by Trevor Gregg
“I… see… now…” was all she managed to pant out.
“What do you mean?” Kyren questioned, holding her steady as the serkins swarmed around them all.
Suddenly, they swarmed into a tight ball around Leicara. The swirling, sparking mass of serkins slowly formed a shape. A face. The face of the Traveler.
“Greetings Kyren. We understand now, what we have been waiting for, the reason we came here,” the face spoke in a voice deeper than Leicara’s.
“You’re the Traveler. Or at least you will be, seventeen thousand years from now,” Benjam posited.
“We must depart now, but we will allow you to speak to the Azorian,” the face spoke, then the serkins departed and Leicara was revealed, looking terrified.
Kyren reached out again and she clasped his hand and drew it to her mouth, kissing his fingers.
“The serkins understand. We will wait for that time which your memory is whole. I will be waiting, Kyren, though the millennia may change me. I will wait for you,” Leicara crooned.
Alis huffed at that and shrugged off Kyren and Benjam’s help, standing straighter on her own.
“I’m not sure I understand,” Kyren said hesitantly.
“You wouldn’t,” Alis retorted, but without heat.
Leicara walked over to the wall and activated a fade-gate.
“Destroy this gate once I’ve passed through, then do the same to yours on the other side. Farewell travelers, and Kyren,” Leicara smiled longingly at Kyren, then stepped through the portal, her serkins pouring in after her.
70
Slumber
The sounds of approaching spacecraft reached Alis’ ears long before the others.
Ears twitching, she turned and spoke, “We’ve got incoming dragoons.”
The others reacted as the sound of the craft approaching reached their ears. There were multiple thumps as the craft began touching down.
“We don’t have time to waste, Alis, destroy Leicara’s gate. I’ll cover the entrance,” Kyren commanded.
Alis sprinted for the other side of the rotunda. She glanced through the portal, and immediately recognized the interior of the gleaming white station, the one where they had met the traveler. Everything was coming full-circle now. There was so much that could still go wrong, though.
Elarra’s visions were no guarantee that things would turn out alright. They still had a Kirugi to fight, but their robot was badly damaged. Securing allies had been difficult, but now they had the support of the raxi, at least. And if Elarra’s visions were correct, then the Consortium would be there as well.
Bending to the emitters, she began to systematically destroy each one with her wrench, configured in its laser cutting torch mode. Once the last was destroyed the gate flickered out and disappeared. She turned and sprinted for the other gate. Kyren fired on the entryway to the rotunda while Benjam was already activating the portal.
Alis realized that there could be any number of those crab-like creatures just waiting on the other side of the portal. Before she could call out a warning, Benjam reached out a tentacle and pushed a button.
Knowing she would only have moments to react, she transformed her wrench into its sonic emitter form. Raising the emitter, she fired at the gate just as it flickered into existence. The thunderclap reverberated throughout the cavernous rotunda as the wave of super-compressed extreme velocity air passed through the gate and down the hallway leading out.
Relief flooded her as a tight mass of the strange creatures were flung down and out of the corridor. Alis raised the emitter and fired again as some of the creatures began to rise. The creatures were slammed backward.
“Benjam! Help!” Alis cried. “I can’t keep them down forever.”
Benjam reached into his satchel and withdrew a short metallic rod around six inches long. He cocked his tentacle back and lobbed the rod through the gate. It sailed out of the passageway and into the tumble of creatures. A bright flash temporarily blinded Alis, but when her vision returned, the creatures were somehow stuck to the stone causeway.
It appeared to have been melted and somehow attached to the beasts. Several struggled but were firmly bonded to the ground.
“Now, Kyren, c’mon!” Alis yelled as she stepped through the gate, Benjam squirming after her.
His weapon fired a long burst as he backed toward the gate, reaper fire answering in return. She converted her wrench into a torch in preparation for the destruction of the fade-gate. Kyren backed through, firing the whole time.
“Now, Alis!” Kyren cried.
She bent to the device and began to pass her torch across. As each emitter was destroyed, the portal shrunk in size, until only a sliver remained. As the sliver flickered out, she heard the whine of the reaper’s weapons cut off.
Kyren led the way as they emerged into the street, his rifle raised. Alis kept her sonic emitter held up as well. Her muscles were coiled with tension. She tried to keep fear at bay, but it crept in anyway.
The walk to the building containing their pods was nerve-wracking, she kept expecting the crab-like humanoids to appear at any moment. Relief flooded her when then reached their destination. She finally uncoiled as Kyren closed the door behind them.
Benjam approached the pods and began to bring them on line. They whirred to life, the glass fronts sliding open, light mist flowing out onto the floor.
“Here we go,” Benjam said hesitantly. “I’ll program them in for seventeen thousand years and two hundred eighty days. That should put us waking up just as Geri arrives in system.”
Benjam pulled another device from his pack and placed it on the floor, “I’ve programmed this beacon to activate shortly before we are to wake. It should draw Geri here to find us.”
Alis realized if this worked, if they survived the long slumber, the first face she would see would be her mom’s. She missed her mom terribly, and was truly afraid, but the thought of seeing her again allayed some of her fears.
“Yeah, um, clothes off, everybody,” Benjam instructed.
Kyren began to remove his battle armor, and then his clothes. Alis couldn’t help but let her eyes linger on him. Then she realized he was doing the same, and blushed slightly.
“Let’s go, kids,” Benjam instructed. “The pods are on a timer, we’ve only got a minute left.”
Hurriedly entering the pods, Alis leaned out at the last minute and said, “Good night Kyren. You too Benjam.”
The door began to slide shut and she laid back, closing her eyes. She wasn’t sure what it would feel like. Mist began to fill the chamber and before she could contemplate its purpose, her consciousness faded into oblivion.
71
The Garzok System
Geri really couldn’t believe it, but Alis and the others seemed to. So much so that they would send her and the Ashari away, at a time when they needed allies and resources so badly. If Elarra’s visions were any indication of things to come, they were in for a serious fight. It was hardly the time to be running off on a fool’s errand.
She would have protested more, had Alis not looked so certain. She had told herself to do it after all. Told her to send her own mother away. Couldn’t she have revealed the purpose? Why be so enigmatic? And what the hell was she looking for? What signal would she find when she reached the system dubbed Garzok.
She prepared for the final warp that would bring her into the Garzok system. Engaging the warp, she shook her head to clear the jump sickness and immediately set to examining the sensors. The star was a dim red dwarf star, and she detected several planets surrounding it.
Some quick calculations revealed which one was in the habitable zone, so she made for that one. As she approached, she could see the planet was a blue and green orb, blanketed by white clouds. Initial readings indicated likely forms of life.
So Alis, why am I here? What am I looking for? She thought to herself. She fired up the scanners as she entered orbit around the planet. She leaned back and let the scanners do their work
. After some time, she analyzed the readout.
There was a power source down there, a massive one. What it was used for, she couldn’t tell. There weren’t any other readings. No other signs of civilization were present. Homing in on the source of the power, she navigated the Ashari into an atmospheric entry pattern.
The ship streaked across the sky, pushing through banks of clouds, finally emerging hundreds of meters off the ground. Banking widely, Geri ran the scanners as she circled the source of the readings. There was nothing, just unbroken forest blanketing the land.
Suddenly her sensors chimed, indicating a new signal being detected. She committed more sensors to the scan, analyzing it in different ways. The signal was a beacon of some sort. It seemed like what she was here for. She continued to scan, triangulating as she circled. Locating the source of the beacon, she banked the Ashari and set a course.
As she approached, she spotted a large clearing that was free of trees. Two massive mechanical pylons stood in the middle of the clearing, pulsing with golden light every few seconds. The beacon was coming from the forest, just to the north of the clearing.
Unsure of the pylon’s purpose, she touched down at the edge of the clearing, the Ashari’s landing gear thumping the ground. She quickly shut down the major systems but left the majority of the ship hot. She didn’t know if she’d need to make a fast getaway or not.
Tucking a pistol into her belt and one into her jacket pocket, she made her way to the airlock. The ramp extended and she strode out into into a bright day, sun high overhead. Clouds shrouded the horizon, dark and ominous. She better find what she was here for, before that storm arrived.
Geri scanned the pylons with a handheld scanner. There was no radiation or any sign of weaponry, so she proceeded past the pylons toward the source of the strange signal.
As she passed the pylons, she spotted a structure hidden amongst the trees. Concrete walls jutted out from the foliage here and there, weathered but still apparently intact. She felt a whumping in the ground as she approached the pylons. It seemed they were generating some sort of seismic pulse. Why, she had no idea.
She strode up to the edge of the forest and pushed aside the brush. An unbroken concrete wall extended to either direction. Following the wall along, she came to a large opening. A gate lie on the ground, hinges torn from the wall. Looking inside she noted that the grounds on the other side of the wall were also overrun by the forest.
However, there was a trail leading in, nearly a tunnel, overgrown by the trees and brush. Drawing a pistol, she stepped through the opening and began to trot down the path. She soon realized she was walking amongst the ruins of an ancient city, buildings now completely overgrown by trees.
Geri pulled up the scanner in her free hand and homed in on the signal. There, just ahead and to the right, there was the source. She stalked carefully through the trees, alert for any sounds of trouble, her ears panning back and forth.
Strange birds sang and something hooted in the distance, but otherwise she could detect nothing unusual beyond the rhythmic whump, whump from the pylons. The source of the signal was just ahead now. She turned right down what must’ve once been a side street. It dead-ended at a wall of vegetation. The signal was definitely on the other side of the wall.
Pushing the foliage aside, she shouldered her way toward the wall, only to discover the alley ended in a door, rusted and pitted. Pushing aside more vegetation, she searched for a control panel. Finding the panel in the door jamb, she attempted to activate it, but it wasn’t responding. Maybe it was the dirt covering it?
After wiping away the dirt, she could see the panel was lit, so she actuated it. There was a tremendous groan and a rattling that seemed to echo. The door slowly began to slide aside, grinding to a halt with only a foot or so of room. Enough for Geri to slip through, though.
She keyed on a light that was built into the scanner and panned around the building. The far wall contained three large cylinders, their glass fronts caked with dust and pitted with age. White mist filled the cylinders, concealing whatever the contents might be.
There was a small circular device on the floor and according to her scanner, was the source of the signal she had picked up. Some sort of beacon? What’re those cylinders? She thought.
Geri made her way over to the cylinders and examined them. Each had a small control panel. She tentatively touched one of the panels, and it sprang to light. There were strange alien symbols on the panel, but a single green button in the middle called out to her.
Here goes nothing, she thought as she keyed the green button. Lights lit up the darkness as the device began to activate. Geri stepped back, unsure of what she had just committed herself to. Suddenly the front of the cylinder lifted and slid aside with a whoosh.
Mist billowed out and pooled at the base of the device. Suddenly, a body fell from the mist, landing heavily on the floor. But not just any body. Her daughter’s body. It was Alis!
Geri rolled her over and stared in horror, as Alis’ empty eyes stared back. She desperately searched for a pulse. There was none.
72
Seventeen Thousand
Geri wanted to freak out. She wanted to scream and cry, to wail at the heavens. Instead, as she always had, she took action. She gently lay Alis on her back and placed her hands on Alis’ breastbone. Beginning to vigorously pump, she counted out loud.
Come on, honey, breathe. Come on, please please please please, Geri thought to herself, while rhythmically pumping Alis’ chest. It felt like agonizing minutes but she knew it had only been moments.
“Alis! Alis! Wake up, you can do it! Breathe dammit!” Geri cried out loud, furiously pumping away, the sound of ribs cracking shooting through her like a spike.
Suddenly, Alis gasped and her eyes fluttered then rolled back in her head. Her breathing came in ragged gasps, but she was breathing. Thank the stars she was breathing.
Geri held her daughter and sobbed, tears of sadness, tears of joy. Then she began to ponder. How had Alis gotten here? How had she come to be stowed away in this… stasis pod? Geri thought, recognizing the apparatus’ purpose. Why was she in the pod if it had only been a few days since she had seen her. What the hell was going on?
“Alis, honey, wake up. Please be okay, please,” she crooned.
Alis’ eyes fluttered open and she stared blankly for a moment. Then her eyes focused and her pupils contracted, and she looked into Geri’s eyes.
“Mom?” she croaked weakly.
“Yes honey, I’m here. You’re okay now,” Geri soothed.
“Good, ‘cause I don’t feel okay,” she replied through ragged breaths.
“Yeah, I kind of cracked your ribs resuscitating you. Sorry but you’ll just have to live it with it,” she said, chuckling and clutching Alis tightly.
“Ow!” she cried, but returned the hug just as fiercely.
“What about the others,” Alis asked, sitting upright. “Are they okay?”
“Who? What others? Kyren? Benjam?” Geri replied.
“Yeah, we need to get them out of the pods,” Alis croaked, trying unsuccessfully to stand.
“I’ll get them, you just rest,” Geri ordered.
Geri went to the next pod and immediately keyed the green button. She stepped back as the door slid aside and the mist bellowed out. As the mist settled and spilled out of the pod, Benjam was revealed.
He blinked twice, and then began screaming. His tentacles flailed as he wailed, Geri dodging them.
She seized both sides of his face and bellowed, “Benjam, you are safe.”
“Huh? What?” he replied in confusion, flailing ceasing.
Blinking, Benjam looked around, eyes alighting on Alis, then Geri, then down at his own tentacles.
“Oh, yeah, I guess so,” he squeaked, more calmly this time.
“Alis is okay, we need to get Kyren out. There’s a chance I’ll need to resuscitate him, though, so please, get it together,” Geri admonished, and immediately felt remor
se when she saw Benjam’s crestfallen look. “Just sit tight, okay, everything is going to work out.”
She wished she felt as confident as her words, but she was worried about Kyren. Hitting the green button on his stasis pod, she waited, anticipating the worst.
The pod hissed open, and the mist revealed a naked Kyren, same as Alis, tumbling to the floor. She caught him at the last moment and lowered him to the ground as gently as she could manage.
Quickly checking for a pulse, she was rewarded with a thready, faint pulsing. Alive, but not great. She wondered what she was going to do, they seemed too weak to make the trek back to the ship. Kyren gasped and his eyes fluttered open.
“Geri, you came for us. It worked. We survived, didn’t we?” he gasped out, bleary eyed.
“Just relax for a while, I’m going to look around and see what we’ve got here,” Geri instructed.
She began to look around, and amid the dust and wreckage, found several items. She hefted Kyren’s energy rifle, checking the status panel on the side. It was dead, the panel didn’t respond to any touch, staying dark. Maybe out of juice?
There were the remains of some battle armor plates and a strange looking bracer made of a deep blue metal. A belt of woven silver metal with a dial at the buckle lie next to it. That was Kyren’s teleporter belt. That must’ve been his armor there, she thought. And that pile of dust over there looked to once have been clothing.
What the hell happened in seven days? She continued looking, finding a pair of strange looking gloves, and what she could only figure was some sort of harness. Then she spotted Alis’ wrench.
“Oh look what I found,” Geri said, handing it over to her daughter.
“Thanks mom,” Alis replied, checking the status panel.
It lit up at her command, apparently unharmed by whatever had transpired here. What had happened, anyway? She thought.