“Are those…” Zahn’s words faded to silence.
He had no words for the shock that was dawning on him. Up ahead, seven massive beasts with shimmering scales were heading straight for them.
CHAPTER 24
A MILLION SHARDS OF LIGHT
Before they could react, the massive beasts had surrounded them. Somehow they’d flown up to them faster than even Navika had anticipated, and the shields were raised only a few seconds before they arrived. Once they were close enough, they circled the ship from above and below.
Even though they were now much closer, it was still difficult to examine them in great detail because they were moving so swiftly around the ship. However, Zahn could tell that each had a long snout, six legs, and a long tail. He also thought he saw their pearl skin shimmer in rainbows, as if they were covered in radiant scales. They reminded Zahn of the giant winged monsters in ancient Avani legends.
Yet, they seemed somehow hollow. He wondered if this was a side-effect of Navika using a filter on their view of the nebula, but if that were the case, then shouldn’t they be able to see the bones of these creatures?
“Oonak,” Asha said slowly. “Please tell me you know what these are and that you’ve encountered them before.”
“I’m sorry, Asha, but I have not. However, I am familiar with their appearance. They appear to be a kind of star dragon, yet no such creature has ever been proven to exist. Carvings and sculptures of them have been found, but it was always believed that they were symbolic in nature or perhaps embellishments of other creatures.”
“So, are these real?” Zahn said.
“Uncertain. Navika isn’t reading any life signs around the ship. They appear to be projections, but there is the possibility that they are a type of life that we do not yet understand.”
“So,” Asha said. “Do we need to hail them or—”
Her question was answered when all seven of the dragons stopped circling the ship at once and spoke. They were spaced evenly around the ship now, staring intently at them from all directions. Somehow, the sound of their voices filled the cabin, even though Navika hadn’t accepted any incoming signals. When they spoke, their voices rushed together like a hundred rivers, becoming one voice.
“We are the Stewards of the Divine Light of the Galactic Sun. For what purpose have you come here?”
Their voices were so loud that Asha had to put her hands over her ears. Oonak, however, remained calm and took a deep breath.
“I am Oonak of the Confederation. If you truly are stewards of the Galactic Sun, you already know that this vessel bears the Confederation insignia. We are on a mission to—”
“Your vessel markings do not imply your purpose. Do not obstruct the Stewards of the Galactic Sun, lest you be judged. We ask a final time. What is your purpose?”
“Stewards of the Galactic Sun, I meant no disrespect. We are on a mission to deliver an urgent message to the Confederation Council. Because of the damage to my timespace components, we have used the ancient gate network to come many thousands of light-years to deliver this message. For this purpose, we seek the portal to Amithya. Are you the stewards of this portal?”
There was a few seconds of silence.
“As we stated heretofore, we are the Stewards of the Divine Light. What is your urgent message? And from which Confederation world do you hail?”
“You are wise to test me. For as you know, under Confederation code I am not permitted to reveal specific information to anyone except a member of the council. As for myself, I hail from Sumanas. Will you allow us safe passage to Amithya? Many lives are at risk.”
“Your understanding of code is correct. We will allow you to pass beyond if you are able to show that your world has reached sufficient understanding.”
“How can I do this?”
“You must answer the question that any true citizen of the Confederation can answer. If you accept this challenge and fail, you must return whence you came. Do you understand?”
“Yes. I understand.” Oonak’s eyes were intense.
“I am Eternal and Unwavering. Without me, all plans fail. I am the Seed of Awareness. I am the Birth of Understanding. I am the Bedrock of Friendship. If I am cultivated, I grow into the Tree of Liberation.”
There was a pause.
“What am I?”
A silence filled the ship. It was quite a question, and Zahn knew that they wouldn’t get a second chance at answering it.
“Intriguing,” Oonak said, “Indeed, liberation can only be found through acknowledging Oneness.”
“Riddles?” Zahn said. “The Confederation deals in riddles?”
“Zahn, this is not a mere riddle.” Oonak said. “Within it is an eternal truth. Such questions are part of early Confederation training, and I believe I know the answer.”
“That was easy,” Zahn said.
“However, I think you two can solve this on your own.”
“What? Are you sure? Thanks for the vote of confidence, Oon, but I—”
“Must learn to trust your reasoning abilities,” Oonak said. “Both you and Asha have great potential. It is time to test that potential. Don’t worry, they won’t accept an answer until we address them by name.”
“Well, it’s the seed of awareness, whatever it is,” Zahn said. “Is it clear perception? What do you think, Asha?”
“No, that’s not quite right,” Asha said. “It’s eternal and unwavering so it must go deeper than that.”
They sat in contemplation for some time. Asha took a deep breath, and then a light came on from within her eyes.
“TRUTH! It must be Truth! Think about it!”
Oonak was expressionless.
“That’s pretty good,” Zahn said. “Let’s see. Truth is eternal, unwavering, and required for understanding. The tree of liberation part would also agree with that answer. What do you think, Oonak?”
“I think Asha is full of surprises,” Oonak said. “Asha, I believe you’ve solved it. Go ahead and tell them.” He smiled warmly.
“Stewards of Divine Light, you are Truth!”
Just as she said those words, the seven dragons shattered into a million shards of rainbow light and vanished. There was a flash up ahead that was so bright that Zahn wondered if a supernova had just ignited in front of them, but when his eyes adjusted a few seconds later, he saw the dark outline of a spherical structure. It appeared to be made up of three intersecting rings, and the rings were beginning to glow.
In the center, a vortex gradually formed, but this vortex was different from the previous vortexes Zahn had seen on his journey. Instead of light being warped around it, this vortex radiated light. Indeed, if Zahn hadn’t watched it form, he might have thought that the vortex was a newborn star.
“Is everyone ready?” Oonak said.
“Yes,” they both said.
Navika entered the hollow spherical structure. The radiant vortex completely filled their view now, and Zahn noticed that it was spinning rapidly.
Zahn took a deep breath, and as they flew in, everything became utter light.
At first, Zahn thought that he must be in timespace again. After all, he’d been through plenty of gates by now, and all of them had led to the shimmering timespace corridors between the gates. Just as before, he beheld a vision of pure light.
Yet something was different this time. For a moment, he couldn’t discern what, until it hit him: there were no corridors around him at all. Instead, he could only see pure light in all directions, and even though this brightness didn’t pain his eyes, it was so intense that he could see only faint shapes in the distance.
Then, he felt the joy. It came without warning, and it overtook him. For a moment, he felt as though he was connected to every beating heart in the galaxy, and the feeling was indescribable. It simply overwhelmed him.
An instant later, he found himself back on Navika, within utter darkness. He couldn’t see a single star. Were they still within the nebula? He saw the tiniest spe
ck of light in the distance. It was so small he thought he might be imagining it at first, but after a few moments it looked like it might be a star. But how could there only be one star?
It continued to grow nearer until he could clearly see that it was perfectly round. Soon, it filled his view, and a feeling of sleepiness overtook him. What was happening? Were they really about to crash into a star? Zahn looked behind him, but Oonak and Asha had already collapsed onto their armrests. He tried to call out to them, but was overtaken by the sleepiness and all turned to nothingness.
CHAPTER 25
IN RAINBOWS
When Zahn opened his eyes again, he had no idea how much time had passed. If someone had told him that he and his friends had been frozen in time for a thousand years, he wouldn’t have been entirely surprised. His body felt strange to him, and each movement produced a slight tingling sensation.
He pulled up his jacket sleeves and examined his tanned arms. Everything seemed to be in the right place. Ahead of him, he noticed a bizarre sight and immediately forgot about any bodily concerns.
In the distance ahead, Zahn could see a greenish wall that was made up of a complex repeating pattern of hexagons, circles, and triangles. Zahn looked behind him, up to Oonak who was rubbing his face, now awake.
“What happened? Where are we?”
“It would appear—” Oonak paused for a moment to yawn. “It would appear that we have passed through the portal to Amithya and have reached its endpoint. Where exactly that is, I do not know since Navika cannot detect any stars in the vicinity.”
“Well, then where are we? And do we have any idea what that is?” Asha pointed to the wall ahead of them.
“According to Navika’s sensors, we are currently submerged in a fluid within a chamber.”
“What?” Zahn said.
“We are in a chamber,” Oonak said. “A vast spherical chamber that is filled with a complex liquid, the purpose of which is unknown to me. Navika, give us complete transparency so that everyone can see the scope of it.”
All of Navika’s walls went transparent, and Zahn was shocked to see that they were almost in the exact center of a huge sphere, the inner surface of which was covered with the patterned wall that he’d seen before.
“What kind of liquid is this? Are there life signs?” Zahn said.
“According to Navika, the liquid is not unlike the oceans of Avani, the primary difference being that this volume is completely sterile. It appears that life has been deliberately prevented from thriving in this chamber.”
Just a moment later, beams of colorful light filtered down to Navika from all sides. The colors reminded Zahn of what happened when the star dragons had shattered.
“Do you think that whoever built this place could be scanning us?” Asha said.
“Quite likely. However, this alone is not an act of aggression. It’s possible they are just as curious about us as we are of them.” Oonak paused. “Hmm.”
“What is it, Oon?”
“A current is pushing us upward.”
Zahn looked up. At first, he saw nothing, but after a few seconds he noticed that an iris had opened above them.
“Aren’t you going to fight the current?”
“That assumes staying here is a good idea,” Asha said. “Perhaps we’re underground, and they’re pushing us up to the surface where they’ll meet us.”
“Perhaps,” Oonak said. “And the current has now increased.”
Zahn looked up again and saw that the iris was now completely open, revealing a cyan sky far in the distance.
Up, up, they went, until they passed through the iris and travelled up a wide, vertical tunnel. Once they were near the top, Zahn looked down and watched an iris close directly below them. The timing was so flawless that when they reached the top of the tunnel, the current had completely dissipated.
As they popped above the surface, the wave of extra water spilled over the sides and drained into grates that surrounded the opening. Oonak was ready when this happened and held Navika in midair over the tunnel once they emerged from the water. Throughout of all this, Navika nullified any change of inertia so they wouldn’t get jostled around.
“You know, that was one of the best baths I’ve had in a long time,” Navika said.
Zahn laughed. “Glad you enjoyed it.”
The tunnel had opened up onto a circular platform beside a dark, rocky hill. All around the tunnel opening were five circular landing pads carved into the turquoise stone that made up the platform, and below was a barren valley of white sand dunes.
Once they had exited the ship, they soon realized that no paths were in sight, but beside the turquoise landing pads was an intriguing structure. It was a perfect dome partially embedded into the hillside that appeared to be made of white granite.
It looked ancient.
“So, this is Amithya.” Zahn’s eyes wandered over to a small puddle of water on the turquoise stone that must have formed when they popped out of the tunnel. He always thought turquoise stone looked best around water, and it was rather comforting to him that someone, or something, thousands of light-years from his home might have similar taste.
He looked up and was surprised to see a faint dusting of stars in the cyan sky, yet there was no sun to be seen. Along the horizon were shimmering sand dunes, and he could see no one.
“Did we come here on a holiday, or is it always this busy?”
Over by the dome, Asha was examining a round door, and Zahn walked over and touched the light exterior of the stone dome. It was smooth, and he wondered whether it was recently built or was somehow impervious to the elements.
“Oonak, do you know anything about this dome? How old do you think it is?”
“Well, I’m sorry to tell you this, but it’s locked, guys.” Asha sighed. She had tried turning the handle and even using the resonator on the door, but the stone seemed indestructible.
Oonak had been studying the cyan sky, but walked up to them after a few moments. “Only to those who lack the key.”
Oonak removed the small, metallic insignia from the collar of his uniform and pressed it into an indentation beside the door.
To Zahn’s surprise, the edges of the door glowed. The glow spread until the entire door was made of light. In an instant, the door vanished, revealing a circular room.
Inside they found seven elevated, horizontal stone platforms spaced evenly around the edge of the room. Somehow, they were lit with natural light even though there were no windows or openings, and Zahn wondered if these people might have discovered a way to make stone that allowed light to pass through, if only slightly.
In the center of the room was a plaque with a message carved into the stone. Zahn walked over to it, but quickly realized that it wasn’t written in any language he had ever seen. It was made up of a single curving line which formed various spiraling shapes. Oonak walked up behind him and studied it.
Meanwhile, Asha walked over to one of the raised platforms and felt its cold, hard surface. “I wonder what these are for.”
“If I am reading this plaque correctly,” Oonak said. “I believe we are intended to meditate on them. The text seems to refer to a ‘waking sleep’. I wonder if they’re referring to the state of the mind being awake while the body is asleep.”
“How can you read that?” Zahn said. “Is that what writing looks like where you’re from, Oonak?”
“No, but when the people of my world were first contacted by the Confederation, we were taught a universal written language so that we could interpret any documents that were sent to us. This plaque has been written in that language.”
“So does it say anything else?”
“If I’m reading this correctly, once we reach a deep enough meditation we will be assisted in leaving the physical world and meeting the Transcendent Ones.” Oonak furrowed his eyebrows. “I’m not sure what they mean by ‘assisted’.”
“Are you sure we’re really on Amithya? How do we know these inst
ructions are safe?”
“Yes. Only a Transcendent World would accept my insignia as a key.”
“True, but how do we know this isn’t a one-way trip?”
“Zahn, my people have been part of the Confederation for many generations. Trust me when I say they mean us no harm. From what I can tell from this plaque, this room has been specifically designed to guide us into a state where we can easily meet them. It suggests that we mentally count down from ten as this happens.”
Asha stared at the plaque with a perplexed look. “Hmm, definitely not Samiiran. Actually, it doesn’t look like anything I’ve seen. I wonder if Dad would know…”
“I suspect,” Oonak continued, “that it will be easier to fall asleep here than we could anticipate. Just remember to focus on counting and not get drawn into any dreams that may begin. Also, when we reach the council, allow me to speak first. They have been awaiting my report for some time now, and you would both be wise to afford them the respect they deserve.”
“Sure thing, Oonak.” Asha sat down on one of the platforms and looked over to Zahn, who was still examining the room. “C’mon, Zahn! Pick a spot. I’ve got a good feeling about this.”
“All right,” Zahn said as he sat down on the platform nearest to him. “But if I end up in a nightmare, things could get ugly.”
One by one, each of them got into a comfortable position on the stone beds and closed their eyes. Once they did this, the room itself seemed to acknowledge their efforts, and Zahn could have sworn that the light entering the room diminished considerably at that moment.
“10…” As he counted down, he heard music.
“9…” At first, it was so faint that Zahn thought he was imagining it, but after a few seconds, he knew it must be real. “8…” It reminded him of the sound of the flutes back on Aarava, floating through the air like a hundred songbirds in sublime harmony. “7…” For a moment, he saw Ashraya from above, but he knew it was a dream and resumed his counting. “6…”
Epic of Aravinda 1: The Truth Beyond the Sky Page 17