“Are you sure you accounted for everything, including from the time before you crashed on Avani?”
“I prefer to call it a hard landing, but yes, I did. There is nothing that matches any relevant object of that description.”
Zahn punched the padded armrest in frustration. “And I thought we were so close.”
He closed his eyes and tried to imagine the Ashraya beach.
“Navika,” Darshana said quietly, “did you scan for trace radiation, as well?”
“Only gravitational matches were requested,” Navika said. “Zahn, would you like me to?”
“Yes, Navika. Please.”
After a few moments, Navika spoke again.
“Again, there are no objects in range of the ship which even remotely match possible radiation signatures of the device you describe. I’m sorry that I couldn’t be of more—Wait.”
Navika was silent for some time. He had never voluntarily stopped in the middle of speaking before, and they hung onto the edge of his words as if their lives depended on it.
“How… curious,” Navika finally said.
“What? What is it, Navika?” Zahn said.
“Your boots.”
“What’s wrong with his boots?” Asha said.
“The traces of reddish dust on each of your boots contains a highly unusual radiation signature that could have been generated by such a device.”
“Dust. Where did you both go?” Darshana said.
Zahn and Asha looked at each other and spoke as one.
“The stolen moon!”
“Do you know what this means?”
“What?”
“Think about it, Asha. Where was that moon stolen from? Oonak said it was stolen from orbit around the Taarakalis system, remember?”
“Yes.”
“So, if that stolen moon was bathed in such intense Tulari energy, then the Tulari was either created in the Taarakalis system or it spent plenty of time there, correct?”
“Right…”
“Then it makes perfect sense!”
“What do you mean, Zahn?”
“Navika,” Zahn said, “can you restate which two races are capable of creating and controlling artificial wormholes?”
“Certainly. As I said, according to my records there are only two races in the galaxy that are known to be capable of creating such potent gravity anomalies: the Taarakani, who have been missing for aeons, and the Vakragha.”
“Asha,” Zahn continued, “from what we now know, I think the Taarakani must have made the Tulari. What if one civilization created the disease, and the other created the cure? Think about it. The Tulari would be the natural counter to the Vakragha wormhole technology. How else do you explain this correlation?”
“I don’t know.” A smile crept across Asha’s face. “Why don’t we go find out?”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“I told you,” Darshana said. “Great team.”
Zahn looked toward the vast array of stars ahead. “Navika, prepare for a timespace jump.”
Behind him, he could already hear the now familiar roar of the timespace drive.
“Destination?”
“Taarakalis.”
CHAPTER 32
A DESOLATE WORLD
As the sound of the timespace drive grew louder, Zahn pushed Navika to accelerate faster and faster. “4…” Navika counted down. “3…” And once again, Zahn held the image of a vortex in his mind. “2…”
“1…”
Zahn’s focus was resolute. “Now.”
He imagined a vortex in front of the ship, and a fraction of a second later, he dove into the vortex and entered the luminous realm once more.
For a moment, he thought he saw space, but once again he saw the luminous corridors spread out before him, followed by darkness once more. Each time this would happen, he heard a rushing noise behind him.
After this happened a few times, he realized that, instead of using an existing corridor as the gates had, the timespace drive actually created a corridor for the ship.
Just as he was getting used to the rhythm, there was a final flash, and they were back in the Ocean of Space once more.
More importantly, they were now high above a ruined world. Below, the surface of the planet appeared desolate and tortured. It reminded Zahn of the stolen moon back in the Nirananda Nebula. Eroded mountain ranges marked the landscape like scabs, and dark patches along the surface hinted at once thriving oceans, now sucked dry.
“Whoa. What happened here?”
Asha couldn’t take her eyes off of the tortured landscape.
“I don’t know, but I’d like to find out. Navika, any life signs?”
“The surface is almost completely unpopulated. There are only several bipedal life signs on this side of the planet, all in the vicinity of an angular structure. It appears to be a pyramid.”
Zahn looked over to Asha who raised her eyebrows at him in a mixture of excitement and surprise.
“Well, that doesn’t leave us much choice, does it?” Zahn said. “Take us down to the structure, and be stealthy about it.”
Gradually, Navika led them down through thin, wispy clouds. The closer they grew to the surface, the more ruined it looked, as if it had been tortured for uncounted millennia until the galaxy itself had forgotten the reason.
Crowded mountain ranges competed for space along the edge of one of the continents. Between two ridges was a narrow valley, and Zahn could now discern what appeared to be an abandoned city to the south. Dozens of crumbling towers were arranged in circles with small paths between them. At least they appeared small to him. It was difficult to tell from this altitude.
After a few long minutes, they descended into the narrow valley between the two eroded ridges. Ahead, Zahn could see a four-sided stone pyramid built out of dark red rock, and beside it were two towering colossuses. Surrounding the pyramid was a high stone wall, and Zahn directed Navika to land as near to the pyramid as possible.
When they touched down on the dusty surface, Navika confirmed that the atmosphere was bone-dry but breathable, and the gravity was oddly similar to Avani’s gravity.
Once outside, Zahn surveyed the scene. From the light, he guessed that it was late afternoon. Ahead, a ramp led up to a large stone door, and all around he noticed some of the survivors of whatever catastrophe had befallen Taarakalis: thick patches of odd, bushy plants that were scattered around the pyramid.
“Asha, what do you think of these?” Zahn said.
Asha walked over and noticed that the top of each bush had a small cone shape which was pointed directly at the sun as it peeked out from behind one of the high walls. She also noticed some tiny thorns, but they looked so small as to be harmless.
“It’s unlike any plant I’ve ever seen, that’s for sure.”
When Asha went to take a small sample, the center cone turned to her and blew a burst of air into her face, as if it were sneezing. She tried again, barely grabbing a sample of the plant in one swift motion before it sneezed at her for a second time.
Meanwhile, Zahn approached the front of the pyramid and quickly concluded that this door was not meant to encourage visitors. A triangular-shaped opening was sealed by a stone door which resembled a wall more than it resembled a door, and all three of them searched around the door for a panel or anything that might allow them to open it. There was nothing.
Feeling out of options, Zahn tried knocking.
The stone was rough on his knuckles, and he realized that the stone might be too thick to even register a knock.
“Navika,” Zahn spoke into his wristband, “can you slice this door open? Make an opening big enough for us to pass through.”
“Affirmative. Please clear away from the door.”
They moved aside as Navika rose a few meters above the ground, and for the first time, they saw what it looked like to be on the dangerous end of one of his plasma bolts. Navika rotated slightly to aim a triangular face toward the doo
r and shot two white-hot bolts of plasma from the bottom two points.
Both of the bolts moved toward the center of the door at first, but were then distorted around the door in a huge arc, eventually impacting on the ground on the far side of the pyramid, melting some of the dirt into a muddy kind of glass.
“What was that? Try again, Navika.”
Once again, Navika aimed for the center of the door, and once again his plasma bolt was distorted around the pyramid, impacting onto a patch of ground, melting it in the process.
“Well, I think it’s safe to say that whatever we do find inside is well-guarded. Any ideas?”
“What about the flutes we were given on Aarava? Perhaps if we played them together,” Asha said.
“This is a pretty huge door. But it’s worth a try.”
Soon they were all experimenting with the three flutes that the Aaravans had given them. Since Oonak had left his on the ship, even Darshana had one to experiment with, and after much trial and error they found a frequency that made the door rumble. But even when they all played together, the door did not move at all.
After what felt like a half hour, Zahn threw his flute down in frustration. “We’ve come thousands of light-years—”
“Tens of thousands, actually—” Asha added.
“A long way! And now, we can’t even get inside.”
Zahn kicked a bush near the door, and it aimed its cone at him and blew air into his face so hard that he nearly fell over.
“Hey!” Zahn reflexively kicked it back.
This time, it blew back at him so hard that he did fall over. Yet when he hit the ground, he was smiling.
He had an idea.
Carefully, he lodged his Aaravan flute into the small opening in the center of the cone. Using his resonator, he melted the opening and was pleased to see that the plant was now firmly attached to the flute. He knelt down, put his fingers over the correct holes, and pointed the flute directly at the door.
He called Asha and Darshana over who had, in vain, been trying to vaporize parts of the door with their resonators.
“Kick the plant, Asha,” he said when she was closer.
“What? I don’t take my anger out on plants, Zahn, especially alien plants that sneeze in my face.”
“Zahn.” Darshana walked up. “What are you doing?”
“It’s going to be fine, Mom.”
Zahn turned back to Asha. “Just kick it.”
“Haha, I don’t think so. I’m a student of healing, not of kicking defenseless life forms.”
“Please, Asha. Just trust me.”
Reluctantly, Asha kicked the side of the bush, and a loud whistle emanated from the flute. It was so loud it made Asha’s ears ring, and behind them the door moved slightly.
“Yes! Once more, with feeling this time!”
“I can’t believe it…” Asha was stunned.
This time Asha kicked the plant as hard as she could, and the plant blew the flute louder than she’d ever heard any instrument play before. Zahn plugged one of his ears with his free hand, and Darshana and Asha covered both of their ears as they watched the door.
To their amazement, it rolled slightly to the right.
“One more time!” Zahn said, still kneeling beside the plant to hold the flute in position.
Once again she kicked the plant, almost uprooting it this time. The wail of the flute echoed across the valley, and slowly, the door rolled open more. Now it was open just enough for a person to get through. They had done it.
But at a price.
Beside the bush, Zahn noticed some blood had dripped onto the ground, and then he saw what had happened to his arm. The bush must have grazed him during the last kick, because he was now bleeding from a series of small cuts along his forearm.
“Asha, help.”
Asha and Darshana rushed over and looked at the wound as blood bubbled up.
“I’ll be right back,” Asha said. “I think I know where Oonak kept the healing gel.”
“Asha, what about your healing abilities? Can’t you try that?”
“Oh, right. I just, I’ve never had to stop blood with them before. But you’re right. I’ll try it.”
Asha placed her hands over his arm and closed her eyes. Zahn thought he heard her whisper something, and then her hands glowed slightly. He felt a warm sensation travel up his arm and into his chest.
“Do you feel any better?” Asha said.
“Yes. How does it look?”
Asha took her hands off of his arm, and he could see that the bleeding had completely stopped. Only a few red marks remained, and bits of dried blood brushed off easily.
“Asha, that’s astounding,” Darshana said. “Where did you learn that?”
“She learned from the Masters.” Zahn smiled warmly at her. “Great job, Asha. Sorry about the blood on your hands.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Asha took out a small handkerchief and wiped her hands with it. “Are you still up to going inside?”
“More than ever.”
Zahn flexed his arm and walked up to the pyramid entrance. He noticed that it felt surprisingly good, almost better than before he was hurt.
Beyond the door was a narrow hall, and at the other end of the hall he could barely see a large room lit in an eerie glow. He stepped back outside and noticed that a dry breeze was now blowing through the barren valley.
“Does everyone have their cloaking chips? I think we’re going to need them.”
“Got mine,” Asha said, pulling one out of her pocket.
Zahn felt the two in his pocket and thought of Oonak. He wondered what Oonak would think if he knew that they had found the Tulari.
After explaining how the cloaking chip worked to his mother, all three of them activated their chips, stored them safely in their pockets, and walked into the massive pyramid.
Hesitantly, they headed down the narrow hall, and Zahn noticed that even though the walls were dark, they reflected the distant light like polished glass. He wondered what this place looked like when the lights were on.
Soon, they were at the far edge of the hall, looking into a large inner room, and Zahn noticed several details at once.
Huddled around the base of a tall pedestal, three enormous guardians sat with their heads down. Zahn guessed that they were over three meters tall, and they appeared to be sleeping. Or were they in a trance? They each had long black hair that was pulled back and were clothed in thick, red armor, though he could see no weapons.
Zahn’s arched his neck to see what, if anything, was set atop the pedestal, and what he saw left him breathless.
Floating in midair above the pedestal was a truly remarkable object. It resembled a giant, glowing pearl, and Zahn recalled how Asha had referred to the Tulari as the Pearl of Great Price, although he didn’t actually think it would resemble a pearl as much as this object did. It was much larger than a pearl, but otherwise the resemblance was uncanny.
As it floated just above the pedestal, it radiated a soft white light which stirred within its core like a slowly twisting storm, and the shadows it cast on the guardians below wavered every few seconds. Zahn felt mesmerized, and when he looked over to Asha, she seemed intoxicated with excitement.
CHAPTER 33
THE TULARI SANCTUM
Zahn stepped into the inner room.
The moment his foot touched the floor, the entire room filled with light, and the three guardians opened their eyes. With impressive speed, they took a gasp of air, stood up, and pointed their palms forward, toward the darkness.
“Who has entered the Tulari Sanctum?” one of them said. Its voice was deep and reverberated off of the polished walls.
“Identify yourself,” another said.
Zahn spoke to the guardian nearest to him, which was the one who had spoken first.
“I am Zahn from Avani, a world many thousands of light-years from here. I have come here because my world is under attack by the Vakragha. Only the Tulari can stop t
hem from consuming my planet whole.”
“Why can we not see you, uninvited one?” This one sounded female. She turned toward Zahn, and he saw her angular, yet feminine, face.
“Yes! Be you ugly, intruder?”
“No, my friends and I only wish to remain safe until we can discern your motivations. As I said, my world is in great danger, and I have come a great distance on a Confederation ship. Will you allow us to use the Tulari to save my world? We will return it here when Avani is safe. Please, it is our only hope.”
“Mortal!” the first one yelled. “If only you could begin to know how many have come with such a story, yet all were unworthy. It is too powerful for even three mortal beings to wield. Go back to your home and salvage as much as you can before the dark scourge destroys all that you love. That is all you can do. Waste no more time, leave now!”
“No! Being mortal doesn’t make us any less worthy. Doesn’t a civilization have the right to protect its planet?”
“We have given you our answer.”
The guardian folded his arms.
“So you can do nothing to help us?”
“We cannot give the Pearl of Great Price to mortal beings.”
Zahn breathed heavily. He couldn’t believe that these towering guardians, which had appeared to be wise and mighty before they spoke, had revealed themselves to be so unwilling to help them.
“Well, we aren’t leaving until you help us. Billions of people are going to be enslaved by the Vakragha if we do nothing, and I am not going to give up now, especially not after coming this far. You’re going to have to find a way to help us, or—”
Zahn paused for dramatic effect.
“—or we will fight you.”
One of the guardians laughed.
“Mortal, there are three of us. Do you realize your folly?”
Zahn stepped back into the hall.
“I’m going to distract them,” he whispered. “When I do, use your resonator to nudge the Tulari off of the pedestal, Asha. And Mom, I want you to throw this at the guardian nearest to Asha once she grabs the Tulari. Can you do that?”
Epic of Aravinda 1: The Truth Beyond the Sky Page 23