by Tess Mallory
Telles caught himself in time to keep from plunging through, his grin getting broader every minute. "This is fantastic," he murmured. "It's all coming back to you, even without Sky's help."
Eagle snorted and ducked under the low opening, once again heading the expedition. Maybe Mayla wasn't here, but he intended to get to the bottom of this inexplicable stream of knowledge pulsating into his brain. And he meant what he had told them—he would not return to the Defiant. He'd strike out cross country if he had to and make it to the city. If he couldn't find the child, he would have to make things right with his father and find another way to convince him his regime was doomed.
He straightened inside the doorway and stopped in his tracks. As pristine and lovely as the outside of the building was, he found the inside even more beautiful. Everything was made from wood, from the paneling covering the walls to the sculpture in the center of the large room that reached almost to the twenty-foot ceiling. There were shelves everywhere—empty, filled with dust and cobwebs, as well as a dozen long wooden tables and benches scattered in disarray, as though their occupants had pushed them back hurriedly, had shoved them aside in a panic.
Eagle pushed the thought away and concentrated on the reality of what he was viewing. He crossed to the wooden sculpture, his footsteps stirring the inches-deep dust on the floor. He touched the wood reverently with one hand, feeling the smooth texture against his palm. He knew about this too. The abstract artwork represented Knowledge. It twisted intricately around, forming knots within knots, and yet was so simplistic it seemed anyone could have carved it. Legend had it that the first Seeker had carved it, many years ago, to show that knowledge was simple and available to all who sought it, but was also complex, and understanding hard won. His fingers traveled over the curved surface until they reached a dark spot about three inches wide and eight inches long, the color there a deep, dark reddish-brown, totally out of synch with the rest of the sculpture. Eagle looked at it more closely, running one finger over its surface. There was something about this. Something familiar. A weight came down suddenly on his shoulder, and he jerked before realizing it was Telles.
"Maybe we should look around some more," his friend said, hand firmly on his shoulder. His voice sounded strained, nervous. "If Sky is certain Mayla isn't here, then we can at least look for proof of who we are."
Eagle found himself nodding. "The archives," he said.
"What archives?" Sky asked, moving to stand beside him and the sculpture. His gaze was still fixed on the smooth carving. He didn't answer her, and at last Telles began to speak.
"When the Forces attacked Andromeda, they came to this temple and wiped out all of the ancient writings the Seekers had accumulated for centuries. Books, scrolls, discs, artwork—it was all destroyed by Zarn's soldiers." He glanced at Eagle, who was purposely ignoring him. "Or so they thought. Zarn didn't know there was a secret archive where the originals were kept. All those on display in the upper chambers were merely copies."
"What kind of information do these writings contain?"
"Everything from the history of Andromeda to the Seekers' own personal histories. Once a Seeker was accepted into the organization, he or she was expected to write a work that included the story not only of his life, but that of his family and his ancestors. In this way, the Seekers had countless corroborations of different stones, from different viewpoints." Telles moved to the other side of the sculpture, facing Eagle. "That's what made them so dangerous to Zarn. They dealt in the truth. So how about it, Colonel? Are you ready to fight the real battle?"
Eagle glanced up from the stained wood into his friend's eyes. For the first time in a long time, he saw the old bond between them reflected in those blue-gray irises. Telles was still his brother, in spite of everything that had happened. All he had to do was go along with this charade and prove to him they were both being duped by the rebels, by lovely Skyra Cezan and her mysterious sister. It didn't matter what they found in the archives. What mattered was what he knew in his heart, in his spirit. He was Garnos Zarn's son and nothing would ever change that. Not Sky, not Telles, not any ancient, crumbling piece of parchment scrawled on by some forgotten philosopher.
"Sure," he said, without emotion. "Let's get to it."
Sky followed the two men down a narrow stairway behind a door whose doorway had been hidden in the wall. Eagle had walked right up to it and tripped a secret switch in the wood, opening a panel that slid back, exposing the door behind. Telles had explained that while the mechanism that opened the door could be triggered to allow someone to enter, once a person was in the chamber and the door shut, there was no way to leave until someone else activated the device. The activation was caused by pressure against one of the stones near the doorway. Because the Seekers had kept someone perpetually in the archives, changing shifts every four hours or so, this way of keeping their chamber secret worked very well.
The stairway led in a twisting, writhing pathway downward into the very bowels of the planet it seemed. The steps had been carved from a rough kind of stone, not like the beautiful green stone on the outside, and appeared to be much, much older than the rest of the temple. Perhaps the underground part had been built first, years before the rest?
The toe of her boot caught just then on a crevice in one of the steps and she pitched forward. Telles caught her, his hands around her waist. He steadied her and smiled before turning back to follow Eagle. Eagle had already turned back to the dark stairway but not before she saw the flash of anger and jealousy in his eyes. She couldn't help smiling into the darkness. She stumbled again, but this time it wasn't the stairway tripping her, but a soft, sweet signal resounding deep inside her mind.
Mayla.
Her sister was trying to contact her again. She froze, one hand to the silver band around her forehead. Should she take it off? Could she take the chance of discarding the only protection she had against the thousands of mental voices on Andromeda? True, they were far away from any large city or village, but distance wasn't always a sufficient deterrent. She hesitated and her sister's voice came suddenly, clearly, loudly into her mind.
Take off the band. You will be safe. Your power will be needed.
Sky hesitated no longer. She slipped the silver deflector band off her head and stood for a moment on the stairs, expecting a flood of voices, a barrage that might send her spiraling into unconsciousness. But Mayla had said she would be safe.
"Sky, what are you doing?" Telles was looking up at her, his brows knit together in concern. "Why are you taking off your band?"
"Mayla told me to," she whispered.
Eagle moved back up the stairs and wedged his form between the two of them. "Mayla? Then she's here?"
Sky shook her head, her gaze fixed above them. Mayla was trying to tell her something, something important. "Can you read our minds?" Telles asked. Eagle stiffened at his words and Sky shifted her eyes to him.
"No, something strange is happening. I know I could go inside your minds if I chose, but there is no outpouring, no unguarded flood of thoughts from you like I would usually experience without my band."
"How?" Eagle's hand closed around hers and Sky felt suddenly very safe, very protected. How foolish.
"I don't know. It could be Mayla's doing, but to exercise power of such magnitude she would have to be on this planet, and I just don't sense her presence." She stood there for another moment, then shook herself mentally. "She isn't there now. Let's go on. Let's make the most of our time."
They reached the bottom of the long stairwell and stepped into total darkness. Sky put her hand out in front of her and came in contact with a hard, broad back. There was a movement and suddenly she was touching soft hair that curled against a hard muscular chest. Her fingers spread unconsciously for a scant second before she snatched her hand away. She gasped as her own chest was explored in turn, by a large, gentle hand.
"Oh, is that you, Sky? Sorry, I couldn't see." Eagle chuckled as she slapped his hand away from h
er breast and kicked him solidly in the shin. The cursing that followed was music to her ears.
"Oh, dear," she said sweetly, "was that you? Sorry, I couldn't see."
"If both of you are quite finished," Telles drawled, "I'd like to turn on the light."
"What's stopping you?" Eagle asked.
"I didn't want to embarrass myself I wasn't sure what position I'd find the two of you in."
"The only position you'll find me in is straddling this big lummox with my blaster up his nose!" Sky shoved Eagle aside and felt her way to Telles's side, feeling completely humiliated. "Turn on the p'faugking light!"
A humming sound filled the darkness, followed by faint traces of illumination high above them on the ceiling. Dim lights seemed to hover in midair. They flickered once or twice, then bloomed into full, brilliant light.
"By the great Cezan," Telles whispered.
Sky silently echoed his reverent epitaph as she gazed around the huge chamber in which she found herself. From the floor to the thirty-foot-high ceiling, the walls, made to form a hexagon, were covered with shelves filled to overflowing with ancient books, rolled-up scrolls, containers of computer discs, maps, huge volumes, tiny pocket-sized manuscripts. Every nook and cranny was filled. In each corner of the room stood large, chestlike pieces of furniture, and in the center was another sculpture, this one a large piece of violet crystalline about two feet wide and four feet tall, mounted on a wooden pedestal.
"I wonder if this crystal has anything to do with the mental projections we experienced outside." Eagle moved to the object and let his hands hover inches away from it, never touching. "You can feel the energy. Crystals are often used as energy sources. Many of our own ships are powered by Kyron crystals. The Seekers must have found a way to project subliminal programming using the power source."
Sky stepped up beside him and held her hand out. He was right. She could feel the power throbbing from the center of the crystal's core. "Amazing." A memory pierced her thoughts. A crystal, small, slim, this same color of purple, hanging from her mother's throat. She'd worn it all her life. One just like it had been given to Mayla when her position as the heir had been established.
"So where do we look first?" Telles asked, spreading his hands apart. "We could look in here for a century and still not have seen everything."
"What are those?" Sky pointed at one of the large chests in the far west corner of the room. "There's one in each corner. They seem significant." She crossed to it and ran one hand over the smooth, golden wood. It was about three feet tall, two feet wide, and four feet long. The sides were flat but the top was rounded, curved unevenly, almost like an ocean's wave. "That's funny. There are no seam, no hinges, no opening. Again."
She smiled and closed her eyes, opening her telepathic portals. How wonderful it was to use them again without the fear of being assaulted. How had Mayla done this? She had kept the minds of others from her while they lived on Bezanti with great effort and it had weakened her. How was she possibly preventing it here on Andromeda, possibly light years away from wherever she was? Or was it the crystal? Was it somehow helping her?
Images formed in her mind of families: fathers, mothers, brothers, and sisters. More images: animals she had never seen before, a rush of stones, names, places that did not exist on any world she knew.
"They are in here," she said, the wood feeling almost alive beneath her fingers.
"Who?"
She felt Eagle at her side. She reached for his hand and placed it on the chest beside hers. "The Seekers. Their families."
Sky opened her eyes and found Eagle staring down at her. His long lashes swept downward as if to hide the honest emotion she saw shimmering in his green gaze.
"How do we open them?" Telles asked, coming up behind them. Sky turned away from Eagle's hooded features and took a deep breath.
"I'm not sure. Come here, Telles. Put your hands on here too." He complied and soon the three of them were standing side by side, their fingers spread atop the chest. "Now, concentrate on the Seekers, on Andromeda. Think about why we are here."
Sky slid Eagle a sidelong glance and caught the hesitation on his face before he closed his eyes and knit his dark brows together. What happened next was truly startling. Sky felt the wood under her hands begin to move, almost as though it were alive.
"What the—" Eagle said, dropping his hands away. Sky caught them and put them back on the wood.
"No, no," she said hastily, "keep your hands on the chest. It's opening!"
The chest moved again, a movement like a gentle sigh. The curved top bucked just a little beneath their fingers, then four drawers, one on each side, slid out of the chest. Lithe drawers were dozens of small, multi-colored balls.
"Great," Eagle said in disgust. "We found where the Seekers keep their marbles."
"Don't be absurd," Sky snapped, scooping up one of the orbs carefully in her hand. "These are almost alive. I can feel them vibrate into my soul."
"Recordings of some kind?" Eagle suggested, dropping his sarcasm and picking up a pale green ball. It fit perfectly in the palm of his hand.
Telles nodded and moved to take one for himself. "That would make sense. Now, how would one go about hearing or reading what was recorded?"
"Look around," Sky said. "Maybe there's a device they fit into."
"Let's search the other chests first."
They placed the orbs back into the drawer and in short order had opened the other three chests. Inside they found more of the same.
"It could be anywhere—whatever it is," Eagle said, gesturing upward. "On one of those shelves, maybe."
"Or—" Sky picked up a dark blue orb and held it out in front of her, moving toward the crystal in the center of the room. As she got closer, the orb began to glow with a translucent, irridescent quality. "I can feel it," she whispered. "It's vibrating as though it's alive."
"It is alive," Telles said. "Alive with memories." He shot Eagle an arch look that the other man ignored. Sky had reached the pedestal now and held the orb toward the shimmering crystal.
"I am Nabom." A voice boomed out of nowhere. "I am a Seeker."
Sky was so startled she almost dropped the orb, but as the voice spoke the object vibrated violently in her hand. "It's the orb," she called to the men. "The crystal activated it."
They crossed to her side and stood gazing down at the shimmering globe. The voice continued. "My father was Malkigh and my mother Neara. I was born under the Polii moon in the month of Kanu."
The voice went on, documenting every fact about this Seeker's family and life until at last the sound began to fade and the orb stopped glowing and fell silent.
"Wow." Sky put the orb back in the drawer reverently. So much knowledge! Such incredible stones. But how could they possibly search through all of them? They couldn't. There just wasn't time.
"There's no way we can listen to all of these," Telles said, echoing her thoughts. "Eagle, what do you—" He stopped abruptly and Sky turned. Eagle was standing across the room in front of one of the other chests, staring down into its depths.
Sky glanced at Telles questioningly. He shrugged and shook his head but began to move toward his friend. Sky followed. There was a magic to this place, a mystery. Ever since they'd arrived, Eagle had acted strangely, as though he was affected somehow simply by being here. Could it be that the hidden memories Telles claimed were in his mind were somehow being awakened?
Eagle had one of the orbs in his hand. It was a beautiful deep amber color. He didn't even look up as Sky and Telles flanked him, both looking anxiously into his glazed eyes.
"Eagle?" Sky pulled on his arm, trying to get his attention. He continued to stare down at the object in his hand. He held it as though it was a precious treasure.
"It's here," he said softly, cradling the orb. "It's here."
"What's here?" Telles asked, his eyes filled with hope.
Eagle took a deep breath and released the air slowly, as though he were trying to some
how gain the time he needed before he answered.
"What?" Sky demanded, too anxious to wait. "What are you talking about?"
Eagle lifted his gaze to hers and Sky took a step back. Emerald-green eyes reflected a pain so deep she could not bear to look at him, and yet she sensed that beneath the pain was joy almost too wondrous to be borne. He smiled and Sky moved closer again. "Tell me, Eagle," she said. "What is here?"
"My life," he whispered.
Chapter Thirteen
Eagle stared down at the glowing orb. Quite without his consent, his feet began to take him toward the crystal in the center of the room. Telles and Sky hung back, and he was only aware of their presence in a hazy, subconscious kind of way. He held the dark amber gently, as if it held fragile, precious secrets, for he knew that it did. The closer he got to the crystal, the more terrified he became, and yet he was drawn closer, pulled by a power he could not understand, a power inside himself, a power demanding to be heard.
The orb in his hand began to glow. He could feel it come to life against his palm, but he still was not prepared for the quiet, familiar voice that came dancing down around him as he stopped directly in front of the pedestal.
"I am Toma N'chal, a Seeker, husband of Pelana, father of Keela, Mok, Zanik, and Ranon, my little eagle." Eagle felt a surge of adrenaline rush through his veins, felt the blood just as quickly rush away from his head. He staggered and caught himself against the side of the pedestal as the voice continued. "I am the son of Konak, grandson of Saxin, great-grandson of Meinak, all Seekers, all bound by the philosophy of total brotherhood passed down to us from our forebears on Terra. My wife has been the perfect helpmate and her own story may be found in our archives. I could not be more proud of my children. My oldest daughter will follow in my footsteps, as will my youngest son, Ranon."
He went on to tell that each child had been given the opportunity to choose a favorite story to be placed in their family archive. Eagle stood in stony silence, listening intently until he came to the one chosen by Ranon, the youngest son.