“I’d like to do that.” She turned away, and this time, her strides were faster. “I heard Valdjan easily because I am more sensitive to noise than you are. And I have a wider range of hearing than you do.”
Roihan didn’t know what to say to that, so he was silent.
A part of him knew it wouldn’t be fair to deny her the right to the memories of their children, but the thought still lingered.
They left the prison and journeyed down a tunnel he hadn’t been in before. It angled sharply downward, as the air became colder. It was obviously well traveled, the Ardak footprints packing the dirt and pebbles into a smooth floor, but he hadn’t even heard of a tunnel going deep below the mountain in this direction.
“Have you ever been this way before?” he asked Valdjan, who simply shook his head.
They trudged for what he estimated to be about thirty standard minutes and then came to a dead end. Aria yowled, making him reach for his weapon just as the end of the corridor opened. They stepped through the opening and into a vast underground cave. It was so enormous that it dwarfed the gigantic ship inside.
He couldn’t see the ship exactly. Ardak ships didn’t gleam or glow, rather they sucked in the light from around them, so all he could perceive was a total absence of light. But judging from its size, it could probably fit the entire elven city and palace.
The ground to either side of the path dropped away, leaving them to walk a natural bridge until they reached the ship.
“Bay doors open,” Aria commanded in a calm, firm voice.
“Opening bay doors.”
He heard the answer in his mind, recognizing the feeling from before. “Was that the ship answering you?”
“Yes. The AI system.”
“Are there any Ardaks left on the ship?” Mordjan asked.
“No. They all left on the mission to retrieve a larger power crystal.”
“You mean the mission to kill all the elves and steal their crystals,” Valdjan said from behind him.
Roihan wanted to punch him in the face. “Stop needling her.”
“Why should I when it’s so fun?”
“We have a mission to complete. Or did you forget that we’re all dying?”
The question silenced him.
If Roihan had been shocked at the enormity of the ship, he was even more so as they drew closer to it. Its smooth metal walls were like a soul-sucking darkness, the outside seemingly impenetrable. It could probably hold the inhabitants of the entire elven city within it, but he had a feeling they might not like the conditions. Or the fare.
Aria didn’t seem to share his concern. She simply strode down the path to the ship and a large door without instruction.
She turned to face them. “Are you coming?”
He suppressed a shudder and hurried to catch up, knowing they were all probably having second thoughts. He really didn’t want to board the ship, didn’t want to know what was inside it. Even to save the rest of Aurora.
It was hard for him to believe that the Ardaks would leave such a piece of technology unguarded, no matter what the mission. And he didn’t relish going into their personal territory. Animals were always better hunters on their home turf.
He pulled out his sword just in case, as the others did the same. Taking a deep breath, he advanced up the ramp into the docking bay of the ship. The smell of Ardak washed over him, causing bile to rise. Fetid breath, musk, urine . . . a shudder he couldn’t suppress rolled through his body.
He didn’t fool himself into thinking he’d be able to battle an Ardak on his own, even though they had killed a few after the battle. He suspected they had simply lost their minds after their defeat in the underground battle. Even one Ardak was a fearsome predator and a dangerous enemy on land, so to meet on its home territory would be devastating.
Once they were all inside, Aria closed the bay door, the ramp rising to connect with the rest of the floor as if it were one piece. She carefully put away her weapons in the storage compartments in the next room before reemerging. “Follow me to the command center.” She opened the internal door and started down a corridor to the right.
Being on the ship was incredibly creepy. Every footstep seemed to echo, and he half expected an Ardak to jump out of every door or turn in the tunnel-like corridors. He wasn’t the type to have nightmares. But if he were, the awful silence that permeated the corridors would have lent itself to bringing those nightmares to the surface.
He followed her past empty openings to the left and right, weapons always trained on the dark doorways. But the entire ship was silent as death as they made their way through it.
The corridor ended at a metal door, and when it opened, the room inside left him speechless. It was unlike anything he had ever seen. The space was a half circle pointing outward, and was taller than any building he had ever seen. Taller than most caves, save the one outside. There were buttons and levers lining the walls and the tables in front of the stations, and each station had a monitor hanging in front of it.
In addition to the stations at ground level, there were many suspended in midair at regular intervals, monitors and controls in front of them.
“How do they get up there?” he asked.
“They jump,” she answered simply. “It would be very hard for you to run this ship without at least five Ardaks at the command posts.” She pointed at five of the suspended platforms. “But, luckily, you have me. I can run the entire ship from right here.”
As she pointed to an empty seat right in front of where she had halted them, he noted that it didn’t have any controls. Instead, it had a small device with three prongs sticking out from the back of the seat. He got a very bad feeling as she sat down.
“Are you telling me you run the ship from your chip?”
“Yes. I integrate directly with the ship using this connector.” She must have seen his concern. “Don’t worry. I’ve done this hundreds of times.”
“In simulations,” Mordjan added, reminding them all that this was her first real flight.
“The simulator allowed me to practice in realistic conditions. Everyone please sit at a station. Roihan, you can sit over there.” She pointed to a seat not far from her.
“I think I will remain standing.”
“What do we do if something happens to you?” Mordjan asked.
“Nothing is going to happen to her,” Roihan said, his voice hard.
“After we’re airborne, I can give each of you a program to do a specific job. Together, you could almost fly the ship.”
“Almost?” Roihan asked.
“Well, you need five Ardaks, but three will do in a desperate situation.” Aria sat back and the skin around the outlet pulled away a split second before the connector slid home. Her eyes closed, and she was motionless.
“Aria?” he asked worriedly after fifteen seconds of no response.
“Yes?” The answer came inside his head, as it would have come from the ship.
He shook his head. He should have expected it. “Are you all right in there?”
“Yes. I’m just getting my bearings. The real system is a bit more . . . complicated than the simulator.” She paused. “And more friendly.”
“Huh?”
Suddenly, the entire ship seemed to hum.
“What is that?”
“The ship is powering up.”
The humming grew steadily stronger but not unbearably so, and then the wall in front of him became transparent. “What the hell?”
“Holy shit,” Valdjan said.
Mordjan simply gave a low whistle.
He looked up as high as he could, but there was no end to the transparency. In fact, even the ceiling was transparent; although, it was so far above him he could barely see it. His eyes followed the transparency downward, and realized the floor was transparent, as well.
“How did they do this?” Simban asked, his eyes wide with disbelief.
“It has to do with plasma frequencies and absorption edges,
” she said shortly. “I can explain it to you all when we have more time, but for now, I need to concentrate.”
Then the mountain before him began to open.
“This is unbelievable.” He was irritated that he couldn’t keep the wonder from his voice.
“Yes. Their tech is amazing,” Aria replied.
“How did they develop it?”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure that even they know. I’ve been searching the archives for it, but haven’t found it yet.” Then her voice came from everywhere at once, and he realized it was from the ship’s speaker system. “Hello?”
“We can hear you,” Roihan said. He turned around for a moment, checking on everyone. “Where is Tanis?”
“Up here.”
Roihan looked upward, searching for Tanis. He was on a platform two levels up. “What are you doing?”
“Checking things out.” He pointed at the other platforms in order. “Communications, engines, navigation, weapons, and I don’t know the other two, but this is the captain’s seat.”
“Get out of it then,” Mordjan ordered. “You are definitely not the captain.”
“All right, hang on to your circuits.”
Mordjan just narrowed his eyes and waited while Tanis jumped down onto the platform below and then to the floor.
“Everyone take a seat. Lifting off in ten, nine, eight . . .”
Roihan grabbed firmly onto the back of Aria’s seat and waited for the feeling of flight. He had never been airborne before and wasn’t sure he was looking forward to it. After many seconds, the opening in the mountain began moving closer.
“Wait a minute, are we moving?” Valdjan was gripping one of the consoles tightly.
“Yes.” Aria replied with satisfaction. “We lifted off several seconds ago.”
“I didn’t feel anything.”
“I know.”
He almost laughed at the satisfaction in her voice. “Stop gloating.” He turned back to Valdjan. “Are you all right back there?”
Simban was standing beside him, hands free, laughing. “He’s afraid of heights,” he told them all, and Valdjan freed a hand to punch him in the arm.
They exited the mountain, and the world took on a pinkish hue. He blinked, not used to seeing the landscape that way. “We’re on the opposite side of the mountains.”
“Setting course for Renwyn.” Aria spoke over the ship’s system.
But suddenly, lights flashed red and another voice took over.
“Setting course for Ouitecnoc. Emergency recall initiated.”
“Fuck!” Mordjan shouted.
Valdjan ran a hand through his hair. “Are you kidding?”
The prongs disconnected from the back of Aria’s head, and she sprang up from her seat.
“What’s happening?” Roihan demanded.
Aria ignored him. “Why are you doing this?”
The AI voice was cool and calm. “Protocol. All vessels are automatically recalled to base on Baihu when their crew is terminated, so all information and findings can be processed.”
“But we don’t know that they were terminated.”
“They did not return.”
“Some escaped,” Valdjan said dryly. “Don’t know where they went, though.”
Simban punched him on the shoulder this time. “Not helping.”
“I’m one of the crew! You should obey my commands!” Her fist came down on the console in front of her.
“I’m sorry, Aria. But you are not officially one of the crew. I cannot disobey Ardak directives.”
Roihan could have sworn the ship sounded apologetic.
Aria’s fingers began to fly over the buttons and screens in front of her.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you think? Trying to get this stubborn ship to listen to me. I don’t even know if this ship has enough power to make it to Baihu.” She worked faster than his eyes could follow, cursing in a language he hadn’t heard before. She sounded like an Ardak.
He watched as she entered commands and red lights began to blink across the monitors, spreading outward from the center.
The ship angled upward and shot out of the atmosphere faster than he could have imagined. In seconds, they were staring into the blackness of space. Inside the ship, it was as if they weren’t moving.
“Not good,” Simban said. His face, which was usually turned into an unnatural smile, was set in an exaggerated frown.
“It’s going to be okay,” Valdjan said, clamping a hand on Simban’s shoulder.
“No, it is not,” Mordjan said angrily.
“Fuck you, Mordjan.”
“Stop lying to him! That broken chip made him slow, not stupid. We’re fucking dead if we land on a planet full of Ardaks.”
Valdjan’s face turned red, and he clenched his fists, looking between Simban and Mordjan.
“I’m not going to let that happen.” Roihan was startled to find the voice that broke the silence was his own. One by one, they all turned to him—Valdjan, Mordjan, Simban, Tanis, and finally, Aria.
“We have to keep it together so we can stop this ship before we get there. We’re cyborgs—built for missions like this one. Where are we going again?”
“Ouitecnoc,” Aria answered. “It’s the head military city on Baihu.”
“We aren’t just going to Baihu. We’re going to be barging in the front door, begging them to capture us.”
“Who do we have who could counter this?” Mordjan broke in.
Aria’s gaze flew to each of them. “Tanis. See if you can sabotage the system.”
Tanis smiled for the first time. “You got it.”
Valdjan broke the silence. “Looking at the bright side, at least the ship is taking us where we need to go to find the cure.”
“Right, and it looks like the AI will conserve the crystal’s power so we’ll at least make it there,” Aria answered.
Roihan felt his pockets. “Wait a minute. One of the elves gave me a crystal for Aielle, so maybe we can use that if ours runs low.” He produced the crystal.
Aria took it from him and examined it, her face lightening. “You know what? This will probably work!” But then she sobered again. “At least we know we’ll make it there. But I was counting on having a few more warriors than five. And the element of surprise.”
Chapter Six
Aria
As she stood there, Aria’s stomach cramped from hunger and her vision started to spin. She swayed where she stood and grabbed onto the wall for support.
Roihan’s eyes narrowed as they scanned her body. “What’s wrong?”
“I need nutrients,” she admitted. “I left the ship because I ran out of liquid nutrition packets just before the Ardaks left on their mission.”
Roihan frowned and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a square packet before handing it to her. “Eat this.”
“Are you saying there’s no food on board this ship?” Mordjan asked. “Because that could be a problem.”
Aria was learning that Roihan and Mordjan kept their focus on the task at hand. She shook her head, opening the packet and examining the food square. “No, there is food and water, but it’s what the Ardaks ate. It’s just that I’ve never eaten their food before. Or solid food before.” She contemplated the square.
“You ate plenty of solid food before the Ardaks took you,” Roihan assured her. “You’ll be fine.”
Valdjan smirked. “But if it’s been a while, I hope she knows where the personal room is located on this ship. She’s going to need it in a few hours.”
“Shut up.” The deep command was so strong it seemed to rattle her brain.
She glared at Roihan. “You know we can all hear you, right?” She could have sworn his face flushed a little.
His hard eyes landed on Valdjan.
The dark-haired cyborg met his gaze for a moment and shrugged. “You’ve lost your sense of humor.”
“Once we get the antidote and kill some Ardaks,
I’m sure we’ll get it back,” Mordjan said harshly.
Aria ignored their discussion and took a bite.
Roihan’s eyes came back to her as she quietly ate the chewy, semisweet square. He shifted uncomfortably.
She tried to ignore the shiver of awareness that went through her when his eyes were on her. “This food square tastes good,” she said happily after she swallowed the first bite.
His lips quirked upward for the first time. “I’m glad you like it. I have more for later.” He glanced at Valdjan. “Drink a lot of water so your system can process it.”
Aria thought he might speak, but Valdjan wisely remained silent. He did give her a smirk when Roihan turned back to her, though.
“What did I do? I mean, before we were invaded.”
All eyes turned to Roihan, and he sighed. “That’s a long story for another time. Right now, we need to focus on the mission.” He glanced out a window in the corridor to the black space outside dotted with distant stars. “How long is the journey to Baihu?”
Why is he changing the subject? She made up her mind to pursue it with him later, when they were alone. He definitely wasn’t telling her something. “About thirteen standard solar hours, assuming the ship uses the wormhole.” She didn’t want to think about what would happen if the ship didn’t use the wormhole.
“The wormhole?” Roihan frowned. “I’m almost afraid to ask.”
“It’s a hole in space that goes from one galaxy to another in seconds.” She noted the worried expressions on their faces. “Don’t worry. Wormholes are very safe, if you know how to use them. The Ardaks got the information from the Andalians, who have been doing it for centuries.”
“Who are the Andalians?” Simban asked.
“They’re a race from another galaxy, more advanced than the Ardaks in some ways. The Ardaks have a computer system from them in one of the labs. Perhaps we could take a look at it sometime.”
“They probably stole it,” Mordjan grunted cynically. “And the wormholes, too.”
Aria smiled at that. “You can’t steal a wormhole. Although I suppose you could guard it and try to stop people from going through it.”
Roihan Page 5