“Of course he will,” Hope said. “Luckily, he’s just returned from a trip with the Katres, so he’s here on the ranch now. I think we should give him a call and get that set up as soon as possible.”
“Sounds good to me,” Aisling agreed. She was tired of limping around and more than ready to have the problem fixed. Besides which, she would feel a lot more confident about going up against Urwin when she was fully healed.
“You go ahead and send those plans to the tele-fabricators, and I’ll vox Doc,” Hope offered.
“Deal,” Aisling replied, glad that she had decided to tell Hope everything. Without her help, she didn’t know how she would have gotten so much done so quickly.
***
After dinner that evening the Bearens speed traveled with the Gryphons to the spaceport to inspect the Kontuan. The Bearens had agreed they could use it but it would take a few days for it to be provisioned. The sooner they put things in motion, the sooner they could leave.
Since they were on the Dracons’ ranch, there was no need for an extra guard to watch over Aisling and Karma while the Gryphons were gone, which was a relief to both women. It was nice to be able to just relax in the living room of the guest cabin without a strange man there.
Aisling had sent her order to the tele-fabricators and received confirmation that the order would be delivered to the ranch, to Karma, in three days. Her surgery was scheduled to take place in two days, and Doc had agreed that she could be placed in a healing tank afterward and moved to the Kontuan. It was hard to believe how much had been accomplished in just a few short hours.
Aisling chose a chair in the living room, turned on her hand terminal and pulled up the Arkandu oraculum. She hadn’t had much time to spend on this, which made her feel a little guilty, so she thought she should work on it while waiting for the Gryphons to return. An hour later she hadn’t gotten very far.
“How’s it going?” Karma asked from the sofa across from her.
“Terribly,” Aisling replied with a sigh. “I’m really good with numbers, so I thought this wouldn’t be too difficult. I was wrong.”
Karma bit her lip, then took a deep breath. “Aisling, I’m going to tell you something, but this is between you and me only, okay?”
Aisling glanced up at Karma in surprise. “Sure. I’d never repeat something you asked me not to.”
Karma put her reader on the arm of her chair, looked at Aisling for a long moment, then shifted her gaze to an area beside Aisling’s chair.
“When Hope, Grace and I were in the desert, after I fell and broke my leg, something happened to me that had never happened before,” Karma said. “I saw a man that I knew was not really there. A man I didn’t know. He told me things and to be honest, I thought at first it was just the fever and the pain talking. I didn’t really believe it myself at first.”
“There but not there?” Aisling asked in confusion.
“Yes,” Karma replied. “It turned out to be Hope’s cousin, Harlan. The things he told me saved Hope’s life, and saved us both from getting burned.”
“Harlan is dead,” Aisling said. “So what you’re telling me is that you talked to his...what? His spirit? His soul?”
“Yes,” Karma replied. “Whatever you want to call it, I spoke to a dead man. When I woke up from the healing tank in the base hospital it was one of the first things I remembered. I thought that it happened because of my fever. I didn’t think it would ever happen again.”
“But it did,” Aisling guessed.
“Yes, it did,” Karma admitted.
“I’m glad you trust me enough to share this with me but I gotta ask, why did you?” Aisling asked.
“Because there’s a strange little being standing right next to your chair, and he wants very much for me to tell you something,” Karma replied.
Aisling’s eyes widened in surprise. “Wow. Okay. Where is he?”
Karma pointed to the empty space beside the armchair Aisling was sitting in. Aisling looked where Karma pointed, but saw nothing out of the ordinary. She turned back to Karma and studied her face carefully. Over the years she had learned to be a fairly good judge of character. There was nothing to indicate that Karma was lying to her. In fact, all of the indicators insisted that she was being perfectly honest.
“What does he want you to tell me?” she asked.
Karma’s gaze shifted again to the empty space, then back to Aisling.
“I am going to repeat everything he says as close as I can, okay?” Karma asked.
Aisling nodded, sitting up straight now, eager to hear what this invisible being wanted to tell her. It sounded strange, but no stranger than her sudden ability to translate languages she’d never heard before.
“He says that he is a member of a race once known as the Arkandu,” Karma began.
Aisling gasped. “Arkandu? Seriously? Are you certain of that?”
“Yes, positive,” Karma said.
“Look at this,” Aisling said, holding her hand terminal out to Karma. Karma took it and stared at the screen for a moment, but she couldn’t read a word of what she was looking at. She handed the terminal back to Aisling.
“Sorry Ash, but I have no clue what that says.”
“I’m sorry,” Aisling said taking the terminal back. “I see Standard when I look at this stuff, except for the oraculum part anyway, and I keep forgetting it doesn’t look that way to everyone else. Right before the part that I can’t read, the text refers to it specifically as the Oraculum of the Arkandu.”
“Oh,” Karma replied. “Yes, I can see why that would be exciting. It also makes me feel better, like I’m not a lunatic.”
Aisling grinned. “Who said you’re not a lunatic?”
“Nobody,” Karma replied with her usual half shrug. “Do you want to hear the rest of this?”
“Yes, please,” Aisling said. “I’ll be good.”
Karma cocked a doubtful eyebrow, then glanced at the empty area beside Aisling. “I know, I know, I’m getting there,” she said. “Don’t be so pushy.”
Aisling glanced at the space beside her where Karma was looking, then back to Karma. She decided not to comment.
“The Arkandu were an advanced technological race,” Karma began again. “They were the first civilization in our galaxy to leave their own world and explore the stars. Before long they attracted the notice of the Xanti, who were just beginning to venture into our galaxy from their own.”
“How long ago was this?” Aisling asked.
Karma turned to the empty space, then looked back to Aisling. “He is not sure, but thinks that it would be about seven thousand of our years ago.”
“Amazing,” Aisling said softly. “Please continue.”
“The Xanti had technology that was far beyond that of the Arkandu, and because the Xanti seemed friendly enough, they began to trade with them. Many of the Arkandu were psychic, and there was a lot of suspicion about the Xanti because they looked just like the Arkandu. This was troubling as the Xanti had told them they were from a different galaxy. They didn’t think it made sense that a race from a different galaxy would appear exactly as themselves.
“Good point,” Aisling said softly, remembering what Elder Vulpiran had told them about the Xanti’s bio-suits.
Karma nodded in agreement. “Eventually, the Arkandu psychics discerned the Xanti’s true nature. They learned that the Xanti were predators who could mimic any race using technology stolen from enslaved races from within their own galaxy. They did not know the Xanti’s true form, but they knew enough to know that they wanted nothing further to do with them. The Arkandu tried to distance themselves from the Xanti in a peaceful manner, but that only made the Xanti suspicious. Eventually the Xanti decided that the Arkandu knew too much about them. They decided to destroy the Arkandu so that they could not spread their knowledge among the other worlds.
“Knowing that their end was coming, the greatest seer of the Arkandu delivered an oraculum to the Xanti. The text that you are s
truggling with is that oraculum.”
“Am I right in thinking that an oraculum is similar to a prophecy?” she asked.
“He thinks so,” Karma replied. “He isn’t altogether certain what a prophecy is, but if it is a foretelling, then yes.”
“Does he know it?” Aisling asked. “Can he tell you what the oraculum says so that you can tell me?”
Karma shook her head. “He doesn’t know it,” she said. “He knows the story leading up to it because he lived through it, but only the Xanti heard the oraculum. After the seer delivered it to the Xanti, they murdered him.”
“But I can’t read it,” Aisling said with frustration. “I can’t figure out what it says.”
“He asks, no, begs, that you not give up on this,” Karma said. “He says that it is his task to be sure you understand how important this knowledge is, and that it is your task to decipher it. If you don’t, the continuance of the Thousand Worlds will be left in doubt.”
“That big, huh?” Aisling asked as she stared at the terminal screen. After a few moments she looked up at Karma, a determined look in her eye.
“Tell him not to worry, I won’t give up on it. I’ll keep at it until I figure it out if it takes me the rest of my life.”
“I don’t need to tell him, he can hear you,” Karma said. “He is bowing to you in thanks.” Karma fell silent for a moment, then nodded silently to the empty area beside Aisling’s chair.
“This is a lot more important than we thought, Aisling,” she said.
“Yes, I get that,” Aisling said. “But don’t you think that the story you just told me is important as well?”
Karma dropped her eyes, then looked up again. “I do think it’s important,” she admitted. “But I’m afraid to tell anyone. What if they don’t believe me?”
“Then that would be their problem, and their loss,” Aisling replied. “Its up to you, Karma.”
“I know, Aisling, and I appreciate that,” Karma said. “I need to think about it.”
“If I can translate this oraculum, maybe it won’t matter that much,” Aisling said. “Maybe the oraculum itself will be enough.”
“Maybe,” Karma replied softly. “And maybe the story of the Arkandu will help us to understand the oraculum.”
Aisling nodded but couldn’t think of anything to say that wouldn’t sound as though she were pressing Karma. This was Karma’s decision to make.
“Ash, if you feel it’s important to tell someone, like the Gryphons, about the Arkandu, then go ahead. I won’t mind.”
“Thanks Karma,” Aisling said. “I appreciate that. If it becomes necessary, I will.”
Chapter 24
Hope Bearen sat on the edge of her chair in the meeting room of their new home on the Dracons’ ranch, watching as Jackson entered with a cardboard box. This was the box that the Director had given her before they’d left Earth. The box left by her cousin, Harlan, with instructions that it be given to her in the event of his death, along with a letter addressed to her. She’d read the letter shortly after the Director had given her the box. As a result of that letter, she had not opened the box. Just the sight of it made her nervous.
Jackson set the box down on the long meeting table and sat down across from Hope. “Are you sure you’re ready to do this?” he asked.
Clark and Rob entered the room and took chairs on either side of Hope. “The boys are sleeping now,” Clark said, reading the question in Hope’s eyes. “Tessa said she will let us know if they wake up.”
Hope nodded, relieved that of their two new nannies, the older and more solid Tessa was the one watching over the children. The younger woman, Sila, was a bit nervous and Hope wasn’t quite sure of her yet. Satisfied that the boys were in good hands for the moment, she returned her gaze to the box.
“You don’t have to touch anything,” Jackson said. “We’ll open it up and take out whatever is inside. Then you can decide what you want to do next.”
Hope nodded again. She hated feeling afraid, but she couldn’t help how she felt. Harlan’s letter had warned her to be careful about reading the items in the box. He said that the objects had been given to him because her mother and aunt had feared what she might learn from them. Even though she hadn’t accidentally read an object since she was a child, that had been enough to make her afraid to touch whatever was in the box.
“Okay, open it up and let’s see what’s in it,” Hope said. “It can’t be too bad or the Director would have said something, right?”
“Yes, that’s right,” Clark said, reaching over to rub her neck gently with one hand.
Jackson broke the seal on the box and opened it with mixed feelings. He wanted to know what was in the box, but at the same time, he didn’t like anything that caused Hope worry. He had considered chucking it out into deep space more than once during their journey from Earth to Jasan. It was the mysterious connection between Hope’s family and the lost clan of the Owlfens, and the possibility that there was something in the box that would explain it, that had prevented him from disposing of it.
He folded back the flaps at the top of the box, revealing a thick layer of white packing material. He removed the top layer carefully, exposing an irregular object wrapped in more packing material. He picked the object up and unwrapped it, revealing a stone carving. The front of the carving was of an owl, but when he turned it over, he saw that the opposite side was of a bearenca. Considering Hope’s ancestry, he wasn’t too surprised to find an owl figurine among the items handed down in her family, but the bearenca was a surprise. That one carving contained both animals seemed eerie to him.
Setting the carving in the center of the table, Jackson reached back into the box. The next object he unwrapped was unlike anything any of them had ever seen before.
“That’s beautiful,” Hope gasped as Jackson set it carefully on the table beside the owl carving.
“It looks like a peacock feather,” Clark said. “Even the size is right.”
“Are those real gemstones?” Hope asked, fighting the urge to reach out and touch the object. As Clark had said, it looked exactly like a peacock feather, except that it was made entirely of gemstones. She’d never seen anything like it before, and had no idea what it was meant to be.
“Yes, they’re real,” Jackson said. “I’m not an expert, but I believe some of them are quite rare. And not native to Earth.”
“Gamoto,” Hope swore softly. “What’s next?”
The next object Jackson removed was larger than the first two. When it was unwrapped he stared at it in his palm for a few moments before placing it beside the other items on the table.
“I’ve no idea what this is,” he said.
“It’s an ankh,” Hope said at once. “Sort of. If an ankh had wings. I’m not sure what that strange tube is at the bottom of it though.”
“What’s an ankh?” Clark asked.
“It’s an ancient symbol for life, or eternal life,” Hope said as she studied the object as carefully as she could without touching it. “It’s origin is unknown, though it’s found frequently in ancient Egyptian art and jewelry. This looks too big and heavy to be worn as a pendant though. I wonder what it’s meant for?”
“It’s very beautiful,” Rob said. “I like the dark blue of the stone it’s made of.”
“I think that’s lapis lazuli,” Hope said. “I don’t know what that pale yellow metal is though.”
“I am not familiar with it either,” Jackson said. “It is too pale to be gold, and too yellow to be silver or platinum.”
“Is that all there is?” Hope asked.
“No, there’s more,” Jackson replied, reaching back into the box. There were several more objects which Jackson unwrapped and set on the table with the first three. A ring with a strange, cloudy green stone, a golden bracelet, and two more carvings.
Jackson checked the remaining packing material to be sure he hadn’t missed anything before setting the box aside. “That’s all of it.”
&nb
sp; “Okay, now what?” Hope said nervously
“Whatever you want,” Jackson said. “Do you want to try to read any of them?”
Hope looked at the objects for a long moment, but she honestly had no desire to touch any of them. She opened her mouth to say so when there was a brief knock on the door.
“Enter,” Rob called after a nod from Jackson.
The door opened and Saige Lobo stepped inside with Faron right behind her.
“I apologize for intruding like this,” Saige said after the greetings were finished and she was seated at the table beside Hope. “I received a message from Riata, asking that I come over right now and talk to you.”
“Who’s Riata?” Hope asked.
“I’ll explain, but before I do, would you mind voxing Karma and Aisling, and ask them to come over as well?” Saige asked. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but I promise you, it’s important.”
Hope looked at Jackson, who looked as perplexed as she felt. He turned to Faron who nodded. “It’s important, Jackson,” he said. That was enough for Jackson.
“Clark?” he asked. Clark got up and left the room to make the call to the Gryphons.
“Thank you,” Saige said to Jackson. She turned sideways in her chair so she could face Hope. “I know that you don’t know me very well, but I promise, what I am about to tell you is true,” she began. “Do you know what a spirit guide is?”
“No, I’m afraid not,” Hope replied.
“I’d never heard of it either, until I actually had one,” Saige said. “A spirit guide is a spirit of someone who has passed from the plane of the living, who helps or guides a person still living.”
“Do you mean that you’re able to speak to those who have died?” Hope asked, remembering when Karma had done that in the desert.
“No, I can only speak with the one who is my spirit guide,” Saige replied. “My spirit guide was once an Alverian Empath named Riata, and she has asked that I come here to see you, and ask the other women here as well.”
“Do you know why?” Hope asked curiously, not doubting Saige for a moment.
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