by S. G. Basu
“Remii and the Order of the Fyrstell are working together then?” Maia muttered, her words sounded barely coherent to her own ears.
“Seems like it,” Nafi promptly agreed. “Who knows how deep the conspiracy goes—if the entire SDS is involved or just a few rogue agents who are also part of this Order.”
Maia struggled to fathom the enormity of the implication. The Scientific Defense Services or the SDS was the most powerful government organization on Xif. It made sense that they were running the operation to retrieve the heart of the Sedara, Maia reasoned. But, the Order of the Fyrstell was an immoral militaristic faction that was bent on destroying the Tansians, and quite out of anyone’s control. Why would the SDS work alongside the Order?
“The SDS runs a lot of covert ops,” Ren stated matter-of-factly. “I’m sure they work together with a lot of nasty people depending on the situation.”
A face flashed across Maia’s mind. Phocluus, the chairman of the SDS. She clearly remembered his kind eyes, and the jeweled rings that adorned all his fingers. He had seemed friendly to Maia. He had known Sophie too. And he did not approve of the actions of the Order.
Had he lied? Did he really not know that his organization was working with the Order? No!
He could not be a liar, Maia concluded.
“Is Hans okay?” she asked rather fearfully, hoping that she would stop hearing bad news.
“He’s fine, only a few scratches on him,” Ren said. “His friend, Jed, is quite all right too.”
“They really took Bikele?” Maia still did not want to believe. “And why would they take Gibbon?”
“Maybe they found out about Bikele’s connection to . . . Sophie,” Nafi said, sighing deeply.
“So, they must know about me?” Maia turned to look at Nafi.
“But how?” Nafi simply shrugged as Maia squinted at her. Maia sat there, confused. Bikele’s was a life of exile—not many people knew that he even existed, let alone of his connection to Sophie.
In spite of that . . .
“So, they must know about me?”
“Possibly not. Not yet at least.” Nafi paused, hesitating. “But Bikele does.”
“You mean he could tell?”
“He might not have a choice, Maia,” Ren said gravely. “The Gnelexian mind probes don’t need anyone to tell willingly.”
“But why hurt the sage?” Maia wondered aloud. It was all so convoluted and strange.
“The sage might’ve gotten in the way and tried to stop them,” Nafi replied.
“It’s all because of me,” Ren whispered gloomily. “If he not taken the chakra off after I almost caused an accident, this place would’ve been well-protected.”
“Don’t blame yourself.” Nafi tried to comfort the boy. “I think they would’ve found a way around it anyway.”
An officer dressed in a sharp blue uniform came by to record their statements. He left after the youngsters had described the events, and the trio spent some more time in Bikele’s room before walking up the stairs. A lot of people were crowded in the sage’s room; however the three friends did not stop there but went out to the Converter Galley. They found Gus limping around, a thick white bandage wound around his head.
“They hit me from the back,” he grumbled on seeing the trio. “Sneaky cowards . . . I should have listened to Bikele and got some security in here sooner. Imagine the fun he will have when I tell him this.”
No one had the heart to tell him that Bikele was missing. It was too hard for Maia to even think that he might have been captured by the Xifarians and taken to a Gnelexian prison. She wanted to hope, to think that he had somehow escaped and was hiding somewhere.
Hans and Dani stood near one of the large silver boxes where the cables converged, talking to Hans’s fair-haired friend Jed. Near them, Kusha sat on the floor, flanked by two men who looked like healers. They were busy tending to a deep gash that stretched down his left arm. Kusha saw the trio walk in and waved at them, as did Hans and Dani.
“Had Kusha not arrived when he did, they would have taken out all the condenser boxes,” Hans exclaimed, pointing at the nearest silver box. “That would have been terrible, the end of all the progress we have made so far.”
Hans did not know about Bikele’s connection to Sophie; he was sure that this was an elaborate plan to damage the Converter Galley.
Hans continued. “I can’t thank you enough, Kusha.”
Kusha flushed a little at Hans’s appreciation. Dani beamed; she looked exceedingly happy and proud.
“It’s all so unbelievable,” Hans muttered, shaking his head. “This must’ve been planned over the longest time. Luckily, Jed and I arrived earlier than intended. And we found Gus lying there. Their timing was so perfect—the alarm system here is in the middle of security upgrades, so half of the buzzers didn’t work. I’m glad I thought of sending the message to Dani as soon as I saw Gus, otherwise we would’ve had to stand here and watch while they ripped the place to shreds. Later on, Jed found one alarm that worked, and he called for reinforcements, but it was already too late.”
“I don’t know how they fooled the biometric scanners,” Dani said thoughtfully. “It’s next to impossible to trick those.”
“Wouldn’t Miir and the gang have biometric clearances already? Didn’t he say that they were assigned to oversee the Initiative?” Nafi asked.
“You’re right. They must have been given clearances to get in here. Once inside, they could have disabled some more systems. I still can’t believe Miir was involved in this.” Hans shook his head sadly.
“Me neither. Can’t believe he chose to go against us.” Dani sounded thoroughly disappointed. “I mean . . . arrogant he might be, but he always stood for the right.”
“He said he had to defend his brother,” Maia informed the group, “and his nation’s interests.”
“Even knowing what his brother and his nation could’ve brought upon us had they managed to destroy the condensers,” Kusha muttered angrily.
“Maybe he didn’t know their whole plan,” Nafi whispered. She looked dejected, her eyes lightless. “I don’t think he would’ve done this had he known.”
Maia sighed. It did not matter whether or not Miir had known. The fact remained that he was in part responsible for Bikele’s abduction. He would have been responsible for the destruction of Zagran had the saboteurs managed to cause harm to the condensers. Maia knew it was hard for her friends to accept that he was against them now, but it was true, he was the enemy.
More people walked in as Kusha’s bandage slowly took shape. Aerika was among them. Maia suddenly remembered their hydrothermal converter, wondering if the unit had made it to the Karnilian Caves at all. The training supervisor stood surveying the area for a while, and then strode over to Kusha. Ignoring the rest of the crowd, she beckoned one of the doctors to the side, possibly enquiring about Kusha’s injuries. After a brief conversation with the man, Aerika summoned the team.
“Let’s go, everyone,” she ordered, “we have had enough excitement for the day.”
She walked them to a large Aqumob in the main dive bay and herded them inside. The other teams had already boarded.
“The Jjordic phase of the Alliance Initiative ends right here, right now,” she announced as the Aqumob took off. “Given the current circumstances, and the elevated security levels, the installation of your hydrothermal converter has been postponed indefinitely. This task will be assumed completed by all teams.”
It was a sad end to the Jjordic phase, Maia thought. She sat with her friends, huddled together in one corner, each telling his or her part of the story.
“Gibbon’s eyes,” Kusha whispered when Nafi related the sad tale of Bikele and his pet snub-nosed dolphin.
“Yes, poor thing,” Nafi breathed deeply and looked away.
“Yes, but no,” Kusha muttered again and his eyes sparkled. “Don’t you see? Remii had mentioned picking up chatter about Keif and Zeiss, but what if they had misheard the c
hatter? That’s why Miir couldn’t find anything when he scanned the store. They still went looking for the shards, they burned down the place, but I’m sure they couldn’t find anything. I’m sure the pieces were never at Keif and Zeiss.
“Then where—” Nafi started.
“Gibbon’s eyes!” Kusha could barely keep from jumping up. “Gibbon’s eyes rhymes with Keif and Zeiss. Remember what Bikele said about Zaara making eyes for Gibbon? That happened fourteen years ago, which puts it at the same time as when—”
“Maia was born and . . . the heart of the Sedara was already broken,” Nafi said in a breathless whisper.
“Correct!” Kusha exclaimed. His face was flushed with excitement. “And remember, Sophie had given away those black pearls to make eyes for Gibbon. What if those were not plain old pearls? What if those were the shards—pieces of the heart of the Sedara?”
“That could explain why the Xifarians had to take the dolphin with them,” Nafi said.
“Maybe the sage knew . . . that’s why he asked me to help Gibbon,” Maia pondered aloud.
“So, now the Xifarians have not just one but two pieces,” Dani inferred, her voice trembling slightly. “What if . . . what if that’s all there is? What if there’s no more to find?”
The dread in Dani’s eyes held Maia’s heart in its fearsome grip. What Dani said was indeed a possibility. And if that were true, if the Xifarians had already retrieved all the shards, nothing else would matter. There would be no Tansi left to matter. A silence crept in, bringing with it the chill of an unimaginable terror.
57: The Premier Visits
Aerika called the team aside when they disembarked at the dive bay in Zagran. While the other groups walked away to the dormitories, Aerika led Core 21 to a room off to the side. Maia trudged behind her, too preoccupied with her worries to even care about what Aerika wanted from them. Guessing by her friends’ faces, they did not seem any more eager either.
“You need to take care of yourself for the next few days. No more running around,” Aerika declared solemnly, frowning at Kusha and pointing at his bandages. “The rest of you are free to do what you want, but try to stay out of trouble.”
“You mean Kusha has to stay in the dorm?” Nafi asked.
Aerika nodded, her face turning grim as Kusha groaned.
“And this transgression will be counted as a strike against you, your fifth and final one,” she declared. As squeals of protest filled the air, she shook her head. “Do not try to argue, I am not in a mood to listen to your pointless babble.”
“But, Supervisor Aerika,” Dani protested. “We didn’t want to break any rules. Is it our fault that these things happened? What were we supposed to do? Sit back while it all went to pieces?”
“You do not follow instructions very well, do you?” Aerika glared at Dani. “I can understand the audacity of the rest of your teammates, but you disappoint me the most with your impudence. You were brought up our way . . . you should know better than to defy and dispute your elders.”
“She’s just asking you a question, not trying to challenge you or anything,” Ren tried to explain.
“We didn’t have a choice, that’s all,” Nafi whined.
Aerika looked at Maia and Kusha and raised an inquiring eyebrow. “And you two have nothing to add?” she asked, a mocking smile playing on her lips.
Maia had no interest in arguing, not anymore. The contest meant nothing to her at the moment; all she could think about was Bikele and the likely loss of the heart of Sedara. Kusha was probably too tired and hurting to fight. Aerika stared at them for a while before speaking.
“This is your fifth and final strike,” she reiterated. Nafi rolled her eyes and stomped her feet, Ren threw his arms up in the air, and Dani sighed as noisily as she could. Aerika ignored their rather hopeless behavior and continued. “However, that does not hurt your chances since I have already declared this phase of the contest closed. But, you will have the honor of collecting five strikes.”
“You mean . . .” Nafi’s face stretched into a jubilant smile as she realized what Aerika had just said.
“Yes, consider yourselves lucky that I . . . forgot to award you the last penalty before I announced the end of the Jjordic phase. I do believe you will be one of the top ten teams who will move on to the next phase. Now, whether that part will ever be conducted, given the situation we are in, remains to be seen,” Aerika pronounced gravely. “I will admit, quite reluctantly though, that you have behaved in a most outrageous yet extraordinarily brave fashion. Not just once but time after time. For your bravery, I have to commend you.”
It was astonishing to hear those words from Aerika, and the team stood dumfounded. They had even forgotten to feel proud or happy until Aerika smiled a little and turned to leave.
“That does not mean that you are free to run amuck now,” she reminded sternly. “You are still expected to follow rules and will be taken to task if you don’t. And let that boy get some rest, do not keep him up for too long.”
No one meant to keep Kusha up and about, but there was no way to stop discussing all that had taken place. They took the elevator to the 500th and settled down at their usual corner at the atrium, continuing to chat feverishly until the patter of footsteps made them look around.
It was Premier Oliena. As everyone, including an obviously spent Kusha jumped to their feet as a show of respect to their important visitor, Oliena smiled and took a seat.
“Thank you for defending our resources so valiantly,” she said to Kusha. “On behalf of the Jjordic Council, I am here to extend my sincerest thanks to you and your friends.”
Kusha flushed and bowed his head quickly. So did everyone else.
“First, I would like to present this to you, Kusha.” Oliena held a blue crystalline pendant that hung from a thin black chain. “The Sage of the Deep has passed on. He wanted you to have this. He said the chakra is free again and from now on it will serve only you.”
Kusha extended a trembling hand to receive the priceless gift. He cradled the crystal tenderly in his palms while the team silently mourned the passing of the wise man.
“In return for what you have done for us, I would like to share some information with you,” Oliena continued. “We have decided to rebuild the Damoclian Connector. This will be the backbone from which all the Solianese territories will receive supplies. There will be no complicated calculations for distributing excess energy—everything we have will be shared equally with people on the land cities. However, we do need to build a protection system to guard this setup. As we have already found out, we are quite vulnerable. With that in mind, we will soon arrange a council at Miorie, where we hope to have consensus among all concerned parties.”
“Thank you,” Kusha whispered. “I cannot tell you how grateful I am . . . we all are, Premier Oliena.”
“You only have to thank yourselves,” Oliena replied.
“So, what do the Xifarians have to say about this attack?” Nafi asked eagerly.
“Oh no, we do not take names,” the premier said. “Not until we have proof.”
“But, we saw them,” Maia protested. “There was no doubt about their involvement.”
“Such is the painful art of diplomacy, dear child,” Oliena explained patiently. “Sometimes, it is simply not wise to accuse someone who might be a truly mighty adversary when pulled out in the open. So, we will continue to wait and watch—that is the prudent way.
“We will closely guard our energy farms, which seem to be a prime target. Whoever it might have been, they took excellent advantage of the opening of the Karnilian Caves for the challenges and the lack of security there. One of our caretakers is still missing; we do not know what might have happened to him. We are fortunate that they were not able to damage the condenser boxes, or we would be doomed.”
Oliena paused for a moment and let out a sigh. “We should have known better. We should have been more wary. I hear that they even had a Timiti guarding the passage to the
abyss. There have been reports of Timiti sightings lately, but I chose to ignore them. I should not have been so negligent. Timitis are forces of the dark—mutated animals living in the unreachable depths of the oceans. They can be manipulated only by the strongest extrasensory powers. The animal’s unnatural and heightened abilities make them the best telepathic conduits in this world. I should have guessed that someone was trying to use them to spy on us. All this time, it had been snooping around, trying to read unsuspecting minds, and relaying them to its masters.”
“So, you think the Timiti was controlled by the Xifarians?” Nafi asked incredulously.
“No names, please.” Oliena raised a cautioning finger, making Nafi blush.
“The Timiti was a spy?” Nafi whispered, recovering in an instant.
“That seems to be the most likely explanation.”
“Will we be ready by the time the Xifarians withdraw their support?” Dani asked.
“We have appealed for their understanding,” Oliena said. “It is possible that they will extend the deadline by a few more months. You see, that is why it is imperative that we do not accuse anyone of anything.”
Nafi leaned forward, frowning thoughtfully. “And . . . are we going to continue this contest?”
“Well, it does not seem likely that the third phase of the Initiative will start soon, given that the governments on Tansi will be involved in matters more critical.”
“Will there be a third phase at all?” Maia asked. She wondered about the utility of an effort of alliance when everything was falling apart.
“Oh yes, there will most definitely be one,” Oliena drove away any concerns that Maia had. “Our friends are most keen on continuing it even though we are not. I am not even sure they will be interested in delaying it, but we will plead for time.”
“And why should they consent to a delay?” Ren asked, twitching as all eyes impinged on him. He flushed deeply but continued. “What will . . . they gain out of giving you more time?”