Light Bringer (The Young Ancients: Second Cycle Book 2)

by Power, P. S.

  "That does seem like a good plan. Ah, here we go. The wall closed." There was a reflective section in front of them, so that they could tell that. This landing area was huge compared to the others that he'd used in the past, which was needed for his ship to fit at present. He'd made it a good bit larger than was strictly needed. To impress people. It hadn't been on accident, but the raw fact was that he could have gone with a thing a tenth the size and still had a hundred times more room than was needed.

  It took about ten minutes to hook up the docking tube, and set a tight airlock in place. Losing air would be bad after all, since they'd end up forced to make more and had limited water supplies to work from for that. Enough, but wasting things you couldn't replace made no sense at all.

  Then everyone moved to the little room next to them, as five people of different sizes and colors walked in. Dressed identically in silver. A short man, who was blocky and powerful for all of that, waved as he came in. He looked a bit strange, having silver hair, and unlined skin, as well as deep silver eyes.

  "Hello. We're the crew for this trip? I'm Lenn." He bowed correctly, doing it to Dare first, then Tenet. As an afterthought he added everyone else. "What's first here? Scrub the ship and start on a meal?"

  The man was forceful, but not angry or anything like that. Just a bit bossy.

  Dareg smiled, deciding to put him in charge of the others then.

  "I need to go sleep. I get four hours from when everyone leaves. These people could use guides here, since they can go and see things, and should. None of you have been here before?" That wasn't a known thing, but the science people all seemed to agree with that part. Lenn looked at them, and smiled then.

  "Let's break up into groups of six or seven then? I'll stay here, and make sure no one takes off without us all. Crew, get a head count and make sure you don't leave anyone. Meet back here in... Three hours and fifty-minutes from... Now." He pulled a handheld, identical to the one that Dareg and everyone else had, and set up a countdown on it for that amount of time.

  Then he turned to Dare again, as everyone left.

  "I'll wake you?" This time he looked at Karina, who nodded as well, but there was no hint of him thinking anything of it in particular. Even if half of known space would presume that the yawning and eye rubbing was fake, meant to distract from the fact that the young man and pretty woman were going to be alone. There was a strange accent to the funny looking man. It was a fluid sounding thing, but Dare didn't really think about it that much. You could get work done to make yourself seem different there, and it was probably just a different version of an Austran accent. They did have them, though this one was less subtle than most.

  Still, Dareg wasn't an idiot. There had been minor differences to Bill, the faithless squire, as well. Things that he'd ignored, when he clearly shouldn't have. This time he was going to collect all the information, in case the man was dangerous. The real worry was that anyone there, almost, could have been one of their enemies. Lenn was actually far too obvious for that, unless it was part of a very clever ruse to throw them off. That was actually possible, but less likely than the danger being from someone else. One of the unknown scientists for instance.

  Worse, he couldn't even just drive the odd people away, because if they were the bad ones, they might trigger and just kill him and Karina. The safest thing to do was to note who they might be, and let them stay there, until a good trap could be set up for them. If it came to a fight, then they were all dead, more likely than not.

  So he acted like everything were normal, and went off to his room, along with a princess. Just inside the door she kissed him on the cheek.

  "Don't worry, I know you meant to sleep. I wasn't kidding about needing some, myself. You noticed how strange that was back there, didn't you?" Her voice nearly whispered the last part, but he nodded, getting what she meant.

  "I did! Hopefully that means it's all perfectly safe. Well, if I wake up dead, that will be a sign that things went wrong, won't it?"

  That got her to grin, and walk with him to the large bed, which she made both longer and wider with a touch. Then they climbed in. It was nice, since she pressed her left leg against his right, but wasn't too close or anything. For a moment he wondered if he could sleep that way, but then drifted off, as if it were simply how he'd always lived. Apparently that had worked for her as well, since she started when the door started to flash in multiple colors of light.

  "Argh." The flashing let him see, so he worked out that it was his wake up announcement as he staggered that way, only half blind. Opening the door, he saw that it was Lenn, who was holding the countdown timer in his hand. It buzzed lightly.

  "There we go. Do you need me to keep you awake, or are you good this way? I always need to have someone talk to me for a bit if I'm short on sleep like you are right now."

  "Should be good. If you don't see me on the bridge in ten minutes, come throw water on me? I won't lay back down. Promise." The huge yawn after that and the sleepy tone to it all made it seem like he wasn't going to keep his word, but he would. It was his job after all.

  "Understood then. See you in ten minutes." The clock in his hand, with the big numbers, got reset, to show he was serious.

  That meant dashing to the restroom, relieving himself, and brushing his teeth and hair. Then changing clothing. A full shower would have to wait. Just as he was coming out, Karina moved in, her left eye still closed.

  "I'll be right there, have coffee ready?" There was a plaintive sound to the words, but he thought that might be possible. He'd had that before, after all. The ship would make almost anything that way, if he knew what it was they wanted.

  That meant that only ten minutes after he'd claimed they were leaving, a cup of bitter brown in his hand, he was able to greet everyone and get a head count of his own. It did seem like everyone was there, and no extra bodies had come in that he could see. Not that fifty people couldn't have hidden on the ship when they weren't paying attention. As Karina sank down next to him, Dareg quickly finished the contents of his ceramic mug. She had one too, that he'd placed on the arm of her chair.

  "Mars is reddish and has two space stations?" Also the next planet out, which alone would be enough for him to find it.

  She nodded, and smiled.

  "Want me to..." She stopped as the planet came into view through the window. He'd come in at a distance, in case he had to avoid a ship or station. One of those was in view, which got her to point. "I was going to ask if you wanted me to make the jump, but never mind. So, we're honeymooning at the next star over? I'd figured you were just saying that for a laugh, but if you can do this..." She waved at her planet, and stood up.

  "Mars. Undergoing terra-forming right now. That means we've introduced special bacteria and plant life to change the face of it and build an atmosphere. We're also using magic to speed that process up, creating air directly. Captain, if you could take us into orbit? I can answer any questions you might have?"

  The talk was educational, and Jan, one of his chosen media crew, was busy taking questions directly from Harmony and Austra. Oddly enough there was one from King Richard, too.

  Jan, who had blue and purple hair, as well as a Saturn logo like Tomas had, read the words from her hand excitedly.

  "Oh! This is special then! King Richard of Noram asks, are there any plans to put a city here soon?"

  The man knew the answer, but it was the kind of thing you did to help a friend, asking a question you knew they were ready for.

  Karina nodded, seeming regal as she spoke.

  "We have a new type of underground city to test for that. Ones created by Builder Alyssa Baker. We also have other magical support from Harmony and Earth on the effort. We'll be looking for the first settlers there inside a year. Sooner, most likely. Like Harmony we're accepting applications from everywhere."

  Dareg tilted his head, and not trying to be a jerk, asked a question that got more attention that he would have considered at first.

&nb
sp; "Does that include aliens?" There were three fleets coming after all, and they had near the amount of people that Earth did, if not more. Some of them were very different creatures, too.

  Karina smiled as the others laughed.

  "If they're friendly? Yes. That's a good plan. We'll start out with an open arms policy. Anyone that is willing to work and follow the rules there can come and stay. I think we should set the city at the northern pole. The radiation levels are a little lower there, though it's cooler all the time."

  That actually started a debate, and a demand that he move over the place so the scientists could see if for themselves. Dareg did one better, actually setting down. The landscape was open, and rocky in places, but not nearly as red as he would have figured. In fact, parts of it were a silvery green. Enough so that he didn't go all the way down, just hovering about fifteen feet up.

  Tomas, and the vain annoying man that had the same job, Grant Bugler, both practically jumped onto the front window. Tomas pointed excitedly out of it, while Grant tried to get in front of a camera.

  "We're on Mars! On the surface of another world! This is a monumental day, ladies and gentlemen! Austra has come to Mars!"

  Karina nodded, but didn't ruin the moment. Grant got to do that.

  "This is Grant Bugler, for Channel Seventeen Lima. Reporting from the surface of Mars. We have with us Queen Karina of Mars..." He tried to wave the camera around, but Nimbus, who had a new tattoo as well, was at the controls and was busy looking out the shield window, getting the important footage.

  Tenet spoke, his voice pleasant.

  "The Revered One of Mars. Revered Ones aren't allowed to take direct control like that. We have rules. That means the positions of leadership are still open here."

  Doctor Grainger pressed toward the window, to take his own readings, along with ten others, some of whom looked nearly panicked. There was a bit of yelling, and finally the older, stout looking, man turned to him.

  "Can we get some of the equipment outside? Even ten minutes of readings would be incredible."

  Dareg looked at Karina, who glanced around at everyone.

  "That should be fine. Float above the ground however? I don't want the lichen to be crushed. It's growing nicely, isn't it?"

  That took a while and not everyone got to go. It was Tenet and Karina, along with Lenn the crewman, that did the outside work. They were the ones that knew how to use the shields well enough to float around properly, as well as set up airlocks that didn't waste too much air. All of the scientists seemed fine with that part of things, oddly enough.

  For his part Dare felt a little jealous, since it would have been interesting to get out. His job required him to stay with the ship however.

  They stayed out for an hour, getting readings on devices that were reported via camera to the whole world all at once. It was the only way to get the information back home instantly. That meant sharing it all, but other than some grousing about papers to be written, no one complained that much.

  Even at that, Grainger just laughed. It was a good, deep sound.

  "I'm almost certain that all of us will be able to publish for decades off this one journey. We should all consider the merit of moving here for work, once that becomes available. I'm certain my wife, Honey, will enjoy that, but I'm willing to work on her!"

  The mood seemed to be a combination of happy and serious for a while after that. Dareg looked around finally, confirmed all the gear was inside, and that everyone had what they needed.

  "Off to Saturn, next then. We'll be in orbit for six days. We should have a picnic when we get there." As if to underscore that his stomach growled at him gently. No one else heard it, saving him from embarrassment.

  It took less time to get from Mars to Saturn than the rest of the trip had. He moved into orbit, and made the jump in about two minutes. Then settled into what should have been a safe rotation around the ringed planet. The only problem there was that slowly, over time, the giant thing pulled on them, even from far away. It was manageable, but took constant correction. That part was going to be annoying, Dare decided. It meant they needed to either move away from the thing a good way while he slept or have someone constantly in the pilot's seat.

  He didn't have to order the crew to get food, and the room changed, so that they could all eat a feast while looking out the window. Tomas and Grant took turns pointing at things and speaking in deep, polished voices in the background. Jan kept reading things from her hand, and gesturing, getting one of the cameras to do what she wanted. That meant getting the rest of them on at least part of the time.

  It was Jan then who came to him, her voice low, about half an hour into the whole thing.

  Her voice was scared and a bit awed sounding when she spoke.

  "Um... The Revered One, Timon... He wanted to remind you about the Satellites? He's ready to assume control of them in order to get them into place?"

  That got the room to go silent. At first he figured it was the creepy Austran thing where they all seemed to have a collective puppy crush on Tim, but at least part of them seemed actually interested to find out they were getting closer pictures, and would have them for years.

  That meant finding the right case, which Tomas had control of, and just dumping the things outside. They could move on their own, after all. It meant they were able to get the first close ups of the rings. They were brown, yellow and red, with a single line of blue, going all the way around the planet. The interesting part was, of course, the three ships that were already there, creating the things.

  That pretty much had people in the room screaming for some reason.

  Dareg finally just laughed and raised his left hand.

  "Probably robot ships. Let's do our own exploration first, then see if they can answer us at all? They look old, don't they?" Ancient really. They seemed to be made of huge slabs of polished obsidian. That, or something like focus stone. "I wonder what they're doing?"

  Jan looked at her hand, and nodded.

  "Revered One Timon suggests they're probably mining? Old world ships that we lost information about?" That idea got most of the people to calm down at least.

  "Not a problem. They wouldn't be even if they were aliens though. Not if all they're doing is peacefully mining, or even just making art. It really is pretty." That came from Tenet, who seemed to be admiring the view.

  That really was an important part of things however.

  Even when one of the satellites moved to almost touch one of the ring builders, nothing happened. Well, nothing except a full meal being served. Half the people just grabbed plates, and stood as they ate, not wanting to risk missing anything. Even if the table had been set up right there, not ten feet away. Dare used a chair and silverware, himself. Karina did the same. The view was incredible in every direction. There were rings, and old ships, as well as happy and excited people hopping around doing things.

  Finally, Grant started to yell about alien contact.

  Nothing had really changed however, the big ship they were watching just slowly putting out dust as it passed.

  "You know, that might be? I hadn't thought of it before, but what if they aren't ships?" Dare looked at the large black thing in the distance, using his own eyes. "They could be animals, right? Made of stone? Or is that stupid?"

  Oddly, the collective scientists just argued about that, with over half suggesting it could be the case, and the others thinking that was less likely than the things being intelligently driven craft. Either way, nothing happened as they watched, except a lot of eating, on his part. Everyone else barely picked at things, though it was all delicious.

  There was even a delicate tiny golden cake with a creamy filling for dessert. It was interesting seeing the frosting on the outside of the thing, and was good. One of the Austran's made them for everyone, helping out, and playing with the food unit at the same time. Which was smart. Not that they couldn't have just recycled the things if no one wanted them.

  The first ten
hours or so were taken up getting things in place to spy on the ring makers, and the planet itself. Then just as he was fading, ready to go to bed again, Dareg figured out how to get the ship into a stable orbit. It had a control for it, but much like jumping, it had to be set mentally. A thing that no one had explained to him in the first place. Probably because the only person that knew about it was Timon.

  That meant when he got off to sleep finally they didn't have to set up a rotation or anything. Half a day later Karina came to get him, so that he could eat and move around a bit, instead of just sleeping the whole trip away. Not that he didn't want to do that.

  Interestingly, he walked onto his bridge to find that it was empty, except for him, and oddly enough Jan, from the media crew.

  "Hey! I was just hiding in here for a bit. Too jazzed to sleep, you know?" She was in her early twenties or so, and not that pretty, but she did have a nice body and was better looking without the tattoo on her face. He probably was too, so Dare didn't mention it. It marked them as being on the same team and all that, so worked well enough for him.

  Her Terry-handheld buzzed, making an odd sound that his own never had. She didn't even try to answer it, just reading what someone had clearly written to her.

  "My boss. We're supposed to be running twenty-four hour coverage, but Channel Seventeen is trying to steal the whole thing. That was... A cluster, you know? Messed up. Really, you should have offered to sue the government for breach of contract. They really don't have a right to sell things out from under you like that. No one does." She started to flag a bit, tired seeming already.

  Then, she'd probably been awake in a stressful condition for over a day.

  Dare nodded.

  "Do you have a family? A mother and father, I mean. Not adopted or..." He waved, walking toward the wall. "Or abandoned like I was?"

  That wasn't the real story, but it was close enough for people that didn't need to know more about him.

  "Um, sure. My parents are still married even, so how strange does that make me? They live in Melby. You... It's been in the news, with you and Tor?" She smiled at him. "Yes, I picked up that no one in Noram calls him The Tor. That comes from that sex show he did, about fifteen years ago. Did anyone ever tell you about that?"