Ghosts of Lyarra

by Damian Shishkin

  The Ifierin filed past her as she stood at the top of the ramp and took their seats. Lyxia could see her friend had gotten the point by the look of dismay in his usually stoic face. She could feel his discomfort; leaving a warrior to do a politician’s role could be the greatest mistake she ever made. But on the flipside; it could be the perfect solution to combat the perfect storm.

  “Trust no one.” She said as the ramp began to lift. “And I expect to have my ship returned to me in the same state as she is now; in one piece!”

  The hatch shut before he could reply, but she could only imagine the old obscenities the Captain would mutter towards her right now. Taking a deep breath, she turned and took her seat along the cockpit wall. It was time to refocus herself and concentrate on the task at hand. She had a killer to catch, and somewhere on the human planet was the information that would be the key to finding him.

  —

  Mount Kailash, Tibet; Lyarran Colonial Base

  Iana started vomiting before her knees hit the metal floor, and she continued to choke once she was on her hands and knees. It felt like she had been turned inside out and upside down; to say it was a case of vertigo was a mild assessment of the way her body was reacting to the teleportation Aen had used to bring them to the surface. In a brief instant, she had felt herself become part of the ship, then the clouds, and the mountain before being returned to herself once more. She had been moved like this by him before, but never had she reacted so violently.

  “Are you alright, your majesty?” Caretaker inquired with concern.

  She coughed a few times as her stomach stopped lurching and spit a few times to clear her mouth of the putrid taste left behind before sitting up and pushing away from the foul smelling puddle. “Do I look okay?” she coughed angrily.

  “Do not worry about the mess,” it continued as always despite her sarcasm. “I have tasked a drone to clean it up as soon as you vacate the area. Perhaps you could join Aen in the hangar while we clean up and attach the ship to the bunker’s systems to power the facility.”

  “In other words, get out so I am not in the way.” She muttered; staggering to her feet as her stomach spasmed once more in an attempt to protest her moving. “Hint taken.”

  Gathering some inner strength, she held down what little food was left in her body and slowly made her way to the exit ramp that had been extended. Aen had departed the moment they arrived; missing the show that her body wanted to put on in a temper tantrum to the unnatural mode of travel. Hands gripped tightly to the railing, Iana took each step one at a time; not taking her eyes off the next one down in fear of making a bigger spectacle of herself than she had already done. Lately, she had felt anything but royal, and this had taken the cake.

  When she had finally descended the steps and was soundly secure on the hanger floor, Iana finally looked up and saw her savior standing about twenty feet away. Small blue balls of plasma burned on the floor to light the path he was travelling, as power had not yet been restored to their new home. He seemed to be listening for something as he had halted his travel to the door she could make out in the distance.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  His response came in a hand raised to ask for silence; not in an insult but to make sure her voice didn’t interrupt his train of thought. Aen held still for a moment longer before igniting another ball of blue plasma and dropping it on the floor and resuming his way to the door.

  “If I am right, then we were successful in our arrival.” He spoke without turning back to her; preoccupied with reaching the door and marking the way for her to follow. “No one knows we are here; you are safe now.”

  Forcing her guts to behave, the Empress trotted behind him in an attempt to catch up before he disappeared behind the hatch. It was more out of fear of being alone in a place unfamiliar to her than curiosity of what was behind the door; right now her life was filled with more fear than it had ever been before. Her trot slowed when she heard the clanking of the hatch mechanism as Aen turned the portal locks and pulled it open; his interest was somewhere else and right now he wasn’t focused on her needs. At least that’s what she thought until he simply just stood there in front of the open passage.

  “What are you waiting for?” he asked plainly. “You don’t want to be left behind with that damned AI, do you?”

  Iana smiled and her stomach settled in relief. “No, I most definitely don’t want that.” She replied and picked up her pace to join him.

  As she moved past him, she peered into the blackness of the passage beyond the door and tried to make out a semblance of anything recognizable, but all she could see was black. Sensing his companion’s hesitation, Aen ignited a flare at the base of the room that soared upwards to the roof which was more than ten floors above them revealing a winding spiral stairwell that carried them up to another level.

  “I would suggest the easy way up, but I think you have suffered enough for one day.” He said with a smirk. “The lifts will be out for a bit yet; Caretaker will have quite the time marrying the ship to this old system so this is our only alternative.”

  There was the first sign of his old personality that she had seen since they found him three years ago and it had appeared in the first few minutes on his birth world. Maybe there was a chance he would find himself once more and be whole again. Anticipation chased away her fear as she took the first few steps upwards; her armored boots echoed her footfalls on the polished granite steps. The stairwell - like the hangar and all the rest of the facility - had been carved with precision lasers from the inside of the mountain, but had been done so in the ornate gothic style of the early human culture. It was breathtakingly beautiful to see the Lyarran take on the human architectural style of the time.

  The sound of Aen’s footsteps beginning their ascent behind Iana snapped her out of her daze and she quickly continued to climb to keep ahead of him. On and on they climbed, with the only sound being that of the clattering of their boots. Floor after floor was passed, as they travelled the hard way to mount the massive ceiling of the hanger which housed their ship. After twenty minutes of steady climbing, Iana stopped as she could see the next hatch above for a rest.

  “I can’t remember climbing this many stairs in my life.” She said slightly out of breath.

  “We will continue at your leisure.” Her companion spoke just behind her as always.

  “And I assume you aren’t even tired?”

  “One of the many perks of being me I guess.” He responded.

  Again, there was the sarcasm she remembered so vividly. Could it be that easy that he would just become himself by being on Terra Sol once more? She decided to test the hypothesis with a few probing questions, just to be sure.

  “Tell me more about yourself?” she said softly. “What do you remember about your life before any of this ever happened to you?”

  Silence filled the stairwell as no answer came to her queries. Iana looked over calmly at Aen who simply stared at her with those hypnotising eyes. On and on the storm of blue fire raged around the black orbs; his gaze was reminiscent of the storm brewing on the horizon of the Empire. For more time then she cared to admit was comfortable, he stood quietly looking at her before finally replying.

  “You know the answer to your questions, because all I know is of your personal files on me.” His answer was cold and to the point. “Nothing has changed in the few minutes we have been here; that is to say unless you have seen any signs of change Empress?”

  He was testing her; seeing why she was proposing the questions out of the blue. Iana decided to not let him know the subtle nuances she noticed in him since their arrival and played it cool. Now was not the time to play her cards.

  “No, but a girl can hope can’t she?” She waited for his reaction to her answer; hoping she had successfully deflected his challenge. His head tilted slightly and his eyes narrowed slightly; he was sizing her up! Iana silently wished that she hadn’t decided to push her luck for no reason. Then as quick as
he had become inquisitive, Aen became friendly and dismissive once more as he held out his hand for her to continue to lead the way once more.

  “A girl can, if that is what she wishes to do.” He replied at last. “Now if you are able, shall we continue?”

  With a nod and a smile, Iana resumed the last leg of the climb; all the while a bit wary that this creature who held no real allegiance to her, was a few feet behind her unguarded back. Quickly, she reminded herself that despite not knowing his past that it was still Aen that guarded her and her fears were unwarranted. But still, there was that nagging feeling of something amiss within him; that cold darkness she had touched when they shared each other’s bodies that lingered with her.

  Her thoughts were interrupted by reaching the top of the never ending stairwell as the dark metal door was latched firmly in front of her. Stepping aside, she allowed Aen to pass by and effortlessly open the door that had stood unused for so long. As they entered the next room, there was a dim red glow from the emergency systems that slightly illuminated the room. They now stood in the control room of the Lyarran expeditionary force; it was a room Iana remembered from the logs of Ameia and a room that she knew, Aen would know all too well. As she looked over at her companion, she saw that he was falling back towards the wall with his hands clasping his head and a dull scream beginning in his throat. She was about to rush to him when there was a loud thud that rattled the whole complex and the lights came on along with all the monitors as well.

  “There, that should do it.” Caretaker’s voice droned over the comm network. “We have power.”

  —

  Stepping through the door, Aen saw a room that stirred something within the foggy veil that was his memory. A few steps later, that slight stir became a stream of unrecognized memory flashes that hammered his consciousness one after another in a relentless assault. Grasping his skull in an attempt to shield himself from the attack, he felt his legs weaken and buckle as he staggered backwards and a howl of pain rise as he reacted to the onslaught. Aen felt pain like never before; physically he could take whatever was thrown at him like it was nothing but this was something else; something foreign.

  Then the images that had started so fast and furious began to slow and become clear. The room was different then when he first viewed it bathed in red; it was lit up by monitors and dull white lights recessed in the ceiling. The floor moved as a representation of the galaxy swirled beneath his feet. And in the center of the room was a lone chair that his skin could almost feel the texture of from this distance. He knew this place and it was familiar and inviting; a semblance of it being home filled his senses. He watched as monitors scrolled through historical Lyarran texts while others cracked human defence network codes and ran programs that sorted through the billions of data transmissions occurring each second on the planet. Another held a representation of the planet viewed by a satellite on the night side with the city lights shining like stars on the surface. This was Earth before the Husk arrived, and it was the first real memory he had from this time since he had awakened in the ice.

  Then he felt the hand of someone on his shoulder; not a memory of contact, but something from reality summoning him back from his past. With no pain at all, the memory faded and his sight returned with the vision of Iana crouched before him with a look of concern in her eyes. A quick look around told him he had been out of it for a bit as the power was on and the lights; without the monitors and floor display; were now shining brightly. As he returned her gaze, she began to look relieved and the tension fell from her body language.

  “I know this place.” Aen mumbled. “This is where I learned about what lay beyond the planet; this is where I learned about all the things I could never have known. This was home.”

  “For a time, yes it was.” She smiled back at him. “Caretaker prepared you for the arrival of the Husk here. And until you located the Amarra, this place and the village above became your home.”

  “The village?” Aen stood up quickly causing Iana to jump backwards to keep her balance from the surprise. “I remember a village; well sort of. Is it still….”

  “It is empty now.” She answered before he could finish. “With the shield that had protected the monastery from both invaders and the cruel mountain winters removed by the Ifierin, it has been abandoned and is buried deep within the snow; at least that is what Caretaker tells me.”

  “Indeed.” It interrupted. “In fact, the great temple within the crater is buried past her peaks in the snow and only the roofs of the village buildings above are kept clear by the winds. Come spring, the village becomes more accessible while the temple itself remains beyond reach. I have turned on the heating system of the temple so you may chose to go above ground rather than remain in the cold confines of the base. I believe it may be more aesthetically pleasing to the two of you than this.”

  “And this power being restored to the temple above will not attract any unwanted attention from our hosts?” Aen asked rubbing his temples to chase away the remnants of the headache.

  “The humans were unaware of anything being within that structure before and it was operating at full power, not the basic life support systems I have activated now.” It chided him. “The quartz walls of the building are lined with a polymer coating that prevents any readings to be ascertained by any systems then or now created by…..”

  “We get it.” Iana cut it short as she was quickly becoming annoyed with its ramblings. “So activate the security transport pad and let’s get out of this place.”

  “Ah, but unfortunately I cannot as that is yet another system removed by the Ifierin forces as they dismantled the facility.” It said apologetically. “I am afraid the only access is...”

  “Don’t you dare say I have to be teleported by Aen each damn time I want to go back and forth!” Iana yelled. “I don’t think I can take that trauma every day!”

  “I was about to say the only access is the emergency ladder that leads to the base of the altar in the temple.” Caretaker finished his previously interrupted thought.

  Iana sighed in relief, but was still wary that her companion seemed more off than usual. She moved slowly to the access chute; the whole time watching Aen out of the corner of her eye. It was obvious he had some kind of episode that sent shockwaves through his entire form, and the recovery from that event was going to be anything but quick. He was slow in following; a look of startled confusion plastered on his face as he continued to rub his cheeks in an attempt to refocus his resolve. It occurred to her that Aen had seen the ghosts of his past for a brief moment and now was dealing with the fallout.

  Pushing past her concern, Iana crawled up the ladder until she was stopped by a hatch. She felt around in the darkness at the top of the passage for the latch that her fingers soon discovered, and in a moment freed the door and pushed upwards. Emerging from the caverns below, she let her eyes adjust to the dimly lit room and begin to make sense of the shadowy layout. Although draped in darkness, it was immediately recognizable; this was where she had delivered the message to Sara and Krista Foster. This is where they finally found out the truth about all the horrors that had befallen them.

  Unknowingly, she made her way to the exact place she had placed that data player; the altar at the center of the room and at the feet of the giant representation of her former self. Up through the darkness her eyes strained to see the face of the creature she had been not long ago; an attempt to keep holding on to what had been lost. It came to Iana that hers and Aen’s paths had some symmetry to them in that they both grasped to keep what was obviously no longer theirs to do so. And as she made this connection, the darkness gave way to a bluish light beside her as her companion had joined her from below.

  “If I didn’t know you as I do, I would say you have a rather large ego to build such a monument.” Aen said, breaking the silence that had kept the room in peace for some time. It was then she had noticed that he hadn’t made a sound as he rose from the passage, yet every step a
nd movement she made echoed on the marble floors.

  “I hate these statues.” She said honestly, “The drawback of being in the position I am …… I mean, was in. Part of the propaganda machine of the Guild I suppose; to make these reminders to the people of what they truly were serving.”

  Aen stood beside her, and the light from his eyes glowed in the shadowy blanket allowing her to see farther upwards. The shadows parted from the statue’s face and the two quietly stared at the being carved in the stone. It had a peaceful effect on her; as if the smile on its face gave her soul a bit of happiness in this time of hectic change.

  “It makes you wonder though,” Aen broke the silence after a long few minutes. “The fact that the Guild that had raised you to the throne is behind all this, then what dark master do they now serve? What is there in the shadows that we aren’t seeing yet?”

  Iana didn’t answer the questions, but it was something she too had been pondering for some time now. For as long as she had been alive, the Guild had raised her in the followings of the Prophets and pledged the entire religion of the Empire to their teachings. But now, things had changed and she had stood as the last semblance of what had once been. Now that they believed she was gone, Iana wondered how long until the demons in the darkness finally stepped forward.

  —

  Sol System; Mars Docking Station

  Lyxia watched intently as her shuttle began its docking procedures with the Mars station; taking in the view of the rust red planet beneath her. From the orbit of the space station, she could see the sands shaped by the never ending wind that plagued the surface. Within view was the large and impressive dead volcano the humans called Olympus Mons; to her it resembled the size of the Temple of the Divine Light on Ryas in both height and width. For a natural feature of a dead planet, it was fantastic to see from above and provided just the break in tension that she needed.