Kalian turned to Li’ara but her jaw clenched in reaction. She was focusing on holding it all in. Telarrek resumed his towering height and folded his upper arms so his fists rested against where the human heart would be.
“We mourn for your kind...” He dipped his head as he said so. Seeing that Li’ara wasn’t going to react, Kalian responded.
“Thank you, Telarrek.” He looked around to see that the crew had all stood as well but had not resumed their stations. “And thank you for trying to help.” Li’ara’s knuckles had gone white from clenching them so tight. He wasn’t sure what to do next, Li’ara looked like she might explode any minute if they continued to talk about recent events. “What happens now?” Kalian asked just as he noticed the pure darkness beyond the giant viewport. They were already in sub space. “Where are we going?”
Telarrek turned to walk back to his central podium that was currently grounded in the floor. This had clearly sent a message to the crew as they all resumed previous duties.
“We are continuing on our original heading for the Conclave. It will take just under seven of your solar days.” Telarrek was watching Li’ara while he spoke. He was no doubt watching for any kind of reaction. Kalian couldn’t blame him; the last time they had this conversation Li’ara had not reacted very well. This time however she said nothing. To the others it might have looked like defeat, but Kalian knew there was determination in those eyes.
“Quarters have already been prepared for you, food as well.” Telarrek took his position within the podiums circumference. Li’ara stepped forward closing the gap between them. Kalian noticed the armed escort step with her.
“We’ve already discussed this, the Fathom will be fine.” She said.
Telarrek raised his head an inch, “I’m afraid that will not be possible.”
Kalian felt his heart thunder in his chest as Li’ara’s hand slipped down towards her gun.
Telarrek continued as if she hadn’t made the move, “Your ship took heavy damage in the supernova, and my engineers tell me your Solar Drive is in need of repair. You must stay in the quarters provided while my technicians work on your ship.”
“That ship is UDC property,” Li’ara faltered for a moment at the sound of her own words. There was no UDC anymore. “It’s my ship. I don’t want your technicians crawling all over it!” All six escorts had their golden eyes fixed on the hand near her gun.
“I assure you Lieutenant Commander, your ship is being well looked after.” Was that what Li’ara was so worried about, UDC secrets being discovered? Kalian suspected it was more to do with familiar surroundings, not to mention the armoury. Seeing that this did not satisfy her Telarrek added, “You are welcome to oversee the repairs personally if you wish.” Li’ara took a breath. Kalian hoped she was seeing reason.
“That will be fine.” At that Telarrek bowed his head and disappeared above them as his podium rose above the bridge. Kalian almost jumped at the sight of Ilyseal next to him. When had she arrived?
“I will take you to your quarters.” Her voice was as soft as ever, though Kalian still found it hard to place that voice over the fierce look of her kind.
Ten minutes later Kalian found himself looking up a vertical walkway at a door high above. He looked at Li’ara and Ilyseal for confirmation; they definitely had to go up there.
“Explain how this works again.” He asked.
“You simply step into the wall and gravity will alter around you. It may be disorientating at first but you will quickly adapt, I am sure.” Kalian wasn’t convinced. He still remembered flying through the tungsten filament and into the cabin. Gravity had shifted on him then too as he went from falling forwards to falling down. The disorientation had been painful.
Li’ara let out an audible sigh and stepped into the wall without delay. As she became horizontal her arms flapped for a second before she orientated herself to the new ground. She turned to Kalian.
“It’s easy, just step on and let yourself go. Gravity will do the rest.” What was more mind bending was the drop of her hair. He naturally expected the copper ringlets to gravitate towards his floor, but instead they were just as horizontal as Li’ara.
When she was halfway up he decided to follow. Doing just as she said, he stepped out and let himself go slightly limp. Without his foot touching the wall though he felt only one pull of gravity as he fell on his back. He quickly got up before Li’ara turned around at the sound of his yelp. He waved her on as he made attempt number two. Much to his relief, gravity rotated around him giving him a new look to his surroundings. It was quite possibly the strangest sensation he had ever felt. Then he remembered the outer-body experience he had in the Valoran’s medical bay and changed his mind. Focusing back on the task at hand he continued his vertical walk with Ilyseal behind.
The first quarters they were shown to were Li’ara’s. It was bigger than the Fathom. It had a long window that ran from one end to the other, though Kalian doubted it was glass. It was furnished beautifully with a large double bed at one end and a comfortable living space in the middle. There were two circular doors on the left that Ilyseal showed them was a bathroom and the other a walk in wardrobe. Kalian recognised the style of some of the clothes but others were more alien in design. The whole thing was very human. Had these rooms been built specifically for them? Li’ara insisted on seeing where Kalian was staying. His room was only one along and identical in appearance.
“I’m going to grab six hours sleep,” said Li’ara. “Then I want to see the Fathom.” Ilyseal bowed her head in acceptance and promised to return at the allotted hour. “You should rest as well, Kalian. Do you want me to wake you when Ilyseal returns?” He thought about it for a moment.
“No I’m gonna get some sleep, come see me after though. Let me know what they’re doing to it.” Before he reached his door he remembered his Datapad he’d left on the ship. “Could you bring back my Datapad for me? I think it’s gonna be a long week.” She nodded before disappearing into her new quarters.
He placed his hand over the dome next to his door. He felt a wave of heat flow through his hand before the oval door slid apart. He wasn’t really sure what he was going to do, he felt tired but the nap in the cockpit had been enough for now. He gravitated towards the extensive window, taking in the view. A large portion of it was obscured by the arc of one of the ships giant blades. Up close he could see the glittering surface resembled a more crystalline structure like a fused blade of diamond. He wondered what the point of the blades was. They reminded him of ancient scimitars that created a protective perimeter around the bulk of the ship.
He reached out to the apparent glass with tentative fingers. The window rippled like drops of water in a pond. It was the same as the hangar’s force field. He slid down the wall, sitting on the floor with his knees up. How had this happened? How was he, a history lecturer one of the few survivors of his entire species? Why was he here in this very room instead of dying with everyone else on Earth? He felt a tear roll down his face tickling his cheek. His whole life had been turned upside down and he had no idea why. Was this survivor’s guilt? He had heard of it but never had cause to experience it, thankfully.
He lifted his head out of his hands as his jacket floated passed him. That wasn’t the only thing floating either. The bed had risen off the floor with the pillows and blanket meshing into a floating ball. Ornaments from around the room slid from their positions knocking into one another. The tear on his cheek pulled away to float in front of his face like a raindrop frozen in time. Since he was still firmly rooted to the floor he knew the internal gravity was still functioning.
He never got used to this. It usually happened while he was asleep but the strongest effects he ever had were always tied to his emotions. Too angry, sad or even happy and this just happened. Apart from that time when he panicked in The Hub and affected the electronics in half the building. He supposed though that the last twenty-four hours had been pretty emotional.
He starte
d to get angry at the situation; he was tired of not having any answers. He would get answers. Everything shot outwards away from him like he was the epicentre of some explosion. He stood up, a man with purpose. He walked to the main door, sub-consciously reaching out for his jacket on the floor. To his amazement it flew straight into his open palm. He examined the jacket as if it had been a magic trick. Did he want that to happen, did he make that happen? Had he actually controlled that? More questions without answers. A flicker at the window caught his attention. The stars were suddenly visible again, indicating their emergence into real space again.
The door parted for him as he made to leave. There was only one person he could think of who had any kind of answers, Telarrek. His courage faltered somewhat when he arrived at the vertical walkway. This time he had to drop down. The path sloped down so he didn’t actually need to jump over the edge, just simply keep walking and let gravity change around him. He found going down was actually easier than going up, the disorientation was minimal. He passed two other Novaarians on his way down, each one bowing their heads to him. Several flying bikes flew overhead on his journey back to the Translift like humming birds overhead. He got looks from everyone that happened by him, no one stopped him though. Telarrek was telling the truth about not being a prisoner then.
His next problem was the Translift itself. The domed access panel would not respond to his handprint. Every time he tried, the dome sent a cold wave through his hand in response. He turned sharply as a life-size hologram of Ilyseal appeared next to the Translift. It shimmered as she moved her head to look down at him.
“Do you require assistance, Kalian?” She asked.
“I want to see Telarrek, I have so many questions and I need answers, Ilyseal.” He hoped she would hear the determination in his voice; he couldn’t wait until they reached the Conclave.
“I am afraid Charge Telarrek is indisposed at the moment.”
“That’s not good enough! I want to see him now.” Several Novaarians walking by turned to see what the commotion was but Kalian ignored them. He would have his answers.
“I am afraid it would be impossible to speak with him right now.” Her voice remained even and annoyingly calm.
“This isn’t right, Ilyseal! I deserve answers now. After everything that’s happened today...” He couldn’t form the words to describe the hell both Li’ara and he had been through. Ilyseal looked away for a moment but the hologram projected only her body, not the surroundings. As she turned back to Kalian her red tendrils flowed around her waist.
“Charge Telarrek will visit your quarters soon, but is currently occupied I am afraid.” Kalian’s shoulders visibly sagged as he let his head roll back. He was powerless to do anything.
“Fine.” He walked away without waiting for any reply. By the time he reached his room, he had a headache. Everything was still a mess from his mental outburst; he almost tripped over a sculptured ornament on his way in. Moving aside the scrunched up blanket he grabbed a pillow and gave in to sleep.
Telarrek deactivated the privacy shield that encompassed his podium and tried to hide his sombre mood. Having dropped out of sub-space he had taken the opportunity to contact the Conclave. He had been put through directly to Elondrasa, the Novaarian councillor who sat on the Highclave. There was still no news on the Laronian warship heading for the terraforming expedition and there was no way to get through to them and explain the situation.
Elondrasa had warned of the consequences they were likely to face from the other species when they found out the Novaarians had been concealing the humans’ existence. There were still a lot of questions they all needed answering. Chief among them was the presence of this new threat that had the power to destroy entire solar systems.
Telarrek felt a pang of guilt thinking about the questions the Conclave would have. Theirs was born of curiosity about a species that didn’t really have any long-standing effects on them. But for Kalian and Li’ara, these were questions that could shed light on why their whole race was on the brink of extinction. Ilyseal had informed him of his outburst outside the Translift. Elondrasa had been clear about bringing him back to the capital with as little interaction between them as possible.
He met Ilyseal’s gaze, fully aware she knew what he was thinking. They had worked side by side for too long not to understand how the other was feeling. He wanted to talk to Kalian and tell him why he was so important to them. He could tell his second-in-command agreed with him, they had become too attached to the humans over the centuries.
“He is in his quarters...” Ilyseal predicted his question. He took a breath, weighing his options.
“As soon as the Starrillium is fixed, put us back on course. You have the Bridge.”
Kalian dreamed of being back on Earth in his lecture theatre. He was teaching his new class about the formation of Central Parliament in the twenty fifth century and how they ended the corporate wars. He explained to a student with copper ringlets for hair that Central Parliament started by removing all the borders from the world’s map. Wars and skirmishes across the world came to a halt as one governing body took power and all land and resources were shared. To enforce this new unity, all the world’s armies were integrated into a United Defence Corps.
Before the red headed girl could ask another question, the sky dropped into darkness before lighting up in a growing ball of light. He saw buildings and sky bridges burst apart in tremendous flames as waves of fire swept across the city towards them. The Golden Gate Bridge crashed into the water as it was quickly engulfed by light. He felt his heart beating in his chest like it was trying to break free of his body.
He awoke with the feeling of falling. The lighting had dimmed in the room but he didn’t remember doing it. A sudden chirp from the door brought him fully back to reality with a thud, a literal one. His body crashed down onto his bed with a soft bounce. He quickly scrambled off the mattress as if it were about to eat him. That was new. He looked up at the purple ceiling, trying to spot the alien device responsible for his levitation. The door chirped again and the lighting resumed its previous level. He took a deep breath in an attempt to clear his mind and forget his dream, along with whatever had just happened.
He opened the oval door to the looming figure of Telarrek.
“Greetings of peace, Kalian.” He had both sets of hands clasped in front of him as he bowed.
“Greetings of peace, Telarrek.” Kalian replied. He motioned for his new visitor to enter but Telarrek made no move.
“Actually, you might prefer to come with me...” The Novaarian moved to the side allowing space for Kalian to leave with him. Kalian was hesitant at first, what would Li’ara say if she knew he was going off somewhere without her?
“What about Li’ara?” He looked down the corridor to her room.
“Ilyseal has taken her to the hangar to see the Fathom.” Telarrek’s voice sounded like that of an older man. Kalian could tell there was experience and wisdom behind his golden eyes. Whether it was naivety or not he felt he could trust Telarrek.
“Where are we going?” Kalian asked as they made their way down the vertical walkway.
“I thought you might like to see the Valoran.” They immediately took a turn Kalian had never been down before. The corridors were still as tall as ever, with a constant buzz of activity from working crew. They soon came to a cross roads within the ship. In the centre of the cross was a magnificent tree-like structure that stretched almost to the arcing ceiling. Its bark was similar to that of an Earth tree only it was silver in colour, with interlaced sapphires shining in the light. The roots were guarded by a railing that surrounded its circumference. It was covered in giant golden leaves that looked as big as Kalian.
“What is that?” He had to crane his neck to see the very top.
“That is the Ever Root,” Telarrek looked admiringly at it. “It is from Nova Prime, our home planet.” He began to walk round the railing, looking up into the hidden parts of the tree. “It changes
with the seasons there, it reminds us of home.” He looked down at Kalian with large eyes. Kalian was impressed but confused.
“How does it change with the seasons if it’s on a ship?”
“The Valoran feeds it nutrients and light required for the specific season, right now we are in the middle of what you would call autumn.” Telarrek moved off from the tree making a right from the direction they came from. Kalian took one last look at the beautiful tree before moving on.
“This is our observation deck.” Telarrek announced. “I like to spend as much time in here as I can. It helps to gain perspective.” The dark room curved round to the right with a panoramic window on the left. The whole view was immersed in stars and a multicoloured nebula in the centre. It was a truly humbling view.
“Why have we dropped out of sub space?”
“The Valoran has had to make a stop for repairs; the light from Solson’s supernova has scorched a portion of our manoeuvring thrusters and damaged the Starrillium. Given recent hostilities, I felt it prudent to ensure we are at optimum efficiency in case of another attack. We should be ready to proceed within one of your hours.” They both stood at the screen, taking in the awesome view. “That is a stellar nursery.” Telarrek pointed to the rainbow coloured stardust. Kalian knew that even though the cloud of gas was the size of his hand it could fit several solar systems inside. If it was moving he couldn’t tell, it appeared frozen in space. He wondered if the universe had birthed two new stars within the nebula to replace Sol and Solson. He entertained the idea that the universe might be angry at the loss of two of its children, he knew he was.
“Why is all this happening, Telarrek? I have so many questions I don’t even know where to begin.” Telarrek made a very human gesture by cupping his long jaw and stroking his chin.
“I am not permitted to speak to you on such matters...” He looked Kalian in the eyes. “But you are right, you do deserve some explanation.” Telarrek began a slow pace along the panoramic view. “Like your species, mine too started out on one planet, Nova Prime. My kind is older than yours; that much is evident from your level of technology and evolutionary growth.” He stopped for a moment as if he was wondering what to say next. “Nova Prime has only one moon like Earth, we call it Naveen. After a hundred thousand years of evolution my people grew amongst the stars as yours did, we populated Naveen along with a multitude of other planets. However, before we ever encountered the other races of the Conclave, Novaarians were only concerned with one other species. Yours.” Kalian wasn’t sure where he was going with this; he couldn’t match up the timelines.
Intrinsic: Book One of the Terran Cycle Page 17