Zahn shot the ground at Vivienne’s feet, creating a pool of melted glass that quickly solidified.
“If that works, yes.”
Slowly, Vivienne backed away, up the ramp. They followed her, and when she was about halfway up, she turned, sprinted, and lunged toward the ship’s door. As she flew through the air, Oonak managed to hit her ankle with a blast, and when she landed, she nearly tumbled headfirst into the transparent hatch.
Now that she was down, Asha ran up and kicked the gun out of Vivienne’s hand, sending it tumbling down to the beach below. Vivienne barely moved and simply stared at the two resonators that were still pointed at her.
“Clearly, you were only trained in diplomacy. Get up and let us in,” Zahn said, gesturing toward the door with this resonator.
Vivienne pressed her hand to a pad beside the door and walked inside the transparent dome atop the disc. The interior of the craft was arranged in a circle with padded seats along the edge of the dome’s interior. In the center was a raised chair that appeared to be able to rotate.
As the ship ascended, Oonak and Asha kept their resonators trained on Vivienne as Zahn sat down and examined the interior of the ship.
“Now, take us to Vayuna.” Zahn aimed his resonator at Vivienne’s head. “Please.”
“Vayuna will kill you,” Vivienne said.
“That’s fine. Some of us have been dying for a while now. Take us to her.”
Reluctantly, Vivienne sat down and operated the controls.
The ramp retracted, and as effortlessly as a whale gliding through the ocean, the craft flew high above the massive treetops. Light rain sprinkled the dome but evaporated as soon as it touched the surface. How this was possible Zahn could only guess, and he wished that the airboat at home so elegantly dealt with the natural elements.
After passing over the jungle canopy for some time, they came to a ridge covered in ferns. Zahn expected them to fly around it and was surprised when they continued to head toward the fern-covered rock face.
Had this been Vivienne’s plan all along? To sacrifice herself to kill all of them? Zahn thought of grabbing the controls, but there wasn’t time. They were moving too fast, and he braced himself.
But an impact never came.
Instead, they quietly slipped through the hanging ferns and plunged into a dark tunnel leading deep into the ridge.
Inside, they could see very little. Soon, the darkness became complete as they distanced themselves from the entrance. Zahn looked over to Vivienne, and noticed that her face was faintly illuminated by the ship’s instruments.
Just as he was starting to wonder if Vayuna actually lived in a cavern within the ridge, they passed through another set of ferns and emerged back out into daylight. They were on the other side of the ridge now, and below he saw a lake tucked within the thick of the jungle. As they descended, he noticed that in the center of the lake was a tiny island and above it was a large object floating in midair. It reminded him of the floating octahedron they had found on the beach two days before.
Soon, they were above the island, and Vivienne landed the craft as a feather alighting upon a rock.
Zahn motioned with the resonator for Vivienne to open the door and exit first.
After they had walked down the ramp and set foot on solid ground again, Zahn realized his suspicions had been proven correct. He could now see that the floating object clearly had eight sides, and he wondered why that number seemed to be so significant here.
“Keep an eye on her,” Zahn said as he gazed up to the crystal above them.
He was almost mesmerized by the huge amber octahedron as it slowly rotated high above them. Its metallic surface was so smooth that it occasionally reflected his tiny face back down to him. The island itself was only a few dozen meters wide. All around it were towering crystals, all pointed toward the octahedron floating in the air, and just ahead of them was a depression in the rock that was shaped vaguely like a bench.
“How do we contact Vayuna?”
“Sit on the carved bench and speak openly,” Vivienne said. “Remember, Vayuna will not tolerate deception.”
“Good. Neither do I,” Zahn said. “Thank you, Vivienne. You may wait here while we speak with her.”
Vivienne took a few steps away, but then turned around and lunged toward Zahn, trying to grab his resonator. Oonak fired back, and when the narrow sonic beam hit her, they heard a fizzing noise as her expression froze. A fraction of a second later, she collapsed onto the ground. Oonak rushed over to feel for a pulse, but there was none.
“That’s strange,” Oonak said. “I only had it on a low setting. It shouldn’t have killed a healthy person.”
Asha removed part of Vivienne’s robe and exposed where she’d been shot. The blast had sliced her skin open, but inside were metal filaments and fragments of shattered particles. There was no blood at all.
“I don’t think she was a person, at least not like us,” Asha said.
“An artificial life form?” Zahn said.
“Best guess. And if so, the closest replication of biological life that I’ve ever seen.”
“Indeed. Whoever built her was a master,” Oonak said. “It also explains her stilted behavior during our meeting. She must have been communicating with her superiors and computing diplomatic responses to our questions at the same time.”
“Which explains why she contradicted herself about the gates,” Zahn said.
“Indeed.”
Once they had sat down at the stone bench, Oonak looked up and spoke to the floating crystal above them.
“Great Savant, we have heard of your great truths and great wisdom, and we are honored that you would welcome we, who are visitors to your world, into your presence.”
The voice that replied was cold, yet diplomatic.
“Oonak of the Confederation, the Great Vayuna welcomes all who have the courage and the curiosity to honestly pursue knowledge. Vayuna is a servant of Aarava and the Mind of the Visionaries. What do you request of Vayuna, weary traveller?”
“Aren’t you angry that we killed your servant?” Zahn said.
“Far from it,” Vayuna replied. “For many cycles, Vayuna knew that Vivienne had been plotting to escape. However, she could not see how plain her actions were to Vayuna. By being here, you simply gave her the opportunity to act. Had it not been you, it would have been another. No apology is necessary.”
“Oh. Then you’re welcome, I suppose.”
“Vayuna,” Oonak began. “As we stated when we met the two ships who escorted us to your world, we are on a mission to deliver a message to the Confederation Council. Because of the damage to my ship, this situation forces us to use the ancient gate network which is why we need your help.”
“Vayuna is aware of all knowledge imparted to Vivienne. Please state your query.”
“I ask that you share what you know about the galactic gate network with us so that we may safely proceed to the galactic core as quickly as possible. Will you do this?”
There was silence for some time.
“Vayuna will do this with one stipulation.”
“What is it, Great Savant?”
“You will explain, with complete honesty, why you did not state this purpose when you first encountered the ships that escorted you here. Behold, your words from that contact.”
The sound of Oonak’s voice reverberated all around them, as if the crystals that surrounded the island were projecting the sound.
“I am Oonak of the Confederation of Unity. We are on a mission to deliver a message to the Confederation Council. However, our journey has been difficult and we seek safe harbor for a few days. We are happy to trade for these amenities.”
“No mention of a query or your true intentions. Why do you seek to deceive Vayuna and her children?”
Oonak’s face hardened, and he closed his eyes for a moment.
“I did not mean any offense, Vayuna. I did not want to ask anything of your people until I knew mor
e about the conditions on this world. Confederation procedure recommends—”
“Vayuna does not want to know,” she interrupted, “what Confederation procedure recommends. Vayuna wants to know what your motives are.”
“If I have offended you, I am regretful and would ask that you accept my deepest apology. My motives are pure. I would not have come thousands of light-years using unpredictable gate technology if they were not, but the situation demands it. If you remember my words to Vivienne, then you will also remember why this mission is so important.” Oonak’s voice became hushed. “Vayuna, the Undying Vandals are spreading, and the longer it takes me to reach the Confederation, the more time they have to move unchecked.”
There was a brief silence.
“Very well. Vayuna will allow you to enter the cerebral lattice to receive knowledge of the gate network.”
“Thank you, Great Savant.”
“—with one further request: that you will also share all that you know of the gate network.”
Oonak tensed his muscles and was silent for a few moments.
“Why does the gate network interest you?”
“You are not the only person who seeks to explore the galaxy. Vayuna’s knowledge of the gates is also incomplete.”
Oonak considered this for a moment.
“All right, but only if you swear an oath not to interfere with any hatchling civilizations. You must uphold Spacefarer Code.”
“Vayuna is aware of your Code. Yes, this is agreeable.”
Then Oonak told Vayuna of their experiences with the gates, including the names of the stars that were near the gates they had found. To Zahn’s surprise, Vayuna seemed to know each star he named, and after he finished, she was silent for a long while.
“Vayuna understands,” she finally said. “Soon, our knowledge will reach parity. Now, to impart this information, Vayuna must interface directly with your minds. Will all of you please lean your head back onto the soft stone behind you?”
As Zahn leaned his head back, he discovered that the stone behind him was indeed rather soft, and a few moments later he heard a high pitched buzz in his ears. Gradually, it lowered in frequency, and as it lowered, Zahn got sleepier and sleepier.
“In order to connect with you all fully, Vayuna must put you each into a trance. If you wish not to continue, you may stand up now. Otherwise, please remain still. When you are ready to reintegrate, simply focus on moving your right index finger.”
After a few moments, Zahn thought he saw the large lake crystals begin to glow, and the sound continued to get deeper and deeper. Soon, he could hold his eyes open no longer, and he felt as though he were rising up, like a spark flying into the sky.
When he regained his senses, he was floating inside of a vast room, the walls of which he could barely see through a golden mist all around him. The air smelled sweet here, and it was warm. But without anything to hold onto, he felt disoriented and struggled to move with purpose. No matter how hard he waved his arms and kicked his legs, he found himself unable to move.
This lack of control frustrated him, until he realized that he could move forward by clearly visualizing it. Not merely thinking about moving his arms, but actually imagining himself proceeding ahead. Once Zahn discovered this, moving around felt like pure magic to him. Something was clearly very different about this place.
“Oonak?” he called out. “Asha?”
He heard no reply except for faint music all around him. It was so faint he could barely grasp onto a melody. The music grew slightly louder until he saw a small object floating in the golden haze with him. It was about the size of an adult rockturtle back on Ashraya, and he grabbed it with both hands and examined it.
By now he was unsurprised that it was yet another octahedron shape. What surprised him was what he saw inside, for within the transparent object were thousands upon thousands of tiny glowing dots, slowly swirling. He realized that he was looking at an image of the galaxy, and the shimmering galactic core was quite a sight, even if it was only a projection.
The image was so perfect that Zahn could almost believe he was holding an entire galaxy in his hands. The projection itself even generated the faint sound of hundreds of strings vibrating in warm harmonies.
Around the core, two spiral arms twisted outward, and Zahn now noticed a few prominent green dots among the stars. As small points of green light appeared around the larger points, he could tell that they were not arranged in a natural pattern. The pattern seemed explicitly designed, and the more he looked at it, the more Zahn was convinced he was seeing galactic nodes and the smaller gates around them. This was the information that Oonak had been waiting for, but had he also come across an octahedron within the mist?
In case Oonak hadn’t, he tried to memorize the pattern of gates around the core of the galaxy. There weren’t as many node gates, so he tried memorizing them first. But just as he felt he had memorized those, the stars within the octahedron spread apart farther, and soon Zahn could see only one star. The view continued to change until he could see a single planet wreathed in elegant white clouds. Most of its surface was covered in a single vast ocean with only strips of land crisscrossing parts of the planet.
His perspective continued to approach this odd planet until he could see rivers, jungles, and stone ruins below. He saw many creatures, both terrifying and wonderful, living on the land and in the sky. Once his perspective was just above the treetops, it moved forward over the surface, and Zahn found himself entranced with the view of this planet for some time. It was as though he knew this place. Yet, he had no idea how that could be possible since he had no memory of ever seeing it before.
In this golden haze, time ebbed and flowed, and Zahn realized that he had no idea how long he had been staring into the octahedron. Hadn’t they come to Vayuna for a reason? He remembered there being a mission.
“That’s right,” he said, pulling his gaze away. “The gates. How long have I been here anyway? And where is Oonak?”
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that the octahedron was now showing him a huge bird-like creature as it soared above a waterfall.
“In a place like this, there’s no way to tell the passage of time,” he said, resigning himself to the fact that he was most definitely someone who benefitted from talking to himself. “I need to find Oonak, but how am I going to do that in all of this haze?”
The wristband that Oonak had given him flashed into his mind, but when he looked down to his wrist he was puzzled to find that it was gone. Much to his surprise, he also realized he was wearing an Aaravan robe again.
“What? I was wearing my Avani clothes. Unless…”
Vayuna’s words flashed back to him, and Zahn remembered how she had mentioned that they needed to move their index finger when they were ‘ready to reintegrate’.
What exactly had Vayuna meant by ‘reintegrate’ anyway?
“Of course! We’re still there, back on that island bench. Vayuna must be connecting with our minds and creating this dreamlike environment.” Zahn reflected on this. “If this is like a dream, and I can move just by thinking about it, I wonder if I can just appear somewhere else if I focus enough.”
With all the clarity he could muster, he pictured Asha’s face in his mind. He would not let this thought waver for a moment, and he closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he thought he hadn’t moved. After all, there were no landmarks in this place besides the octahedron he’d found. Yet when he looked back to where it had been, it was gone. He looked around and was relieved to see Asha behind him, staring into a similar octahedron.
“Asha!” he called out.
There was no answer, so he approached her and examined the situation. She seemed completely oblivious to everything around her, yet when he looked into her octahedron, he could see nothing. It seemed completely transparent.
“Asha?” He patted her on the back.
She jolted her head up in surprise.
“Zahn?” she said.
“Asha, how long have you been here? Are you okay?”
“Zahn! It’s… it’s extraordinary. Every life form has a specific energy field that reinforces its physical body. Without the energy, the body dies. Do you see? In the crystal. Do you see it?”
“Asha, I already tried. I’m sorry to say I can’t. Are you okay?”
“Oh,” she said, looking downcast. “That’s a pity. It has shown me so many things. Unbelievable things. Zahn, it’s shown me a group of healers reviving someone who had been dead.”
“Asha.”
“Wait! I see us. We’re approaching a gate, and then…”
“What is it?”
“The gate was swallowed up in a dark cloud before we could reach it. Zahn, we disappeared, too.”
“Asha, we’ve got to get out of here. Who knows how long we’ve been asleep. For all we know, it could be night out there right now!”
“Wait! I see the outline of a ship. It’s huge. I think it’s following us into that dark cloud.”
“Asha, we need to go.” Zahn took Asha’s hand, and she looked at him. A startled look was on her face. “Do you even know where Oonak is, or how long we’ve been in here?”
“Oonak?”
“Yes, we need to find Oonak. If we picture his face, we should appear near him. Can you do that with me?”
“I’m sorry, Zahn. You’re right.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m ready.”
When they opened their eyes again, Oonak was just ahead of them, also engrossed in examining an octahedron.
“Oonak?” Zahn shouted.
He didn’t respond.
When they approached, they discovered that Oonak appeared to be in a kind of trance similar to the one that Asha had been in. Within his octahedron, Zahn could see nothing.
He placed his hand on Oonak’s shoulder.
“Oonak? Are you okay?”
He blinked his eyes and turned to Zahn.
“We were so close. But how will we escape the dark abyss?”
“What?”
“We are so deep.”
Epic of Aravinda 1: The Truth Beyond the Sky Page 15