tapping his fingers nervously on the console as he was hit with a sudden wave of anxiety over finding Ulu’s son in the midst of such chaos.
The moment the ship touched the ground, he turned fretful eyes to his first officer. “Can you please handle debarking orders for the crew? I’m sorry I keep doing this to you.”
Reaching a hand over to gently still his nervous fidgeting, Hurik smiled quietly. “I’ll take care of it, Mag. Go find that little boy. He needs you.”
Surprised by her open warmth and familiarity, a slow smile broke across Magnus’s face. “Thank you,” he replied, reaching over to give her hand a grateful squeeze before bounding out of his chair. Dropping a kiss on the top of Rhona’s head as he ran behind her, he waved a hand at his fatigued bridge officers. “I apologize for running off—Hurik will fill you in. You’re the best! All of you!” he called out. “Thank you for bringing us through that nightmare alive!”
Barreling down the hallway leading to the back, he took the stairs to the lower level two at a time and charged into the aft cargo bay where the ramp was just being lowered. Standing beside the open hatch, he searched the chaos across the pavement below, looking for the closest refugee ships where he could begin his hunt for Obi.
Coming down off the ramp, he made his way through the throngs of buzzing, upset people toward the first gray transport. The hatch was open and at the bottom of the short metal stairs, a couple of robed adults stood at the center of a large group of wide-eyed children of all ages, some of them crying and clinging to each other in confused fear. While he searched the sea of faces, several Tarsians with headsets and handheld tablets wearing the staff badges of the high council hurried toward the group to offer assistance.
Moving on through the crowd to the next transport, Magnus continued his search, scanning each of the young faces, when he heard a familiar voice calling his name. He turned his head to find Dieter walking steadily in his direction through the masses of moving people.
“Magnus, you made it! It’s good to see you back,” the councilor exclaimed, throwing a hand on his shoulder in obvious relief.
“Thanks, Dieter. I don’t think we’ll be going anywhere for a while.”
The blond man studied his eyes and taut expression. “I’m sorry for your loss, Magus. Are you looking for someone?”
“Obi Malawi.”
Dieter closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. “Let me see if I can help.” Touching his headset, the councilor opened a call to one of his assistants and made a few inquiries, twisting around to look over the field to get the bearings of whatever it was he was being told. “Alright, thanks.” Turning back to the captain, he pointed off to his left toward the top of a large transport which was visible above the ships in the immediate vicinity. “Try that one, Magnus. We were told it’s the one that loaded closest to Pemba’s government buildings.”
“Thanks, Dieter.” Clapping the councilor once on the arm, Magnus took off again through the bustling crowds, his dark head towering over most of the people he passed. Working his way around two smaller transports, he came to the edge of a sizable group of children spread out in front of the open hatch of the ship. Scanning quickly, his eyes landed on a slender boy standing by himself, staring out across the masses of moving people with a lost, bewildered expression.
“Obi!”
The boy turned his head slowly while Magnus carefully pushed his way through the small bodies, and when the boy’s gaze rose to meet his, Magnus was startled by the look of burning hatred and
turmoil that filled those young eyes.
Stepping around the last few children, he reached out to grip the boy’s shoulders. “Obi, I’m Magnus. Do you remember me?”
Looking up into the tall man’s face, Obi blinked several times before his expression melted into bleak sadness. “The bones are gone, Magnus.”
“What?” Furrowing his brow in confusion, Magnus knelt down in front of the boy so he could look into his troubled eyes.
“The bones disappeared out of that place,” Obi said wistfully. “And it made my mom … really sad.” His dark brown eyes filled with tears and his face crumpled with grief. Magnus pulled the boy’s slender frame into his arms as he dissolved into harsh weeping. “They put me on that ship! I hate them! I don’t want to be here!”
Clutching Ulu’s son tightly to his chest, Magnus felt as if he would break in two. “Obi, listen to me. They did the hardest thing a parent could ever do because they love you. Maybe someday when you have a child, you’ll know how they feel.”
The boy’s slender frame shook with sobs while Magnus rocked him. His small fists twisted into the front of Magnus’s jacket and he sucked in a desperate breath, struggling to speak. “They’re going to kill my dad, aren’t they?”
Magnus squeezed the boy harder as his own tears broke loose. “I don’t know, Obi. I just don’t know.”
Rinzen’s central chamber buzzed with the voices of the Makhás adepts transporting aboard. Kirian dropped his cloak to the floor and began pacing in the space between his seat and the wedge of seats quickly filling with his transport team. He had prepared the colony for liftoff in the event the repairs were successful, so most members were already on board and ready to leave. What he hadn’t counted on was the menace sweeping the valleys and mountains up above, taking readings to pin down their location. He chided himself for a fool for not realizing the thundering Cagi would bring the Drahks running.
Closing his eyes, he sent out a call to all colony members to make sure his people knew the dire terms of what was about to happen.
Everyone, listen up! The portal is humming again thanks to our guardian ancestors and our talented teams, but we’ve been discovered by the Drahks. We have to fly now before they destroy the portal again. Liftoff in fifteen minutes. If you’re not on board, shift in immediately—I want no Makhás left behind! Stay safe, everyone!
Coming out of the link, he found Arman standing next to him. “It’s now or never, my friend.”
Kirian pulled in a tense breath and nodded. “I wish my father had lived to see this day.”
“Me, too.” The bellmaker patted his shoulder with calm assurance. “Somehow I think he knows and is proud of his successor.”
With a soft smile of thanks, Kirian turned to walk Arman back to his seat against the inner wall next to Senga’s. Tiza sat quietly on the floor watching the activity around her with wide, excited eyes, looking up with a smile when Kirian reached down to gently stroke her hair as he walked by.
Turning to run his gaze across the waiting portal team, the young yeshe was struck by the candid confidence and the hope in the eyes of each of the adepts. Walking around the inner ring of the chamber, he nodded to Kalden at the head of the motion team, quickly scanning over his group’s expectant faces before moving into Tenzin’s section of adepts on shields. The elder looked up with satisfied pride and patted his arm as he passed by checking her team. Crossing in front of Selina to come full circle back to his own seat, he settled himself into the cushions and straightened his spine.
“Alright, let’s do this!”
Anil, Nandi, it’s time!
Taking a deep breath, Kirian launched the sequence to engage Rinzen, pulling long, clear tones up out of his lungs and throat. As the adepts blended their voices to build and expand the intricate chords and form the internal joint link, the chamber filled with rich, vibrating sound.
Tingling current ran through Kirian’s flesh from the dynamic vibrations of the Makhás construct. The familiar psychic connection with Rinzen and the adept teams felt expansive, exhilarating. A burst of powerful sexual energy radiated from Anil and Nandi’s lovemaking within the central chamber, more torrid than usual, melding with the elevated excitement running through the adepts’ web.
Riding Tsari’s deep veins of quartz and gold, the collective reached down into the planet to link with Lyonnae’s core. The spark couple drove and accelerated the energetic connection, lifting the spiraling current up from the depths, and with their explosive climax came a wild rush through the network while the great crystalline starship burst into light.
Kirian led the group into a tapering of the sound, releasing the bond with the planet before reeling the spinning web into Rinzen. Kalden’s team shifted their sequence to shape the web into a cycling torus, adjusting the construct to fit the body of the ship and dampening its rate of spin until they were ready to move.
Hold and maintain. Anil, Nandi, join your teams whenever you’re ready.
Rinzen hummed, glowing and ready for flight. Kirian could sense her keen anticipation at the center of the network. It had been too long since she had risen into space and he felt sublime satisfaction that it was finally going to happen for her again.
Sending a mental sweep through the vast cavern complex to make sure it was empty, Kirian sent out one last call to his people on the ship.
Everyone aboard?
Yes!! Ready to roll! Go for it!
Kirian smiled to himself at hearing the joyful anticipation in Minla’s voice. No doubt she was running about the ship feeding everyone with the rest of the bread from Tiza’s shop. With a quick scan around the central chamber, he saw that Anil had taken his seat next to his father and Nandi was in her place beside Tenzin.
The rumble of bombardments on the rocky slopes above brought a swift reminder that they were being hunted.
Kalden, shift your vision up to the surface with me!
Projecting his view to a point up above Tsari, Kirian surveyed the snowy white peak and the surrounding valleys when he sensed Kalden’s presence beside him. Down below their vantage point, several pairs of dark discs flew over the foot of the broad mountain, shooting beams into one particular area as they passed.
Arman said they have subterranean sensors. Look, they’re hitting a single point directly above the cavern. Damn, they know where we are!
No more lights in the valleys. The Ustagi must be terrified.
With good reason. The portal’s still clear. We need to get out before they discover it’s been repaired.
Kirian, someone’s trying to contact us through electronics. I can feel the insistent buzzing on a frequency we used to use.
Ignore it! I’m sure they’d rather take us alive. We’re no good to them dead. Let’s go!
Shifting quickly back into the central chamber, Kirian was alarmed to feel the ship rock as the cavern floor shook under the blasts from the surface. Without thinking, he clutched at the golden pendant bouncing against his chest and the image of the dark-haired human kneeling on the ground flew into his mind. The man jumped with shock and looked up with a baffled expression as if he could feel the sudden connection. Kirian shook his head sharply to refocus his mind on getting the ship away from the lethal bombardments.
The cavern roof is starting to crumble! Arman’s deep voice shouted. We can’t risk collapse, Kirian! We’ll open the portal once we get up there.
Kalden, Anil—lift her up off the floor while we form the transport matrix!
The rocking abated as the motion team sped the spinning the torus to elevate the ship several feet in the air, keeping her afloat within the vast crystal chamber.
Tenzin, Nandi—raise the shields. Selina, transport team—sound the sequence to surround the ship.
Rinzen, it’s time to fly!!
The instant the sound matrix was in place, Kirian and his team took hold of the energetic construct and shifted the starship to a position in the upper atmosphere just below the portal. A wave of exhilaration swept
through the ship as well as every Makhás on board.
The moment of elation was short-lived as a pair of warships appeared just outside the portal zone and headed straight for them.
Damn it to hell, they can transport! Senga, Arman—get the portal open and give us the coordinates!
As the portal team regeared its toning to move the energetic threads into a Makhás pattern, the warships zoomed past and fired a brief burst from one of their heavy disruptors.
Shields are holding—the blast was deflected, Nandi reported.
On impulse, Kirian grabbed the gold pendant and focused on the dark-haired human. The link opened immediately.
Can you hear me? he called in Mothertongue.
Yes! I can see everything that’s happening to you.
Where are you?
Tarsus, second planet in Alcyone.
Are you free of Drahks?
Yes!
Don’t let go of this connection!! Kirian cried urgently. We need you!
I’m here. I’m not going anywhere.
Good—hold on!
As the warships came around for another pass, four more of the dark discs materialized and hovered in space a short distance away.
They’re still trying to contact us, Kalden exclaimed. Probably want us to go quietly into slavery.
We’ve got it open! Senga proclaimed. Transport team, here are the coordinates!
The exact position of the pathway leading up through weaving flashed over the link. In a split second, Kirian’s team thrust the transport matrix up through and shifted the ship to a position up above the portal.
Close it, quick!
Already sewn up, Senga replied.With any luck, none of those ships have the ability to burn through.
We’ve got to get out of here—fast, Arman chimed in. Maránd’s forces in Edu will be here in a heartbeat.
As if on cue, two formations of warships emerged into the space on opposite sides of the portal and sped toward them with disruptors blazing.
I’ve got a link open with someone in Alcyone, Kirian called out across the network as the ship shook under the Drahkian assault. Portal team, support the shields while I get us clearance!
Descent of the Maw Page 18