by Drew Seren
23
Del To The Rescue
COLD SEEPED through Skylar’s thermal suit. The cold made him want to sleep more, but he sat up and stared around. The early morning sunlight was just peeking over the horizon, the light so pure and white Skylar had to look away, toward the area closer to him. They were still in Wegascu, but they were at the crater where the Intergal tents had been. Felonia’s hover car was nearby. The cold wind tore at him.
“You’re back,” Filzbalm cheered. The sound hurt his head.
“Please be quiet.” Skylar rubbed his temples. “Where is everyone?”
“Phil and Aniu are trying to get a hover car working, but the EM pulse associated with the telekinetic blasts seems to have fried everything.” Filzbalm eased his way to the base of Skylar’s neck from where he’d been beside his head. “Solaria’s still unconscious from the strain of blocking the telekinetic blow to us.”
“Is she going to be okay?” Skylar stood and realized the white pile he’d thought was snow next to him was actually Solaria and Felonia.
Felonia slowly opened her eyes. “I think so. She’s dreaming right now. That’s always a good sign when someone has overstrained their powers. At least she didn’t fry her synapses catching both of you and blocking that thing’s power.”
“Will there be any damage?” Skylar knew psychics could burn themselves out if they did things they weren’t trained and strengthened to do. He really doubted that the constant exertion of her powers was something Solaria was ready for. She’d done a lot with her telekinetic powers in a short time, and they’d run out of stimpatches.
“I don’t know.” Felonia ran a hand over Solaria’s forehead, brushing a bit of white hair off her brow. “Lusino didn’t make it. Her last attack was too much. We’re all lucky to be alive.”
Aniu came over from the hover cars. “I want to know who She Who Holds is and what kind of treaty she was talking about.”
“We might never know,” Felonia said. “Any luck on getting transport running?”
Aniu shook his head. “All the electronics are completely down. We’re going to need new parts if we have any hope of getting anything moving, and I don’t see that happening any time fast. Even the dermal coms are beyond repair. I’m surprised none of us have burns from the nano circuitry frying.” He tapped his wrist and there wasn’t a beep or any other indication of the com implanted there responding.
Skylar did the same thing, and there was no response. Since he’d gotten the implant months earlier, he’d always been connected to the universe—somehow it felt odd to not have it there at his touch. He felt cut off in ways that he hadn’t before he got the implant. “So, what are we going to do?”
“Phil is trying to see if he can cobble together something from parts that might let us get a signal out.” Aniu shook his head. “Right now, I think our best bet is for me to start running and see if I can find a home or settlement that was outside the EM pulse area and come back and get you all.”
“Aniu, I don’t like splitting us up again,” Felonia said. “We’re all vulnerable. We should stick together.”
“We’re all starting to feel the effects of prolonged cold exposure,” Aniu countered her. “We need to get out of the elements. If this was winter instead of spring, we’d be dead by now.” He leaned over her and gave her a quick kiss, then kissed Solaria’s forehead. “I need you two to be safe. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
Without another word, he turned and trotted off into the distance. Skylar stared after him until the white glare off the snow became too much and he had to turn away.
THE WAY Felonia took control of their situation reminded Skylar of his mother. It felt good to have her there. It gave him hope that they might actually survive the elements and the being who seemed set to destroy all life on Pantheria. He wasn’t sure his mother had had much hope in living through the Boarisk attack.
“Skylar, we need to get the remains of these tents together and see if we can put up enough protection to survive the night,” Solaria said as she walked slowly away from their makeshift camp. She hadn’t been on her feet long, but was already doing what she could as Phil scavenged farther into the city.
“Not much left,” Skylar said as he kept a safe distance from the crumbling edge of the sinkhole that had nearly devoured them.
“But there is a little bit.” Solaria led them over to a tent that was still anchored in the ice. The edge of it flapped down into the hole.
Skylar heaved on the edge of the tent, pulling it from the edge of the crevasse. The fabric was a lot sturdier than he’d realized when he’d gone in them before. It was a heavy weave and obviously designed to endure a lot of diverse climates.
“There’s a portable heater,” Solaria announced from the side that was still anchored. “But it’s electric, so I doubt it’s working. Her pulses were too powerful.”
“There are a lot of things in the universe the humans have forgotten, or been told to forget,” Filzbalm said from within Skylar’s hood. The Solar Drake had been fairly quiet since Skylar woke up. His mental voice still hurt and Skylar wondered how long it was going to take before the little pains in his brain would stop enough for him to function normally.
“That’s becoming obvious,” Skylar said as he started folding the tent up. “I think we’ve got a lot to discover in our universe.”
“You wouldn’t think so,” she said as she lifted her edge of the tent and walked toward Skylar. “I mean we’ve been out in the galaxy for a long time, you’d think we’d have stumbled across everything there was to find.”
“But what about beyond our galaxy?” Skylar wondered out loud. “We live in a vast universe. We may have mapped the Milky Way, but there are other galaxies out there. I wonder if there are already exploration teams trying to find ways to reach them.”
“And it’s on a need-to-know level of security?” Solaria reached him with her end of the tent and then walked over to another edge to bring it to him. “Probably. They obviously don’t want everyone knowing. But when you think about it, that makes sense. How many groups would just go nuts at the idea of expanding the power base of the Galactic Council? A lot of folks would have a fit. Particularly those who weren’t included in the decision to explore. We’ve got a ton of problems in our own galaxy without going elsewhere.”
Skylar carried his edge of the tent toward the center. “Things like Boarisk raiders?” The raiders who killed his mother were never far from his mind. But what scared him more was the idea that there might be worse species out there. If they pushed into other galaxies, they might find things that made the Boarisk look tame. Was it worth exploring if that was the case? He was still pretty sure it was. He at least hoped so. Ever since his adventure on Armstrong’s Rings, he wanted to find new and different planets. He wanted to go out into space and see what there was to see. Even if he didn’t have a ship of his own, he’d decided he had to find a way to make that happen.
“Exactly.” She paused and stared at him for a second. “And even things like humans.”
Skylar frowned. With the little bit they’d learned from O’Byrne, it sounded like his own people might actually be the original monsters in the universe. How else could using illegal gene tech be explained? And if the Pantherians weren’t the original species on Pantheria, if the humans had created the species and seeded them after destroying the natives, that was evil beyond what he could imagine. Every species deserved a chance to live. That was what his mother had always told him. If O’Byrne and his corporation were the ones pulling the strings, they should be stopped.
He sighed. “Yeah, I think you’re right there. But you’ve got some human in you too.”
She frowned as she folded the tent closer to the edge. “Don’t remind me. You know, we should keep that quiet when we get back to the academy. There’s a lot of kids there who aren’t that fond of humans to begin with, and this news might start problems.”
“Then it’s a good thing I’m getti
ng better at shielding.” Skylar got his last edge brought over. The tent was a large white lump on the frozen ground. Bits of ice and snow clung to the heavy fabric. He sat down on it and it collapsed a little bit.
“What are you doing?” Solaria stared at him.
“Getting the extra air out. Haven’t you used a tent before?” He bounced a bit and it compacted more.
She shook her head. “No. We don’t use tents on Pantheria. When we hunt, we just sleep outside. Our fur protects us from the elements.”
“On other worlds, we use tents and similar things to help keep us alive. We’re not all as rugged as you cat people.” Skylar stood. “Now, let’s get this back to the hover car for your mom.” He bent down and tried to pick up the tent. It was a bit more than he could handle.
“Here, let me help.” Solaria stooped and grabbed the edge of the tent opposite Skylar.
Together they lifted it, and he was thankful it wasn’t too far from where they stood to the hover cars that sat dead on the snow.
“You know, I think a few stimpatches would be handy about now,” Solaria said once they reached the hover car and put down the tent.
It was Skylar’s turn to frown. “Really?”
Solaria laughed. “No, silly. Well, yes. But not like you’re making it look.” She sighed as they started back toward the wreckage of the Intergal camp. “I could use a boost, but it’s ‘cause I’m bone tired. I’m not getting addicted to them or anything. It would be nice to have enough energy to access my mover skills. As it stands right now, it’s going to be hours, up to a day, before I’m able to do anything more than I am now.”
“And that’s how it’s going to stay, young lady,” Felonia said as she emerged from under the nearest collapsed tent. “We can do this all the old-fashioned way. The hunter’s way.”
“By sweat and effort,” Solaria finished. “I know. I get it. But it would be nice to get a little boost.”
Skylar did his best to make sure his frown didn’t show through, but he’d never heard Solaria want to do anything by any way than with brute force. Even when she played Z-GBall, it was with force more than form. He wondered if maybe she was growing addicted to the stimpatches after just a few uses.
Something roared in the evening sky. A small ship drew their attention, and a thrill went through Skylar. With any luck, they wouldn’t have to spend a cold night in the ruins of Wesgascu. He just hoped they’d be able to get out of the area before their adversary awoke for the night and damaged the ship so they couldn’t get away.
“Careful,” Felonia said. “I don’t see any markings on that ship.”
“Looks new,” Solaria said. She pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes. “I’m not an expert in small, long-range ships.”
The ship landed a short distance from them. It settled into the snow, kicking up soft powder as it did. After a moment, a ramp extended and a door opened.
“Del?” Skylar hurried toward the craft.
“You’re alive!” Del ran down the ramp. Grinning, he stopped just shy of Skylar.
Skylar frowned. “Why wouldn’t I be?”
“Your communication was cut off,” Melody said as she followed Del down the ramp. “We were really afraid something had happened to you.”
Skylar looked from his friends to the ship. “Whose ship is this?”
“It’s one of Mom’s,” Melody said. “I was home when Del called all frantic. I asked, and since Mom had been busy the whole time I was home, she said I could take the ship and get Del and then come to you. We’re really lucky the stargate for the museum is so close to the planet. If it had been much farther out, it would’ve taken us days to get here. Our gate is just shy of lunar orbit too.”
“Well, thanks for coming,” Solaria said as she walked up next to Skylar. “Maybe we can find my dad before dark.”
“Speaking of finding, how did you find us?” Skylar asked.
Del shrugged. “I scanned for Filzbalm. I figured there wouldn’t be any other Solar Drakes on Pantheria. There was some kind of ghost image as we emerged from the gate, like he’d just gone into it, but I figured it was a glitch of some kind, since once we cleared the gate’s event horizon I was able to get him on the scanner. We came right here.”
Skylar punched Del on the shoulder. “So you’re getting better at spatial navigation?”
Del blushed and shook his head. “Wasn’t me. It was Clive, Melody’s mom’s pilot. He did all the hard work. Melody and I just worked the sensors and did the logical thing.”
“Whoever it was, it doesn’t matter,” Felonia said as she joined them. “But it’s growing dark. We need to get away from here before this nice ship ends up as so much junk. Let’s use your sensors to find Phil, collect him and get into the air.”
“Let me find Phil.” Skylar’s head hurt, but it would do him some good to feel helpful. He pushed out his thoughts, looking for Phil in the ruins. Since there weren’t any other living beings in the area, it was fairly easy for him to locate Phil’s mind.
“Skylar, was that a rescue ship?” Phil asked as soon as their minds connected.
The strength of the connection surprised Skylar. Phil was a high-level feeler, but didn’t register on the reader scale. The only explanation he could come up with was Filzbalm was augmenting him, but the Solar Drake was staying quiet.
“Yes—well, sort of. It’s Del and Melody. Felonia says we should get in the air before dark.” He glanced at the western sky where the sun had disappeared and only a bright orange glow remained.
“I’m coming.” Phil severed their contact, but not before Skylar got the impression of him running toward the camp.
“Phil will be here in a few,” Skylar said, feeling good at being helpful with something.
“I’ll get Clive to prepare for takeoff as soon as he arrives.” Melody turned and walked up the ramp.
“While we’re waiting,” Del began. “When we were cut off, I was trying to ask you about that crystal claw totem thing you found.”
“I didn’t find it. Felonia’s team did,” Skylar corrected him. “I saw it in their office.”
“Okay. But where is it now?” Del asked, glancing between the ship and the city. He shivered slightly and put the sleeves of the heavy coat he wore together, so they covered his hands.
Skylar glanced at Felonia. “Didn’t you tell Chillarni to take the artifacts to the house for safekeeping?”
Felonia nodded. “That’s right. Since the being came out of the dig site, I figured it would be safer to move things to the house until we could arrange to get them off world.”
“I think we need that totem,” Del said. “Melody and I have found several references to it in our study of the writings on the walls. Like I said before, it’s all in different languages, but Melody found translations of different parts of the hieroglyphs in some of her mother’s ancient books. Her family has quite the extensive library. In some ways, it rivals what I could find at the museum. Between what she found and what I found in the archives, we’ve been able to translate most of it.”
“Get going!” Phil shouted, waving as he ran toward them.
A strange light cut through the twilight behind him.
“Move it,” Felonia said with only a little less emphasis than Phil used.
Not needing prompting, Skylar ran up the ramp, but stopped just inside the ship.
Solaria dashed passed him. “Melody, Phil’s almost here, but look to the north. We need to be in the air the second he hits the ramp.”
The ship shook as it rose slowly.
The glow behind Phil seemed to gain speed as Phil ran faster than any biped Skylar had seen before. Phil was all but a blur as he raced toward the ramp, leaping in the air to clear the last little distance to safety.
Skylar took a firm hold on the nearest hold on the side of the door, reached out and grabbed Phil’s arm. Phil clung to his arm as Skylar tried to pull him up. The glow was nearly upon them.
“Up! Up!” Solaria shouted.
The ship gained elevation faster. The ground dropped away. The glow seemed to reach up toward them. Rage hit Skylar hard as he gave a final yank and got Phil inside the ship. The door clanged shut and the ship rocked to the side as it sped away. Skylar managed to keep his feet, but only just as he let go of Phil. He wasn’t sure what he would do if something happened to Phil. Without Phil, he wouldn’t have made it off Hummassa. He wouldn’t have ended up at Stars’ End, and his future would be a lot bleaker than it was.
“Thanks, Skylar.” Phil clapped him on the shoulder. “Good save back there.”
“What was that glow?” Melody asked, emerging from the cockpit.
“I think it’s our very angry native,” Phil said. “She was weak when the sun was still up, but as the light faded, she grew stronger.” He shuddered. “I hate being hunted.”
“With you there, Uncle Phil.” Solaria frowned. “We’re hunters, not prey.”
He shook his head. “We all have to remember, everything in the universe has things that prey on them. Even those of us who’ve hunted for generations have predators, but I don’t think that’s her sole purpose.”
“Where to?” called a male voice from the cockpit.
“We’ve got to find Dad,” Solaria said. “He’s running for help.”
“Then to the Indruias settlement,” Del replied. “We need to find that totem. It might be our best chance to stop her.”
Skylar hoped he was right. Del wasn’t wrong very often, but if he was wrong about the totem, it could cost them all their lives. They hadn’t even seen anything that had stopped the thing of mist and shadows—he wasn’t sure how else to think of it.
24
Finding A Lure
THE SIGHT of the lights of the Indruias settlement warmed Skylar as they flew in. Aniu was up in the cockpit, giving Clive directions to the house. They’d found Solaria’s father still running nearly twenty clicks from Wegascu. He was tired, more than a little footsore and happy for the lift home. He and Felonia were promising each other they’d start running and hunting more in an effort to get into better shape for future catastrophes.