Old Secrets (The Survivors Book Thirteen)

by Nathan Hystad

  Fontem’s voice startled Jules as she stared at the remains. “I suspect there are more inside here, though that one would have to be semi-fresh to not be fully decomposed by now. They were close. Come. It’s time.”

  Jules left the bones uncovered and joined Karo beside the middle entrance. Fontem leaned against the dark stone wall and urged Karo in first. “After you. As a Theos, I think you’ll appreciate this.”

  Karo took a step. “It’s just more…” His voice cut off, and Jules saw he was gone. She went next, hand outstretched. Without thinking, she shot her shield up, forgetting to turn the green off. It glowed, lighting her path as she passed through some invisible barrier. When she emerged on the other side, she gaped at the sights.

  Karo stared toward the clear-domed ceiling. The pale blue star was close, filling half of their sightlines. The dome overhead was tinted, helping block any retinal damage, and Jules couldn’t help but feel like she was at the edge of the universe.

  “What is this?” her dad asked. She hadn’t even heard him enter the room.

  “This is Reonis. It’s millions of light years from the nearest Shandra, and so distant that none within your Alliance have ever seen anything remotely near it. This is what I call Ubos, my antiquities assemblage.” Fontem walked past them, and for the first time, Jules took stock of the room. The ceiling dome was at least a hundred meters tall, making it twice that wide, with a golden floor speckled with something resembling diamonds, glinting light as Fontem activated digital torches around the space.

  There were rows of shelving, each glass, meticulously devoid of dust. Jules passed by them, looking at the odd assortment of goods here. She stopped at one, where something resembling a shrunken Padlog head sat attached to a wooden mount.

  “You don’t want to touch that,” Fontem warned her.

  “Why not?”

  “It’s cursed.” That was enough explanation for her.

  “Regnig!” Papa shouted. “We forgot him.”

  Jules continued walking through the endless rows of treasures while Fontem and her dad activated the portal sticks. They filled the edge of the dome with the beam spread, and Fontem marched through, returning in a few minutes with a disheveled Regnig.

  I was sleeping, he told them, making Papa laugh.

  “Would you like to return home?” he asked Regnig.

  I think not. Hello, Jules. Hello, Karo and Dean. Fontem, so this is the fabled Ubos, is it? Regnig walked over, hobbling with his cane, and he stuck his tongue out, peering toward the blue starlight with his one red-rimmed eyeball.

  “It’s pretty cool, isn’t it?” Jules came over to his side, helping prop him up.

  Is there somewhere to sit? he asked, and Fontem guided him to the middle of the dome. There were two plush chairs, complete with footrests, and a golden candelabrum that looked like it came from Earth’s medieval time period. He tapped it, and a projection of a fireplace lit up, phony flames dancing near the resting spot.

  “I used to come here to think at one point, but eventually, it was too much to bear, once I lost my wife for good,” Fontem said.

  Jules helped Regnig onto the chair and noticed the painting along a pony-wall built to give this section of the dome a homey ambiance. The woman was the same species as Fontem, and she was beautiful. “Is this her?” she asked, walking toward the image. The shelves here were each eight feet high, and because they were made of glass, combined with the clear dome, they gave the space an open feeling.

  “That’s her,” Fontem said softly. “But I didn’t come here to relive my past. I have things to show you.”

  Was it difficult to reach this place? I hadn’t heard from you for a while.

  “Sorry we haven’t been by lately. Jules visited the other day, at least. You did say hi for us, right, honey?” Papa asked.

  Jules’ eyes sprang wide in fear of being caught. She’d lied to her parents and was about to get caught in the crossfire. “Sure I did. Right, Regnig?” She tilted her head as she stared at him, willing him to understand she wanted him to play along.

  Of course. She’s an upstanding daughter, and she would never forget to obey her father.

  She smiled and mouthed the words “thank you,” receiving a private thought from the telepathic bird-man. We’ll discuss this later.

  Jules nodded, not wanting to have that talk with Regnig now, or ever. If he learned about her plans to stop Lom, he’d tell her parents for sure.

  “What did you want to show us?” her father asked, and Jules searched for Karo, who was nowhere in sight.

  “How about this?” Fontem said, leading them two rows in, to the third shelf. He picked up the box, opening it to reveal a ring. “This ring fools people into thinking you’re dead. Try it.”

  Papa shook his head. “I don’t think that’s necessary,” he said.

  Fontem shrugged, slipping the thick white-gold band over his pinky finger. Instantly, his skin turned a grayish hue; his hair became thinner, greasy, and his hands appeared bent and gnarled, like cold death had set in. “No heartbeat. No vitals. It’s quite the piece of technology.”

  “Where did you find it?” Papa asked.

  “You don’t want to know.” Fontem set it down, continuing on. Jules stared at the box, and when no one was looking, she slipped the ring into her jumpsuit pocket. That might come in handy.

  “Fontem, is there anything that might be related to the Zan’ra?” she asked. “Four circles with an X through them, maybe?”

  She thought she saw something spark in his eyes, maybe fear, but it passed quickly. “I don’t think so, but feel free to check.”

  Jules continued through, hearing Fontem as he talked about various other useful tools. Karo was nearby, and she crept over to him, checking what he was doing.

  He looked pale, and she saw why. The marking of the Iskios was embedded on a piece of metal, sitting on the shelf. “They’re gone, Karo. And because we’ve stopped Lom from having a fuel source for a nullifier, the Vortex will never be returning.”

  “You’re right. Thanks for the reminder. It’s hard to imagine devoting one’s life to these artifacts, isn’t it?” he asked her, and she slowly nodded in agreement.

  “He’s lived a long life.”

  “So have I, and all I have to show for it is a wood-burning pizza oven,” Karo said with a laugh.

  “Not to mention Ableen and the teens,” she reminded him.

  “And them too.”

  Regnig had recovered from his daze and was walking toward Papa and Fontem as they quietly discussed something. When Jules was nearby, she heard the tail end of the conversation. Her dad was moving his arms around, speaking softly. “… Delineator?”

  “No, not like you think. This won’t work either,” the Terellion said, and when they spotted the others arriving, Fontem hastily set the rectangular object on the shelf.

  “If it’s the same to you, can I take it?” her dad asked.

  Fontem nodded. “You may take anything you desire.”

  Jules doubted that was true, but at least he was being nice about it. Fontem tossed her dad a colorful bag. “Use this.”

  Papa slid the tool into the bag, and they continued on. “What about weapons?”

  Fontem raised an eyebrow and waited for a nod from Dean Parker before agreeing. He led them to the opposite end of the room, and Regnig and Karo joined their group as the Terellion motioned for them to stop. This section of the domed room was bereft of furniture, and Fontem waved his hand, bringing a projection to life two feet in front of him. He pressed a code, and Jules peered over his shoulder, memorizing the pattern. It didn’t seem like anyone else was paying attention, and she repeated the code in her head a few times, making sure she had it right.

  The floor descended, revealing a stairwell.

  “What’s down here?” her dad asked.

  Fontem descended the steps. “Something to turn the tides.”

  Twenty-Two

  I’d begun to doubt the value of this
journey, but Fontem wouldn’t have brought us here for nothing. He was invested in our plight, as he’d become one of us over the last year or so. Regnig used the railing on the steps, and I slowed, assisting him to the bottom of the stairs.

  The others were already down there, waiting in the orange glow of the recessed lighting. This room was nearly as vast as the one above us, and the moment I stepped foot on the grated metal floor, I felt the power of the space. There had to be over a thousand artifacts here, many of them locked behind glowing forcefields.

  This is not a safe place. Fontem, why have you collected these?

  He shrugged as he stared toward his horde of weapons. “It started because I knew people would be willing to spend a lot on these devices, but it ended up becoming an obsession.”

  I walked beside Jules, the light of her eyes reflecting from a dark shelving unit’s door as we stopped at it. “Where did you find them?” I had yet to see underneath his domed room, but it seemed enough to start a war... or end one.

  “All over. Many of these were excavated from vanquished worlds, some from epic space battles from millennia ago. I had a few crews of salvagers seeking out ancient rumored wars, and they found most of this. Technology so alien, I’ve never been able to make sense of it. Perhaps you and your team will have better luck,” he said.

  I blanched, wondering what we would do with so many armaments. The Alliance was seeking peace among space dwellers, but there would forever be need for defense, and occasionally, offense.

  Karo’s footsteps clanged against the floor as he walked through the bunker, spinning to face Fontem when he came to the end of the room. There was a door there, and he laid a hand on it. “Fontem, what’s behind here?”

  “I have a few secrets for me alone. Please, respect my privacy. Everything else here is at your disposal,” the Terellion said, and we all gawked at the towering black door.

  Jules nudged me with her elbow, leaning in. “This is insane. What do you think this one does?” She pointed at a shiny cylindrical object behind one of the barriers. The energy was woven together, making it impossible to breach the barricade.

  Fontem emerged from the shadows, resting his hand on my shoulder. “That melts metal. It’ll liquefy anything metallic within a ten-foot radius instantly.”

  “Why is that stored here? Shouldn’t it be in a mechanical shop, or with a construction crew?” Jules asked. I knew the answer but waited for Fontem to tell her.

  “It has a timer. See how small it is? It looks like you could leave it in a pantry and someone would think it was a can of food,” he said.

  “What good would that do? You want to melt all the soup containers?” Jules asked.

  Fontem tapped his chin. “Good point. But what if that pantry was on a space vessel, and the kitchen was near the hull?” He waved his fingers and smiled. “Goodbye crew.”

  “That makes sense,” she said in reply, and we continued to the next object. “How about this?”

  “This is a little different. Not everything here is destructive. That will copy any device.” He released the barrier from this locker, the energy field vanishing, and reached inside, hauling out the box. “Stick any electronic device in here”—he slid the top level open—“and it’s replicated on the bottom. Complex 3D printing, including whatever software is on the gadget. In a rush? It only takes two minutes. You sneak the stolen device back, and you have its doppelgänger, with all the information you need.”

  “That could come in handy,” I told him.

  We continued on, Fontem showing us the few items he fully understood, and I quickly realized he had far more firepower in here than I’d thought at the start. There were things too dangerous to ever reveal to the Alliance, and I decided some of them, like the star harnesser, would need to be dismantled safely.

  It was good of you to hold on to these. If anyone else had access to this, it would be bad. Regnig’s beak opened and shut as he shuffled to the next display case.

  “My sentiments exactly. I was hoping Dean would be able to help dispose of anything he deemed excessive,” Fontem said.

  “I’d say most of it is extreme, but we’ll do our best,” I admitted. Fontem was acting peculiar, and it was hard to miss. Karo and Regnig walked off, chatting enthusiastically, and I held Jules’ arm while Fontem followed them.

  “We need to watch him,” I whispered to my daughter.

  “I was thinking the same thing. Did you see him when I asked about the Zan’ra symbol? He was guilty, and what’s behind that door? If he’s giving us full access here, why the secrecy?” Jules spoke so softly, I could barely hear her.

  Fontem’s voice cut into our private conversation time. “Jules, there’s one more thing I think you might want to see.”

  “What is it?” she asked. The ceilings were shorter here: not so much to feel cramped, but as we arrived at Fontem’s side, it seemed like the walls were shrinking around me. My head pounded as I spotted the wood grain, the shape of the object, and the symbol burned into the top of it.

  But Jules was the one who spoke when Fontem opened the storage container, revealing his prize. “It’s a coffin. You have a Deity here?”

  ____________

  Jules’ skin crawled the moment Fontem had opened the container. It was concealed at the darkest corner of the room, and for a second after seeing it, she thought her eyes were deceiving her. But this was no trick of light. This was one of the Deities’ coffins.

  “Alas, there is no ancient god trapped inside. It’s empty,” Fontem said, using his fingers to pry the lid open. It was hinged along the far edge, and Jules leaned over the eight-foot-long coffin, making sure there was nothing lingering within.

  She touched the interior, resting a palm on the coarse wooden grain. “How did you find this?”

  “Be careful, Jules,” Papa warned her, but she was confident there was no threat remaining, if there ever had been. Plus, she didn’t actually believe the Deities were a danger to her, not if they were telling her the truth. She might even be one of them. It was too much, so she removed her hand, waiting to hear Fontem’s answer.

  “I’d heard of them for years, only snippets of information, but nothing substantial. They were like rumors on the wind, never landing anywhere long enough to grasp. Word of the Zan’ra was just as fleeing, but it was said that some dangerous people from a devoured race had sealed off their creators, fearing their own deaths. When I heard a coffin mentioned, it lingered in the recesses of my mind, because it was almost too unbelievable.

  “One day, one of my salvage crews brought a haul to me, and we sorted through the goods. I didn’t find much of use, but this was inside. When I saw it, I knew. This was one of the coffins. But did that mean one of the Deities was loose? Quite the mystery.”

  Jules thought about it. If there was a loose god, wouldn’t someone have spotted it by now? And why hadn’t the Zan’ra explained that to her? “It might have been a failed attempt, before they figured out how to permanently trap them.”

  “Can you confirm this is similar to what you’ve come across?” Fontem asked, his eyes suddenly wild as he stepped toward her, his hands nearly grasping her collar. He composed himself and returned to normal, but there was a change in his tone. “I mean, I’ve always wondered, and this would be quite the find if it was touched by a god.”

  Jules absently moved from him and the coffin. “This looks like one of them to me.”

  Fontem nodded, lightly closing the casket before slamming the door to the container. “As you can see, we have a lot of important artifacts here. Perhaps we can call it a night and continue tomorrow.”

  I think that’s a good idea. We can have a fresh start in the morning. Regnig started toward the stairs.

  Jules didn’t want to leave. She was too excited about everything in here. There had to be devices that could aid her fight against Lom, but everyone else was already exiting the basement floor. The room almost thrummed with power, even if the weapons were inactive and safely
stowed behind high-energy shields. These goods had been here for countless years, and as they began up the steps, Jules was reminded just how far they truly were from the planet Dean and Slate were on. The blue star burned hotly through the dome. Fontem was a challenge, and Papa was right. They needed to keep a close eye on the man.

  With a last glance at the room full of sacred tools and artifacts, Jules stepped through the portal, returning to the tunnels on Cubus.

  Walking through the same corridors was slower with Regnig, and when they emerged outside again, it was nightfall. Camp was set up, and Slate and Dean sat on the ground next to a burning fire. Their eyes glowed orange with the reflection of the flames as they stared toward the people climbing down the hidden rungs.

  “Regnig, care for a ride?” she asked the elderly man.

  Please. I’m afraid my wings aren’t what they used to be.

  She picked him up awkwardly and jumped from the opening in the mountainside, slowly floating toward the camp. She arrived first and set the birdman on the ground. He shook his feathers off and moved toward Slate.

  Hello, friends. Do we have anything to eat?

  “Sure, Regnig, we caught something that looks like fish,” Dean said, and Jules noticed how hungry she was as she smelled the cooking meat.

  Slate rose, dusting the dirt off his pants, and walked over to her dad. “You took a while. Everything kosher?”

  “There’s a lot to see. We’ll be returning tomorrow. You can join us, if you like,” Papa told him.

  “Can I come too?” Dean asked as Jules plopped to the rocky ground beside him.

  “Sure thing, kid,” her dad said, and Dean grinned at Jules.

  “Anything good?”

  Jules wanted to tell him about the ring she’d jammed into her pocket, but kept it to herself. “He has a Deity coffin in there.” She said it quietly enough that the others couldn’t hear her. They were huddled around each other at the edge of camp, discussing the stash and the plan for tomorrow.

  “Are you kidding? What does that mean?” Dean asked.