The Key of Astrea

by Nicholas Marson

  “Yes.” Kett’l nodded. “The same spaceship that rests underwater. I feared that the scientists were going to study me, but I soon learned that they wanted to teach me. They sheltered me from Tyr and kept me from becoming a slave.

  “Over the next seven years, they became a second clan to me. They taught me about science and the galaxy. Even the Terminal master offered her generous knowledge, and trained me as an Æon. As my abilities grew, I worked with them to construct the forge, and finally the Riftkey.

  “I was content, for a time. But like any young man, I grew restless, eager to prove myself. In that last year, I dreamed of becoming the Terminal master of my system. You see, the current master was old, and when she passed on, she wanted me to take over. How naive I was.”

  “Why?”

  “Tyr became suspicious of the scientists’ reports, and escape became the wiser option. Through great risk, the scientists contacted a group called Unity.”

  “Who is Unity?”

  “They’re a group dedicated to establishing equal rights to all people of the galaxy. They suggested a new plan. One that would make our presence known to everyone.”

  “And when your presence is known, Unity will gain more support,” Jenny said.

  “That is true, and not something I had considered.” Kett’l stroked his furry chin.

  “How is it that no one else knows about you?”

  “A man named Vae Victus has assassinated anyone with proof of our existence. And because Tyr controls our system, any attempt to broadcast would be rebuffed. When we do get a chance to reveal ourselves, it needs to be bold and irrefutable.”

  “So, how do you send an irrefutable message to the Galaxy?”

  “Unity’s plan was for me to unlock a Terminal. As a Selkan Terminal master, no one would deny my existence. And with the backing of the other masters, I could reveal to the entire galaxy that my people were being used as slaves.”

  “But that’s not what happened.”

  “No.” He shook his great, tusked head, and folds of loose skin rippled under his chin. “I never wanted to be master of Sol, not when there’s a possibility that I could be master of my own system.”

  Jenny nodded, she understood his reservation about permanently giving up his home, not when there were other Æons here on Earth. Jenny still wasn’t sure if she wanted to accept the role of Terminal master in this foreign realm.

  Jenny leaned back against the log and thought about Kett’l’s story. In a way, her story was similar. She, too, struggled to understand her ability, and she’d been forced to run away to save herself. Though, instead of the threat of slavery aboard a ship, she had been cursed to live as a fortune-teller before dying of cancer.

  “I wanted to refuse,” Kett’l continued, “but I couldn’t, not when it meant saving the lives of my people. Still, I had one condition. I would not leave without my clan. Unity agreed. When the day came, we all boarded the Endeavor and flew toward the Terminal, entering it just as it activated. The timing had to be perfect, or we would miss or be cut in half. For a moment, there was nothing. Then we saw the new stars and I knew we had done it—we had escaped from Tyr.”

  Jenny watched as one of the Selkan children, a boy, disappeared and reappeared a few meters away.

  “After that, Unity directed us to a sympathetic Terminal master, Brigham Newton. He agreed to send us to Sol. After arriving here, Cabin took us in. I showed them the Riftkey and relayed Unity’s plan.

  “Except the part where you would unlock the Terminal.”

  “That is correct. We decided to hold a competition to find an Æon to become master. I used the forge to create the VRGo puzzle and multiple Waypoint keys. Meanwhile, Cabin located potential recruits to send the puzzle.”

  Now we’re all competing against each other for the right to unlock the Terminal. “Can you give me some advice on the tests?”

  “I’m not sure.” Kett’l shook his head.

  “What about the Pulse, can you teach that to me?”

  “Yes.” He stood and picked up two shell cups and filled them with fresh water. Jenny took a cup and washed down the salted fish. “The key to the Pulse is understanding that all things exist as vibrations. If you can see them, then you can control them. Watch.” Kett’l turned his attention toward one of the drums.

  To Jenny’s eye, a black mist formed on one of the drumheads and its deep reverberations went silent. The drummer looked at his mallet in confusion. He experimentally tapped the side of the drum. It made a sound of wood hitting wood. He tried pounding on the mist-covered top again, but it yielded nothing.

  “How did you do that?”

  Kett’l grinned, and the black mist on the drumhead dissipated. The drummer slammed both sticks against the drumhead, and the resulting boom overpowered every other sound. His fellow drummers glared. Jenny giggled along with a few other Selkans who had been watching.

  “Listen,” Kett’l said.

  Jenny leaned closer to the Selkan.

  “Start by syncing your Pulse to that of the drum.”

  Jenny turned that new sense within her mind toward the drums. She could see the sound waves flowing out into the air. She reached for her key, but Kett’l stopped her.

  “Try without your key.”

  Jenny nodded and visualized the white waveform of her Pulse. She squeezed her hands into fists and narrowed her eyes as she struggled to match it to the drum waves. She shook with the effort.

  “You’re trying too hard.”

  Jenny sighed and released her breath. “What am I supposed to do?”

  “Don’t force yourself into alignment; let it guide you instead.”

  Jenny did as Kett’l said, but the sound waves from the drum kept changing, and she couldn’t keep up with them. “I can’t, they’re too fast.”

  “You are focusing on the sound waves. Try looking deeper than the surface of things. That is where you find the heart.”

  “Deeper?” The sound waves were big and bold, but she pushed past them and dug into the heart of the drum. She felt something twinge at a corner of her brain. It was subtle, like the buzz of a mosquito next to a chainsaw. She had to shut off all her other senses. A single beautiful wave function surfaced. It was at the root of every emanation and separate from the air around it. It was the drumhead. “I see it.”

  “Good. Now silence it by making an opposite waveform.”

  Jenny worked and shaped her Pulse until it was a reverse copy of the drum’s vibrations. A black mist spread across the drumhead, and, like a pair of noise-canceling headphones, the drum went silent.

  The drummer stared at the drum in disgust. He put his ear close to the drum and tapped it with his finger.

  Jenny didn’t stop there. She did the same to the next drum, then another, until half the drums were silenced. She giggled as each drummer stopped and inspected their drum.

  The drummers looked at one another, then one of them turned and pointed at Kett’l. Jenny thrust her hands in her lap and tried to look as innocent as possible.

  “Well done.” Kett’l squeezed her shoulder. “Now for the next lesson. Watch close: We can also amplify waves.” He did something, and the black mist disappeared.

  The drummers turned back to their drums. As their mallets hit the drumheads, the resulting boom knocked Jenny onto her side. Worried about the elderly Selkans, she turned and found them laughing and pointing at the confused young drummers. She smiled. They must have seen Kett’l play this game before.

  “That’s enough for now.” Kett’l turned to watch the dancers. “If we keep it up, they’ll throw us off the island.”

  Jenny could tell he was speaking from experience. Even though their lesson was cut short, Jenny had learned a good deal. Maybe it will help me find a shortcut in the tests. Jenny watched the children play teleport tag around the island. Lys’a chased after a little boy. Using the Pulse, Jenny waited for the boy to teleport. This time, instead of disappearing and reappearing, she saw the child sp
lit into two separate children, one physical, one ethereal. Each ran off in a different direction. As Lys’a grew nearer to the physical boy, it vanished and appeared in place of the ethereal boy.

  Is that how their teleportation works? She continued using the Pulse. The next time the boy split, she observed a subtle waveform, like the ones she saw on the drumhead, or the tests. This gave her an idea. Still focusing on the boy, Jenny tuned her Pulse to match his. As his ethereal form ran away from his physical, Jenny inverted her Pulse. Something pulled in her mind like unraveling a thread, and a black mist clung to the boy’s body. His ethereal form collapsed back to his physical. Lys’a tapped him on the shoulder. The boy looked confused for a moment, then he giggled and chased after her.

  Kett’l gripped her shoulder painfully. He turned his eyes on her, they had become dark and menacing. “What did you do?” There was no cheer in his voice. He blew out his thick mustache in deep breaths as he waited for her answer.

  Jenny’s mouth hung limp, and her insides turned to ice. “The same thing you showed me.”

  “We never use the Pulse on living things.”

  “I’m sorry.” A pit grew in Jenny’s stomach. She had been so proud of herself, and now she was being scolded. “I didn’t know.”

  “What if you had hurt him, or killed him?” He sighed and forced a more gentle tone into his voice. “You are not wise enough yet, Jenny Tripper.”

  Jenny’s face heated, and her limbs felt numb. The drums pounded through her chest as they watched the dancers in uncomfortable silence. Why did I do it? Jenny asked herself. Kett’l’s right, I’m not wise enough.

  At that moment, all she wanted to do was go back to her room and crawl under the bed covers.

  The children stopped playing tag, and Lys’a walked up to Jenny.

  “Hello.” Jenny forced a smile that didn’t reach her watery eyes.

  Kett’l’s young sister returned her smile. “My name’s Lys’a.”

  “I’m Jenny.”

  “Wanna dance?” The little Selkan held her hands out to Jenny.

  After what I just did? Jenny thought. It took all of Jenny’s willpower to reach up and grip the girl’s hands. Lys’a pulled with all her might and Jenny got to her feet. Lys’a led Jenny toward the fire and started dancing. At first, Jenny’s movements felt forced, but the little girl’s enthusiasm was infectious. Soon, Lys’a had Jenny dancing along with her. As Jenny held Lys’a’s hands and twirled around the fire, her concerns melted away.

  After the festivities, Kett’l and Jenny swam back to the platform together. They sat on the edge, watching the embers of the fire die in the distance as the moon crept across the night sky.

  “You did well out there.” Kett’l took Jenny’s hand in his. “I’m sorry I scolded you.”

  “No, you were right. I was stupid and careless.”

  “True.” He nodded slowly. “But experimentation and mistakes are the best teachers. A little caution is good, but do not let fear hinder your potential.”

  “I won’t.” Jenny smiled.

  “You and I are special.” Kett’l took Jenny’s hand in the palm-to-palm greeting of the Selkans. “We share a bond that distance cannot separate.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Know me, not by this physical body but by the energy contained within it.” Kett’l closed his eyes, and Jenny felt something press against her mind, like wind blowing over a curtain.

  Following his lead, she closed her eyes. Thousands of waveforms rippled outside her mind, as vast as an ocean. She focused on the pressure at the edge of her awareness and found the shape of Kett’l. She looked past his body and searched for the pattern that infused every part of him, the essence of Kett’l, his signature, his true name. She smiled and opened her eyes.

  He nodded. “You found me. And I found you.”

  Later that night, as Jenny lay in bed, her mind replayed the more dramatic events of the day in painful detail. Why can’t I just remember the good experiences? She took out her mother’s amulet, kissed it, and stared at the photograph in the red light.

  Hi, Mom. Today was exciting—spectacular, really. I got to dance with Selkans; they’re a group of aliens who escaped slavery from a galactic government named Tyr. I discovered that I have abilities. I can see and manipulate energy with my mind, and there are other people like me here. One of them is Adriana. She’s pretty cool. I’m guessing you already knew she was my sister, and I understand why you couldn’t tell me. There’s this other girl, Sadi, who’s sort of my enemy, but I don’t think she’ll be bothering me anymore.

  We’re all competing for the chance to fly into outer space and unlock something called a Terminal. But I’m not doing very well on the tests. And, even if I do win, I’ll be bound to the Terminal for life.

  While Billo snored softly in her bed, Jenny pulled the burstepi into her lap. Carefully, she unfastened the strap and opened the flap. She reached inside and grasped the Riftkey.

  Cobol? No answer. She pulled the handle free of the bag. Cobol, are you there?

  Yes, Jenny, I’m here, Cobol said.

  I have a question.

  I’m ready to answer.

  If I unlock the Terminal, will I be bound to it?

  Not if you find the virosuit.

  Really? It sounded too good to be true, but, of course, it depended on Mazu finding and returning the artifact.

  That is my purpose. Once you unlock the Terminal, I can maintain it myself. You and I will be bound to each other, but you will not become tied to the Terminal.

  That’s a relief. Jenny yawned. Thank you, Cobol.

  You are welcome.

  Goodnight.

  Goodnight, Jenny Tripper.

  Jenny slid the Riftkey into the burstepi and fastened the clasp.

  As she slept, her subconscious mind worked on the mazes. She visualized thousands of patterns that night as she puzzled out different ways to solve each test. Her mind sank deeper in its dream state. She was dancing around the fire with Lys’a. Suddenly, a black mist enveloped the Selkan girl. She screamed, and a pair of glowing yellow eyes appeared out of the dark cloud. It was Blunderbore, the dark giant. He swung an enormous, wavy sword at her head. Jenny now held the shaft of a polearm. Hot blood coated her hands. The giant she had killed stared down at her. His brown eyes were a mix of surprise and sadness.

  Jenny jerked awake as the alarm on Billo’s Topo beeped monotonously. Didn’t I just fall asleep? She buried her head in the pillow. Ugh, I’ve got to get up. The final test is about to begin.

  29

  Spelunking

  Bubbles sped past Jack’s helmet. The depth meter on his heads-up display climbed as the underside of the Endeavor shrank. He hit the ocean floor with a sudden jolt. The Tumlare suit absorbed most of the impact, but his teeth still rattled in his head.

  I never thought I’d die like this, Jack thought as he tipped forward into a cloud of sand.

  “Kick your legs,” Mazu said over the suit’s comm. She clutched the Locator to her chest and used her fins to hover near Jack.

  “My legs?” They’re useless in a spacesuit, Jack thought.

  “You weren’t lying, were you?” Mazu asked. “You really don’t have any diving experience.”

  Jack’s heart thundered, and his breathing was short and rapid. Does she know who I am, and that I’ve been lying to her this whole time?

  “Can’t you swim?” Marcel asked.

  “No,” Jack replied. “I don’t know how.”

  “Maybe there’s something wrong with your suit?” Marcel asked.

  Jack’s head jerked around. There was solid ground below him and turquoise water all around. Mazu kicked a set of flippers that extended from her legs.

  These big Tumlare suits are surprisingly graceful in the water, Jack thought.

  Marcel swam closer to Jack. “Both feet together, like a dolphin.”

  “We can’t wait here,” Mazu said. “Either he figures it out, or he doesn’t. We can
pick him up on the way back.” She turned and swam away. The backwash swirled sand behind her.

  Marcel hovered near Jack and shrugged by raising his hands. Then, he turned and joined Mazu.

  Okay, I can do this. Jack tipped himself forward and kicked with both legs. Something clicked inside his suit. He felt a vibration in his feet. He kicked again, and this time he lurched upward, but sank back to the seafloor. Jack churned the water with his arms and legs until his legs ached from the effort, and still the distance between his comrades grew.

  Jack recalled his first time in a spacesuit. Every movement had been countered by an equal and opposite force. Even subtle shifts had significant effects in space. He had to be aware of every action. I need to work with the Tumlare suit, not against it.

  Jack studied Mazu and Marcel and copied their movements. First, he flattened his arms against his sides, then he kicked. This time, he paid attention to the feedback from his suit. Soon he found a natural rhythm between machine and sea. Jack stopped fighting against the water and flowed through it.

  Overhead, the Selkans’ island homes passed overhead like dark clouds. Sunlight lanced from the sky to the ocean floor. Mazu and Marcel were mere dots against the rippling water’s surface. Cursing himself for his lost time and energy, Jack increased his intensity and gained on them.

  “Welcome back,” Marcel said. Mazu grunted.

  Jack felt his face grow hot. This mission isn’t off to a good start. He stayed in their wake and focused on his technique. After a minute, he relaxed and enjoyed himself. The weightlessness reminded him of space, but it was better somehow.

  They swam toward a sizeable dark mass. Turquoise water stretched endlessly out to either side. Crabs, turtles, jellyfish, and other marine life accompanied them on the journey. Nearby, a large gray fish broke through a school of yellow-blue fish.

  After some time, they came to a stop at a rock wall. A crack marked a cave opening. The twin headlights on the sides of their helmets pierced the veil of darkness. Inside, small animals clung to the walls, extracting minerals and filtering food.