by N. I. Snow
“That may be true, but, like me, the Ancients have allowed you to hear the song. Whether it was while you were in the womb of your mother or in a dream you have forgotten, the fact remains that we both have been allowed to learn of the song.”
Emma bit her lip. What Zaharak said made sense. She never really knew where she had learned the song, only that she had been humming or singing it since she was a small child. The only question that remained was, “What is it, then?”
Zaharak turned his cold gaze towards the viewport, the vivid beauty beyond reflecting unacknowledged in the empty, gold depths of his eyes. “The spirit of Umelia, the very mate of Salianos,” Zaharak ignored the soft gasp that escaped Emma's thin lips, “told me that it was the song that the Gaia itself sang when it created life.”
Emma's entire body shook from Zaharak's words. All these years she had been singing a song used by the Gaia. The Gaia could be singing it at this very minute, the more she thought about it. “And that's what made you want to help?”
Zaharak scoffed. “Hardly. Learning where the song came from was only interesting. It was not enough to make me change. Neither was watching my own hatching for that matter.”
Emma frowned. Of course, it wasn't that easy.
“What did make me contemplate stopping Salianos was a vision of a decrepit old Tazalian too full of pride to realize his uselessness until the moment of death, refusing to die even when his fellow Seekers had ended their own lives long before his came to a halt.” Zaharak's husky voice was filled with contempt, which caught Emma off guard. She had never believed he would actually project any emotion in his voice. “After that moment I came to understand that being No One only benefits a Seeker with a purpose. When the universe no longer needs Seekers, I will have no choice but to fade.”
Emma pursed her lips in thought. She still could not believe what she was hearing. Despite Zaharak's steely outer shell and just as thick personality, he was starting to feel self-pity. And pity in any form from the Seeker was nothing short of a miracle. The fact that he was also willingly relinquishing the chance for more of Salianos's money was hard for her to believe and the reason behind his intended actions just as much.
It was hard for her to sort it all out in her mind. It seemed that the Ancients had chosen him from the beginning, long before she was born. Yet, she had been chosen, too, and for whatever reason, they didn't warn her about the other chosen one. If there was one thing Emma was sure of, she felt betrayed. She had trusted the Ancients, had listened to everything they told her, and they repaid her by throwing her to the most soulless Seeker in the universe, or at least he had been. Was it really Zaharak who had been meant to find the Light and not her and Jonah? Was her only role in all this that of a guide?
Emma clenched her fists. It wasn't fair. After everything she and Jonah had been through, they deserved better. They risked their lives, lost Kahluna and Lutianist, all so that Salianos wouldn't get his hands on the Gaia. What had Zaharak sacrificed? He was a Seeker even if he didn’t live entirely to serve the blue demon.
Emma paused in her thoughts. Yet he was a Seeker forced into his lifestyle by his own parents, parents he had never cared to meet and, until a short while ago, had never known that he had already met them. In a sense, he was an orphan never knowing that his parents had always been nearby, something that Emma had at one time wanted to be true when she first found out she had been adopted. However, as she grew older, she knew that no matter who her real parents were, she would always be a Sholtal. Given that thought she wondered what Zaharak considered himself. Did he consider Lutianist and Shadonel to be a special part of his life or did he still consider the Elders and Seekers as a whole to be his family? Then again, considering how he never cared about the meaning of the word, he most likely never bothered thinking about it.
“It is interesting,” Zaharak spoke quietly, “that we have not seen anything of the Gaia yet.”
Emma scoffed. “Anxious for this to be over already?”
The irony of her words were not lost on the Seeker.
“I would think that you would.” He glanced at her from the corner of one golden eye. “But, no, I only find it interesting. With how close we are to the galaxy's core, you’d think we would have caught a glimpse of the Light. If it is even out here.”
Emma shrugged her shoulders. She had the same thoughts as the Seeker. Every time she came to sit next to Alekia's remains, she half expected to see the Light appear; but as each day passed, there would be nothing. No mystical bright light, no guiding voice to aide her in the coming darkness, and no familiar song playing out to calm her. The Ancients knew something though. They would not have traveled out here only to die. Alekia had told her that they had come close to finding the Light, and that it was its power that killed them. If that were true then and they were close to it, why had it not killed her or Zaharak or even the smugglers that once used the station.
Zaharak slowly rose to his feet, his yellow gaze looking down at Emma. “Come. We have only three weeks left until Salianos arrives. We will need to use the full of that time training you more, and you will need to learn the different return routes from the hangar the Elders use to get back to the Valkyrie.”
“Other hangars? Why not trick Salianos into landing in the same hangar as the Valkyrie?”
“Salianos is already drawing suspicions at having been led here. Having us meet him in a hangar different from our own will give him a sense of control. When the time comes to make our move, we need to be sure that he will be caught completely off guard.”
“And what about Jonah? What if something goes wrong and he gets separated from us? What do we do then?”
Zaharak gave her an odd, half smile. “I already planned for him to become separated from us at the beginning of our escape.” Emma gave him a surprised look, which he ignored, “I will hand him a holomap of the station with a route marked for him to take to the Valkyrie. The Elders and Seekers will be so busy trying to catch us they will hardly be bothered worrying about him.”
“Anything else you care to share about this plan I seem to know nothing of?” Emma frowned at the Seeker.
“All you need to know is that I worked it all out so that you and your brother will be reunited on the Valkyrie, and the Elders will be nothing more than a memory.” His odd smile faded leaving his normal emotionless facade.
Zaharak’s explanation did not make Emma feel any better. Not knowing what the Seeker had planned unnerved her more than ever. In fact, knowing that they were so close to the confrontation with Salianos made it unbearable. Zaharak guaranteed that the outcome would be her and Jonah back together, but her gut kept churning as though it knew something would go wrong.
Zaharak bent down and reached out an open clawed hand to help her up. The gesture made her want to pull her hair out and scream at the Seeker. The self pity, odd smile, the unknown plan, and now the hand, it all was becoming too much for her. Had the entire galaxy around her turned upside down?
Zaharak brought a clawed hand to her cheek and turned her head so that her gray eyes were forced to look into his golden orbs, “I promise you this will end well. I will not sell either you or your brother. You will be returned to your home; but,” Emma's eyes grew suspicious, “I only ask one thing from you.”
Emma frowned, “What's that?”
“Teach me how to feel. Let Shadonel rest in peace knowing that her last wish came true.”
The words had no emotion to them, but Emma could tell Zaharak truly meant them. Her face paled; her heart skipped a beat and yet all she could say was, “I don't know how.”
Zaharak only nodded as if he understood what she meant even though she did not. Lowering his clawed hand from her face, he rested it over her right arm and then gently lifted her to her feet. He waited as Emma stretched before turning towards the doorway; then he led the girl through the hallway connecting the bridge to the main corridor. Instead of taking Emma back to the Valkyrie, Zaharak led her down the corri
dor to the right of the main hall. Emma followed the gray-scaled Tazalian silently. Even though she tried to focus on the route Zaharak was following, she couldn't keep her mind off of what he had asked from her. He was trying to feel emotions that he had not before, but all his years of training were proving to be a near impenetrable barrier that he had little hope of breaking through. How was she supposed to help?
The pair continued on through the dimly lit corridor. Once in a while they would come to a room that branched out in different directions. Emma tried to remember each one they went through, but it proved to be difficult. Did they go through the left or right passageway two corridors back or was that the one where they went through the middle?
Upon their entering a broad room, Zaharak suddenly stopped. At first Emma thought it was because the Seeker knew that she was frustrated and was going to tell her which paths they took. Instead the Seeker pressed a button on his wristpanel. Emma jumped as a loud, grinding noise filled the room. As she turned to her left toward the sound, her eyes widened with wonder at a pair of panels pulling away from each other to reveal a clear thermal pane, which extended along the entire wall. Outside the majesty of the galaxy's center could be seen clearly.
“The station has many observation decks such as this one. We can train here if you want.”
Emma nodded. “That would be great.”
Zaharak’s head dropped. Emma thought she heard a sigh from the Seeker as he reached into his jacket with one hand and removed a long silver object. Turning to face Emma he held out the object to the girl. It did not take her long to recognize it as the blade that had left its terrible mark on her arm.
“Take this. Should anything go wrong, you will need it.” Zaharak’s husky voice spoke as softly as possible.
Emma reached gingerly for the dagger. Once she had a good grip on the handle Zaharak released it. She half expected it to be heavier then it was; but as she drew it close to examine it, she was surprised at its lightness. It was almost like carrying a leaf, a deadly leaf. She examined the sharp blade noting a small groove that ran along the edges of it. Emma assumed that was where the tracking dye was ejected from. The handle was nothing too special, just a simple, black grip.
“I suppose I should thank you. Even if this is the same dagger you used on me.”
Zaharak said nothing. Instead he removed a strip of gray cloth from a pocket inside his jacket. Emma jumped, nearly swinging the blade at the Seeker as he shot quickly forward rapidly wrapping the cloth around her waist with a small loop at her back. Emma was stunned until she finally understood what he had done. Carefully she slid the dagger through the loop at her back, where the cloth kept the dagger’s handle hidden to the hilt, but still accessible.
“Keep it at your back. Do not let Salianos or the others see it until we have your brother free.” Zaharak warned her.
“I understand.” Emma's voice was thin.
Zaharak tilted his head with an odd look in his golden eyes that reminded her of Lutianist. “Do not worry. If things go as planned, then you will not have to use it.”
That did not make Emma feel any better.
Zaharak gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder, as if to comfort her, before turning for the doorway. Emma followed him with the dagger bouncing annoyingly against her with each step. Zaharak walked much slower than he had before as they continued through another web of corridors, so much slower that Emma was able to walk beside him with no trouble. She looked carefully up at the Seeker’s gray snout noting how, despite being emotionless as ever, his golden eyes were distant as though his soul was elsewhere. She could only wonder what thoughts were running through his mind.
They passed through three more hallways and two more junction points before stepping out onto a balcony that encircled an open, round room similar to the central hub of Xempor. Emma examined the chamber with interest. Several doors branched away from the platform. Opposite from them was a lift, which went down to the floor below them. In the center of the room, a generator rose to a height a little above the balcony itself.
“This generator is only one of fifteen in this section of the station,” Zaharak's gravelly voice echoed through the room. He pointed a claw downward toward a doorway below them., “That door leads to five hallways that extend to the hangar where we will meet Salianos. Each one leads to three generators in different parts of the station. When we free your brother, the route I will give him will be distant from our own, so there will be little chance of him running into Salianos or the others.”
The Seeker walked around the balcony to the lift. He allowed Emma to board before stepping onto it. The lift's platform shuttered under Zaharak's added weight. For a moment Emma feared it would fail and they would be plummeting to the ground, but it held. Zaharak pressed a button sending the lift slowly downward with an eerie groan as a system of electromagnets lowered it.
The lift’s platform shuttered as it came to rest on the floor. When it stopped the pair stepped off, Emma tilted her head up to view the balcony nearly forty feet above them. An easy climb for a Seeker. But not for her, Emma hoped Zaharak had a way to make the lift move faster when they made their escape.
Emma looked around for Zaharak, who waited for her by the doorway he had pointed out from the balcony. As soon as she saw him, he disappeared into the passage. The girl hurried after him annoyed that he had not waited for her. The corridor they entered was slightly narrower than the others they had traveled through. The hall went on for several meters before Emma and the Seeker entered another round room with three other passages branching from it. Zaharak quickly took the one across from them.
Emma was grateful how short this corridor was. In a manner of minutes they were out in a wide hangar, which was a mirror image to their own. High roof, dark lighting, and a thin plasma barrier. The only thing missing was a ship, but that would come soon enough.
“So where is Shadonel and Soforin's ship?” Emma asked as she looked around the empty hangar.
Zaharak turned to face her. Nodding his head towards the plasma barrier he said, “I set a electroplasmic bomb on the ship. Then I had the autopilot fly the shuttle out of the hangar and detonate the bomb when the ship was safely away from the station.”
Emma shook her head. She should have known that one. Zaharak would not want Salianos to know that he had killed Shadonel and Soforin, even if Salianos thought it was to keep Emma alive for the High Elder.
Emma looked around the hangar once more before asking Zaharak a question she had been thinking about for the past week, “Why did the Ancients need such a large station? This place looks as though it could house an army, but there were only a handful of the Ancients.”
Zaharak flicked the tip of his tail as he replied, “This station may be self sustaining, but it cannot create food or medicine. Lutianist believed that it was built large enough to house passenger and cargo ships in exchange for supplies. Knowing now that the Ancients created the station, it makes sense that they built it in a way to receive what they needed without any form of currency.”
Emma looked around the hangar trying to imagine filled with different types of ships from all over the galaxy. How many had traversed the winding hallways of the station before the Ancients closed the doors? She imagined that all those that boarded the station were curious about its purpose. No doubt each traveler was skeptical about the Ancients’ finding the Light, if it even existed; so if the station was related to the Light, they would not have suspected even if they had known of the Ancients’ search.
Emma's gut knotted at her own thought. If it existed. The possibility that she had been led on a wild goose chase loomed over her like the blade of a guillotine. Zaharak pointed out that neither of them had seen any trace of the Gaia during the week. Only two reasons were possible for that, either it was hiding or it never was there. With Salianos's arrival moving closer, she hoped that the latter wasn't true.
Zaharak noted her contemplative look. “What is wrong?”
&nbs
p; Emma shook her head. “Nothing.”
Zaharak's blank, golden eyes stared at her. His gaze pierced into her soul and made her uncomfortable. She shuffled her feet. She tried to ignore his look, but she broke. “Fine!” she shouted angrily at the Seeker, whose expression remained the same. “I'm afraid, okay? What if everything we are doing is for nothing. We haven't seen the Light. We don't even know if it truly exists. What if this is some cruel game by the Ancients?” Her face flushed and she felt as though she might break into tears. “What if the Ancients are working with Salianos? What if he is, indeed, following what the Ancients had wanted all along?”
Zaharak walked over to her and placed a heavy hand on her shoulder. “Do you believe that? After everything they told you? After everything you have seen and heard?”
Emma looked down at her feet.
Zaharak shook his head. “You are letting your fears control your thoughts. The Gaia is out there,” Zaharak spoke each word with a strong certainty. Emma's head shot up and her eyes met his. Within their golden depths, a radiated determination burned through the emptiness. “We have the song and that is all we need.”
The Seeker released his hold on her and walked to the doorway they came from. “Come. Let's return to the Valkyrie. We will eat; then continue with your training.”
Emma followed the Seeker, pausing once to look back around the empty hangar before passing through the door. Zaharak was right. She was letting her fears overcome her reasoning. She had met Alekia. He had appeared benevolent and trustworthy. But could the same be said for the Light. It had killed the Ancients. What's to say that it wouldn't do the same to her and Zaharak. One thing was certain, though; Zaharak would be beside her through the ordeal. If he fell, it would be the end for her— and for the entire universe. Despite her hate for the Seeker, she knew he would do everything in his power to keep her and the Light from Salianos.
Standing aboard the bridge of the Resistance-controlled warship, which hovered over a nearly destroyed city, the thin-bodied Tazalian resistance leader, Lamor, stared worriedly out the viewport spanning in front of him. Ahead was another warship controlled by those loyal to the Elders. Somewhere aboard that ship, his friends, Lieutenant Connell and Vemque, were freeing prisoners and rounding up other Resistance members to bring to his vessel before destroying the Tazalian warship, all without the other party knowing what was going on. But, Lamor had not heard from his squadron for some time. It worried him greatly.