by Petra Landon
With no other visitors to share it with, they had the run of the shrine. As they wandered it leisurely at their own pace, Novi became separated from the others. In one of the rooms to the back of the structure, she noted a triangular archway, similar to the others. But this one had a simple cordon that cut it off with a message marked ‘No entry’. Curious, she drifted closer to the archway. A darkened corridor led away from it. But what piqued Novi’s interest was a familiar sensation from deep within the corridor, similar to the magnetic pull of the energy waves from the Ventini strongbox. It was faint enough to not have a debilitating effect on her, but strong enough for her to sense it. Novi, who now suspected that the cargo in the strongbox was connected in some way to the Star Portals, peered through the archway. Playing her flashlight into the corridor, she could discern another open archway at the end of it. On the floor of the corridor was another depiction of the ubiquitous orb with flames emanating from it. But under it was a new illustration. From what she could make out, Novi translated it to Chamber of the Kindred.
Why would pilgrims be barred from accessing this particular chamber, she speculated curiously. Especially, since all the others in the shrine were open to the public. For a moment, she wondered if the chamber was merely closed for restoration. But a security scanner, much like the one they’d passed through at the entrance, sat inside the archway. The blinking light on it indicated that it was active. She guessed that it was connected to an alarm. Novi frowned. Why go to such lengths to keep visitors out if the chamber was merely under restoration? But Novi had an ace in the hole. She’d never met an InnerWorlder security system she could not fool. That is how she’d boarded and remained undetected on Ilar’s Justice until tumbling unceremoniously into Cruiser Control under the stunned eyes of its crew. Only the locket around her neck camouflaged her anomaly, allowing Novi to pass under the radar and not draw attention.
As she reached for the locket to become a shadow, a few qualms assailed her. But Novi squashed them down ruthlessly. She must unravel this mystery or she might eventually have to curtail herself to a land-locked life on Idriko — a prospect that terrified her. Ever since she could remember, the stars called to her. If banished to a life away from the stars, Novi was afraid that she’d wither away. With a quick glance to make sure the coast was clear, she slid under the cordon that barred entry to the corridor beyond. As she’d known, no alarm pierced the silence of the shrine when she slipped through the security scanner.
Using the flashlight to light her way, Novi hurried deeper into the corridor. The room at the end was tiny — smaller and with a lower ceiling than the other chambers in the ziggurat. And unlike the rest of the shrine illuminated through cleverly designed apertures high up on the walls, it was pitch dark. Square in shape, dissimilar to the triangular chambers that populated the edifice, it was also bare except for a gigantic, round slab of dark gray stone that occupied most of the room. Novi played her flashlight carefully over the thigh-high slab. Carved into the smooth, polished stone was an intricate design of tiny flaming orbs interconnected in a web. Though confused by the depiction, Novi was confident that under the slab of stone lay something akin to the contents of the Ventini strongbox. Here was the source of the magnetic pull she’d felt from the other end of the short corridor.
As the beam of her flashlight caressed the illustration, some of the circular orbs seemed to glow. Reaching forward, she traced one of the glowing orbs with a tentative finger. Only to gasp audibly as the ceiling seemed to light up suddenly, illuminating the darkened room. Novi’s mouth went slack as she glanced up. The low ceiling now appeared like a section of space lit up by starlight. Somehow, the stone slab seemed to be projecting the illustration depicted on its surface into the ceiling. Each flaming orb on the surface of the slab represented a glowing star on the projection.
As her initial shock and astonishment receded, it struck Novi that the constellations of stars depicted by the projection was vaguely familiar, though she could not tell what it reminded her of. As she stared at it, she wondered if this was a representation of the galaxy the Benevolent Ones called home. It might explain why the small room had been marked as the chamber of the kindred. An awed Novi’s very breath seemed to suspend as she took in the star chart on the ceiling — the only memory of home for a race who had willingly left behind everything familiar to assist an alien people. Reality was slow to seep through to Novi in this isolated and hidden chamber. Whatever the reason for keeping this nook a secret from visitors to the shrine, she would be in trouble if anyone discovered her in the room. Not only because she’d breached the cordon, but because questions would arise about how she’d defeated the security system.
Wrenching her fascinated gaze reluctantly away from the flickering stars on the ceiling, her eyes were caught by something else. On the gray slab of stone, something had changed. Small but unmistakable handprints glowed on four edges of the round slab. For a moment, Novi merely gaped at it, so great was her consternation. Smaller than her palm, the print was akin to that of a child’s hand. The handprints gleamed on the darker stone, their brightness competing with the flaming orbs. Mesmerized despite the threat of being caught out, Novi reached for the one closest to her. Her fingers were too large to fit it, so she placed her palm tentatively onto the handprint on the slab. With a deep, rumbling groan, the surface of the slab split apart, the two halves sliding away to showcase a yawning chasm.
Makh’rel
Novi stumbled back from the fissure in the stone slab. She waited, her heart pounding, petrified that she’d been made. The noise of the heavy slab splitting apart was sure to raise an alarm. Her terrified eyes flashed to the doorway, expecting the wardens to come rushing into the chamber. A combination of fear and instinct had her turn off her flashlight. The projection on the ceiling had gone dark as the slab separated, so Novi was enveloped in darkness again; the beat of her heart so deafeningly loud that she fancied it reverberated off the walls of the tiny room. Any minute now, she’d be busted by the wardens.
But as the seconds passed without any hint of turbulence in the silence of the chamber or the serenity of the shrine, Novi breathed easier. Taking a deep breath, she moved to investigate the dark void the stone slab had revealed. Now, she could feel the emanating energy from deep inside the chasm, the intensity strengthened from before, though not as powerful as the effect of the Star Portal. The beginnings of a headache assailed her. Novi ignored it, determined to unravel the mystery. She might not get another opportunity to understand what ailed her.
The glow of her flashlight flickered over the rift the round slab had exposed. A tunnel, big enough to comfortably hold a large man, confronted her. Lined with dark stone, the walls seemed to go straight down for twenty feet before curving away. There was no way to tell how far down it went or its destination. The walls were black as soot, adding to the pitch-darkness of the tunnel. Whatever exerted the pull that affected her so powerfully lay at the end of the fissure under the stone slab. Novi’s heart quickened with excitement. Only for better sense to prevail. She could not afford to explore the breach under the stone in this mysterious chamber. There was no time to venture into the tunnel — for all she knew, it could go on for miles.
Seething with frustration, an impatient Novi slapped her palm on the wall of the rift. Only to withdraw her hand in surprise. Though it looked and felt like smooth stone, the wall was made of a material unlike anything she was familiar with. Warm and unyielding, it seemed to gleam under her touch. Novi probed it curiously, to feel the unusual, heated, glowing material.
“Welcome kindred. We have been waiting for you.”
Novi jumped back with a hastily stifled cry, stumbling over her feet to fall over with a soft thud. An apparition suspended over the yawning fissure greeted her. Novi’s jaw slackened, her stunned eyes on the woman seemingly dangling in mid-air. A halo of soft light permeated the figure, giving her an otherworldly air. Short, slender and somewhat frail-looking with long, bright hair that s
wung down her back, the woman was garbed in all-white flowing attire.
“What are you?” Novi whispered, the words torn from her. The woman had spoken in an ancient dialect, her accent so thick that it was almost undecipherable.
“A memory” the apparition responded. “An echo left behind in the makh’rel.”
Though the woman had spoken in a whispery-soft voice, as if each uttered word caused her distress, Novi glanced uneasily at the doorway.
“Follow me, kindred” the apparition urged, gesturing at the rift below her. “The treasure beneath is your legacy.”
Novi shook her head. “I cannot” she attempted to clarify. “If I am discovered here, the consequences will be grave.”
Much to her relief, the apparition seemed to accept the explanation.
“Return when you can, kindred. But take the makh’rel with you. It is part of the bequest.”
Between her shock, the subtleties of the ancient tongue and the cryptic pronouncements, Novi pounced on the obvious discrepancy.
“Makh’rel?” she asked.
The woman in flowing white pointed to the chasm again, her gesture as frail as her voice. “It heeds your touch, kindred.”
Without another word, the apparition blinked away to leave her alone again. Novi retrieved her flashlight from the floor where she’d dropped it and approached the breach. Cautiously, she touched her palm to the dark material that lined the walls. The warm substance glowed under her palm and soon, a small chunk seemed to separate from it into her hand. Novi slipped the smooth chunk into her pocket. It was time to leave. But she must clear all evidence of an intruder from the chamber of the kindred. Placing her palm on the slab handprint again, she hoped fervently that the two halves would revert. To her relief, another groan heralded the slab moving back into place. But this time, Novi did not linger. Moving to the doorway, she peered cautiously into the corridor. Hearing no sound from the chamber beyond, she made for it, hoping her luck would continue to hold. It took her seconds to slip through the security tech and into the triangular chamber. Instinct had Novi hurrying away from the room, her heart still pounding too fast for comfort.
It wasn’t until she reached the vast hall at the entrance that it struck Novi that the nascent throbbing in her head had vanished. In effect, since the unexpected appearance of the woman in white, she’d not felt any ill-effects from whatever was down in the fissure under the chamber of the kindred. Could it be what the apparition had referred to as treasure, Novi mused uneasily. That would be ironic indeed because whatever the mysterious object was, proximity to it had brought her nothing but unbearable agony. And unresolved questions.
But despite her ambivalence about what lay in the chasm under the stone slab, Novi was incandescent with excitement. She’d been privileged to see and interact with a Benevolent One. A part of her could not believe it. Yet, the slight body, the small stature, the frail physicality and the archaic dialect from an era long begone — all pointed to only one conclusion. That the apparition looked eerily similar to Lady Yanthanika, as depicted with Lord Teodikan in the shrine and all the other images Novi had ever seen of YanTeo, clinched it for her. But she also knew that the woman permeated by light had not been real. The Benevolent Ones had all either left the Inner Worlds or died out centuries ago. Plus, the figure in white had been suspended over the rift, claiming to be an echo of the past. She’d been a holographic projection of some kind, activated by Novi’s palm touching the wall of the tunnel under the slab. Such a projection was beyond the InnerWorlders. And Novi guessed that whatever tech had created it was very advanced. The hologram had been interactive, answering questions lucidly and able to comprehend and analyze complex responses and directives. The woman in white had swiftly blinked out of existence at Novi’s hint that the apparition’s presence put her in danger. The tech involved in the projection and the software that gave it the semblance of sentience signified that it was state-of-the-art and far beyond the dreams of any InnerWorlder.
Had the Benevolent Ones left it behind to guide the InnerWorlders centuries later, she speculated. But if so, why had it been kept a secret? Clearly, the chamber with the stone slab had been discovered with the shrine — a security system was deployed to keep out all visitors. As questions crowded her mind, Novi was reminded that the hologram had alluded to her as kindred and talked about a legacy in the ground under the chamber. Had the Benevolent Ones wanted the treasure hidden in the chasm to be safeguarded for those they referred to as the kindred. If so, who were the kindred? And what made her special enough to be alluded to as one by an echo left behind by the advanced race the InnerWorlders worshiped as Gods? The answers to the questions that bombarded her evoked mixed but strong emotions in Novi — sheer confusion, unmitigated consternation, wild excitement and serious alarm.
“There you are, spunky girl” Kidani’s voice hailed her, interrupting Novi’s jumbled thoughts. “Kali and I have been looking for you.”
They strode up to her, trailed by Yukon. Novi blinked, as if coming into the light. Though much of it felt surreal, the entire interlude from the moment she’d made the decision to bypass the security system and explore the chamber of the kindred was vividly imprinted in Novi’s mind. Wrenching herself away from the memories and the questions required an effort on her part.
Kali gave her a once over. “You look shell-shocked, Novi. Is everything all right?” he asked, the dark eyes concerned.
A flustered Novi attempted to pull herself together when Yukon came unexpectedly to her rescue.
“Overwhelmed by the Gods?” the young RimWorlder teased her.
“Something like that” Novi muttered sheepishly.
Kidani nodded solemnly. “Wouldn’t have missed this for the world” she admitted.
The words seemed to do the trick. Novi glanced around her. “Where are the others?”
“Walking the grounds” Kali responded. “We should join them.”
Novi allowed them to lead her out, walking absentmindedly towards the exit, her mind still mired in the jumble of confusion, puzzlement and shock. She was almost to the security system when Novi realized, to her horror, that she was still a shadow. In the excitement and confusion, she’d forgotten to enable her locket. If she passed through the tech without registering, the wardens would notice. Panicking, she reached for the locket around her neck. But her frantic efforts only made it slip through her clammy fingers. By now, they were almost at the scanner and the warden by it gestured at them to walk through. Balking here would only draw attention, Novi knew. She reached for her locket again, fumbling with it openly now.
“It’s coming off” she explained to Kidani.
The warden hastened to assure her. “Metal and stone don’t affect the scanner, Miss. The tech is the latest version. Please come through.”
Adjured thus and out of excuses, Novi stepped forward with her heart in her mouth. She tensed, holding on to her death grip of the locket. She hoped that when the tech failed to detect her, the warden would be momentarily distracted. It would be her chance to enable the locket while his attention was off her. But to her immense surprise, the warden waved her through without further ado.
He flashed her a smile. “All done, Miss. Ventini Corporation hopes to welcome you back to the shrine.”
In a daze, Novi stumbled towards the Captain and Commander Jeryn, in conversation with a group of wardens. Was everything topsy-turvy in this shrine built by the Benevolent Ones, she reflected bemusedly? All her life, she’d needed her locket to pass through security systems of all stripes on the Inner Worlds. But here, on the Sacred Realm, the rules had seemingly changed. Whatever was going on, she could not afford to take any chances again. Without further ado, Novi paused to make sure that she was no longer a shadow, waiting for the soft click to assure her before she joined the others. While she was a guest on Ilar’s Justice, there could be no gambling with tech.
Jerik and Burok drove up in the Wheeler and everyone piled in. Novi was preoccupied on
the way back to the Vestibule, her absent-minded gaze on the wildflowers blooming along their route. Kali shook his head discreetly at Kidani when she frowned at Novi’s unusual pensiveness, bordering on brooding. This time, the Shuttle Vestibule was a hubbub of activity. Disembarking passengers, excited at the pilgrimage, milled around the hall, attempting to locate the ground transportation that would take them to the shrine. On the ship, they found Vizir engrossed on his console in Cruiser Control.
Viziran Kelaren, the weapons officer on Ilar’s Justice, was the only RimWorlder Novi had little interaction with on the Cruiser. The laconic and enigmatic ex-Renegade was a member of the senior crew. Composed of Burok, Kali, Vizir and Zinera Jeryn, the senior crew were all experienced hands Soren seemed to value and trust for their candid counsel. Younger than the others, Yukon, the only other RimWorlder on board, was close with his Renegade comrades but usually not part of any decision-making, from what Novi had observed. The only other member of the crew Novi had little to do with was Jerik Tizo — the InnerWorlder junior pilot on the Cruiser. She’d had a few days to observe the crew dynamics closely. And Jerik, though accepted by his Renegade crewmates, seemed to keep to himself. Where Kidani was held in affection by many of the RimWorlders, their relationship with Jerik veered towards the professional.
