The guard fell to the floor, eyes wide and unseeing as Jetta took his keys and walked over him. For the next hour or so he would relive the happiest moment of his childhood, right before his parents were murdered in the Raging Front.
Jahx touched the back of her hand. Not bad, Sis.
Trailed by her siblings and Aesis, Jetta entered the main slave chambers. Aside from a narrow break between the high stacks of wire coops, not a centimeter of space went to waste.
These slave coops are empty—
Before her sister finished the observation, she answered the resulting question.
...Because they’ve been taken to be harvested.
For her aunt and uncle, Yahmen had chosen windowless isolation cells at the end of the row. Not even an average-sized human had enough space to stand up or stretch out.
“Uncle Galm?” Jetta said, cracking open the cell door. The putrid smells of decomposition assaulted her nose, making her cover her face with the back of her hand. With tears in her eyes, she peered inside, but could not see anything in the dark. Only the scuffling sound, like someone trying to get away, gave any indication of an occupant. “Uncle Galm, we’ve come back for you.”
Jaeia shined the flashlight over her shoulder. When she saw Galm’s hobbled legs, her heart ached. He’s aged well beyond his forty years, she thought, seeing no recognition, only fear as he cried out and tried to get away from the light.
“Uncle Galm,” Jahx said, squeezing past Jetta. He rested his hand on their uncle’s wrinkled cheek and closed his eyes. “Everything is going to be okay now.”
The old man’s eyes teared up. With trembling hands he reached for Jahx’s face.
“My boy... my dear boy...” A toothless mouth formed the most handsome smile. “I must be dreaming. I am so happy.”
MINDING HIS UNCLE’S injuries, Jahx assisted him as best he could back to their starship. Galm leaned heavily on him, his mouth forming words that never came. Concerned, Jahx dipped inside Galm’s thoughts and extracted what his uncle could not say.
After Yahmen got ousted from the mines by the Dominion Core, he got forced into the flesh markets, declining into shear madness, he determined. Terrible visions of Yahmen killing slaves, even his own workers at the most minor transgressions, cut through his mind.
Don’t get distracted, Jetta said as their party exited the warehouse district and sank back into the flow of downtown foot traffic. We’re not safe yet.
Jahx looked back, seeing Jaeia and Aesis still helping Lohien with each step. Even after he touched his aunt’s mind in the slave chambers, she remained unable to speak, and could barely walk. Distant eyes would not look up, or lend any hints to the workings of her inner world.
He made a silent promise. I won’t give up on you.
Bringing up the rear, Jetta kept tabs on the flesh gangs, junkies, and any person paying too much attention to their group as they trekked down the blistered sidewalks back toward the shipyards.
Keep him moving, Jahx, she told him as their uncle stumbled.
“I’m so sorry, uncle,” Jahx said. With an arm around his waist, he took most of Galm’s weight, letting him focus on his footing. “You didn’t deserve any of this.”
Vicious, sadistic images flashed through his mind. Jahx allowed them to flow through, letting his uncle’s pain be realized as it needed to be.
I didn’t think Yahmen could have been any crueler, Jetta whispered across their bond. As Jahx dared to glean the rest of their uncle’s memories, he felt her pull away. Even after surviving the torments of Victor’s mind, she still shied away from the reality of what Yahmen had done to their parents.
I don’t want to see that either, Jaeia said. Please, Jahx...
Okay, he told them both, keeping their uncle’s memories to himself. Maybe one day, when they could look back and see more than just the violence in the moment, he would show them the greater truth.
“Everything is going to be alright now, uncle,” Jahx said, touching his forehead to his uncle’s battered face.
Mumbling, Galm craned his neck upward, casting his face into the light of the many suns. For a moment, Jahx saw a younger man, one who had not yet lost all hope.
In a voice, frail and tired, Galm whispered: “Take us home.”
AFTER SUCCESSFULLY loading their aunt and uncle onto the star cruiser, and Aesis volunteering to stay behind to tend to their basic needs, the triplets discussed their last duty.
“You two don’t have to come with me,” Jetta said, making sure her mask and hood were still in place as she walked back down the ramp.
The suns, sinking lower along the horizon, still bore down on them with intensity. I forgot how much I hate the heat, she thought as the rusty-orange hues of the late evening painted the sky.
“No, I’m going with you,” Jaeia said.
Jahx looked to the horizon before responding. “Me too.”
They made the trip back to their old apartment in silence. Condemned signs and caution tape littered the sidewalk leading up to the charred remains of the building.
That doesn’t look safe, Jaeia commented as Jetta climbed over a pile of cinder blocks and examined the debris-ridden main stairwell. Why don’t we try the alley access?
She tested a few of the steps, deciding that the cracked boards could hold her weight. It’s not that bad—
Jahx caught her by the armpit as she fell through. “Maybe we should find another route.”
“Alley access?” her sister said.
Grumbling, Jetta accepted a hand up from both her siblings. “Alley access.”
After a less treacherous climb, they arrived on their floor. Much of the hallway had caved in. A rat skittered across the blackened beams, watching from above as they wound their way through the rubble. When they arrived at their door, Jetta noticed that someone had made an attempt at graffiti near their door, but had fallen through the broken floorboards.
Heart pounding in her ears, Jetta opened the door. It creaked open to a dimly lit entryway. Light filtered in from the kitchen where the wall used to be. She almost tripped over the metal framework of their old cots as she entered and made her way through to the living room.
Beer cans and balled up smokes dirtied the scorched floor. Someone had thrown a ragged blanket over the broken, half-burnt couch. In her peripheral vision she saw flies buzzing over the empty packages of meal rations, and a curious rat keeping watch from underneath a pile of yellowed papers.
The room stank of alcohol and desperation.
“I knew you’d come for me.”
Out of the shadows came the burning end of a cigarette, followed by red-ringed eyes. He ground something together in his fist, making a terrible scraping sound
“I knew you’d come for me,” he reiterated, laughing. He squeezed his fist harder, knuckles turning white.
Her siblings’ emotions thundered across the psionic planes, clamping down on her belly. She took her time gathering herself as he blew a puff of smoke her way.
“Godich launnies. Ugly little ratchakkers. I should have killed you when I had the chance.”
The walls shuddered, the ground beneath them rumbled. Dust and ashes rained down from the ceiling. Yahmen dropped his smoke and cried out in fear.
The quaking ceased. Jetta stepped forward and removed her mask.
“Are—are you going to kill me?” he said, clinging to the couch. Something dropped out of his other hand and rolled across the floor.
Jetta picked it up. The rock dice. Some of the corners had been worn away, but they were otherwise intact.
“No,” she said, holding them tightly in her hand.
A dark shadow cast over Yahmen’s face. Cracked lips parted to bare discolored teeth. “You coward. Why won’t you kill me?”
“Because,” Jetta said, turning her back to him. “I’m leaving you in the world you created.”
A LITTLE KNOWN PRODGY legend speaks of other ways to enter Cudal than through the Temple of Exxuthus. The prophec
y, written by Saol of Gangras after experiencing his dual existence as Rion, tells of those who will come to have the ability to create their own pathways to the realm of the Gods.
Yahmen Drachsi’s company had just departed, leaving him alone in the squalid apartment.
Something’s different, he thought, touching the walls next to the couch. They hummed and buzzed like living things. Those ratchakker launnies did something to this place, to me—
Shivering, he pulled at the scraps of his shirt. The air felt terribly frigid, as if someone had blown open a hole into the cold of space.
What the hell? Yahmen rubbed his swollen eyes, not believing what he saw just ahead of him. What’s that light?
He stumbled to his feet, his hot breath steaming in the icy air. The light grew brighter. Lipless voices called his name.
Yahmen Dracshi staggered forward on drunken legs, reached out, and disappeared.
Epilogue
(OLD) EARTH: JULY 9, 3186
Under a scrubbed blue sky, Jetta Kyron made her way up the pathway to the farmhouse on the hill. The ground felt hard beneath her boots, but little green buds poked through the cracks, struggling to feel the light of the shining sun.
Cano and Kiyiyo surprised her as she emerged from a newly-planted row of trees, knocking her off her feet and covering her in wolf kisses.
“Alright already,” she said, putting up her hands to shield her face. As they backed off, she wiped the spit from her cheeks and eyes. “Where have you two been anyway?”
Curiosity touched her mind, and the wondrous smells of a changing environment.
“Exploring, huh? Fair enough,” she chuckled. As she turned onto her side to get up, she saw her reflection in a tiny stream.
“That’s new,” Jetta marveled, putting her hand in the water. Clear and cool, it felt good running through her fingers.
Smiling, she looked to the sky. Somewhere up above, Josef Stein’s nanites were still working tirelessly to clean up the atmosphere. Every day the air smelled cleaner. And today, on her ninth birthday, she no longer had to wear a mask or a biohazard suit.
Jaeia opened the front door as she was climbing up to the porch. “Hey, better late than never,” she teased.
Over her sister’s shoulder, Jetta saw the balloons and streamers adorning the inside of the house. “Oh Gods, please tell me you didn’t make a big deal out of this,” Jetta said, tugging on the Happy Birthday! banner dangling from the front window.
“Come on,” Jaeia said, pinching her shoulder as she walked inside the house. “When are you ever going to lighten up?”
Aesis came up from behind Jaeia and wrapped his arms around her, kissing her cheek. “What do you think of the place?” he asked Jetta excitedly.
“Aesis helped decorate,” Jaeia giggled.
Jetta gripped Aesis by the shoulders. “If you expect to become my brother-in-law, then don’t feed into my sister’s cheesiness.”
After putting her gifts for her siblings on the dining room table, Jetta made her way to the living room to see how her uncle was doing. As usual, she found him sitting by the fire, reading a newsreel. His new prosthetic foot lay on the floor as he massaged the stump and mumbled the news to himself.
I wish he had let the Prodgies heal him, she thought. Then again, old prejudices were hard to fight.
When he saw her, he greeted with a cheerful smile and a warm hug.
“So glad you could take some time off, dear. All three of you work too much,” he said, holding onto her hand.
“I know, Pao. But if we can restore Earth, we can restore all the planets in the Starways. Even build some new ones,” Jetta said. “And if feels good to be doing something like this after fighting for so long.”
Galm looked at her with a proud expression. “That’s good, dear. Very, very good.”
Jetta was helping him put his new foot back on when a light humming drifted from the kitchen. Peering around the corner, Jetta saw Lohien putting the finishing touches on a cake, singing softly to herself. Her hair was done up in a pretty bun, and she was wearing the new dress Jaeia had gotten her.
“Dear, where’s your brother? He’s been out for hours,” Galm asked, drawing back her attention.
Jetta listened with her inner senses. “He’s still in the mountains. I’ll go get him.”
“Don’t be late,” her uncle said in a fatherly tone.
A woman with bushy white hair stopped her as she grabbed a coat from the closet.
“Jetta Ashya Kyron, where do you think you’re going without a hat? It gets cold in the mountains!” she said, reaching up and grabbing a knitted orange hat from the top shelf.
Jetta smelled her sweet perfume and the lingering odor of spices, along with a hint of sugar cookies, her new favorite. Her stomach growled excitedly at the prospect of her grandmother’s cooking.
“Thanks, Gams,” she said, pretending to be annoyed as she stuffed the hat on her head.
“I may be 1,205 years old, but I still know a thing or two,” she said. Hazel eyes only projected kindness and love. “And you may be the chief commanding officer of the Starways Alliance, but I’ll always be your grandmother.”
“Okay, okay,” Jetta said with a smile.
“Oh, Sweetpea! Wait! Did your sister tell you the good news?” she said, stopping her at the front door. Jetta was about to remind her for the millionth time that they shared thoughts regularly, but their grandmother was still adjusting to the fact that she had awakened from cryostasis over a thousand years in the future. Jetta didn’t expect her to grasp the concept that her grandchildren were telepathically gifted anytime soon.
“Three more of your cousins have been—oh bother, what’s the expression? Thawed?”
Jetta nodded politely.
“Anyway, I’ve invited them here, and your Grandmother Yvonne went to go pick them up from the hospital. Some home cooking would do them good after a few centuries, don’t you think?”
Before picking up the trail to the mountains, Jetta passed by the wolf enclosure and made sure to say hello to the rest of the pack. Everyone insisted on a belly rub and ear scratch, wagging their tails and whining until she completed her rounds. With a lot of help from Tarsha and some new Earth contacts, she had managed to liberate almost all of the wolves from the fighting rings. There was still a lot of work left to be done, but with every life she saved, she quietly thanked the stars.
The city became visible as she rode Kiyiyo up the mountain pass. For the first time she saw lights on in the downtown office buildings. Farther out, through the brown haze, stood the white-capped structure of the new spaceport. Only a few more weeks and commercial spaceflights to and from Earth would begin. She still hadn’t prepared her speech for the commencement ceremony, but she usually relied on her sister to know what to say for those kinds of things.
Jetta yelled to Kiyiyo to go faster. She loved the feel of the wind in her hair. And the faster she rode, the more likely she was to bring her back.
Faster and faster the giant wolf bound up the mountains. Soon, Jetta let go of his fur and leaned back, extending her arms. Blue veins glowed in the sunlight. The air crackled with electrical charge, and the hairs on her neck stood on end. Slender arms wrapped around her waist. Jetta smiled, feeling the Healer’s lips pressed to her cheek.
My love...
Soon enough Jetta would find a way to bring her back to physical form. She had no doubts. With a love as strong as theirs, there was no place that Triel could go that she wouldn’t be able to find her.
Jetta allowed Kiyiyo to slow as they traversed the spiky ridge and dismounted when they came to the sheer face of the mountainside. The wolf panted and paced anxiously as he watched her climb toward the sky, leaping for the final handhold.
Jetta pulled herself up and over the top with a grunt. After catching her breath, she found Jahx in his usual meditative position, sitting cross-legged at the highest point of the mountain peak. His lips were moving, his expressions changing as if he
were having a conversation. For a second she thought she saw the outline of a face across from Jahx’s, but it vanished in the wind.
He had been spending more and more time alone on the mountaintop. Jaeia had shared her concern for his strange behavior, but every time Jetta brought it up, Jahx distanced himself from the subject.
“Jahx,” she said, kneeling down next to him. “It’s time to go home. Dinner is starting soon.”
Jahx opened his eyes. Blue eyes seemed troubled with something she could barely grasp. His knowing pulled at his heart, and consequently at hers.
“Tell me what’s going on, Jahx,” she whispered, putting a hand on his knee. “Please.”
Jahx sucked in his breath. “I can hear them now.”
“Who?”
Dark brows pinched his forehead. “The ones Victor called the Azerthenes.”
Jetta pulled her coat tighter around her body as the northern winds bit through her layers. She was glad her grandma had told her to wear a hat. She didn’t know how Jahx wasn’t freezing. He rarely wore anything more than a light jacket when he went on his meditations.
“What do they want?” Jetta said.
Jahx looked down at his hands. “I’m not sure.”
Jetta knew what he was thinking, and came up with all the reasons he shouldn’t go. He responded to her thoughts just as swiftly.
“I have helped Kurt and the other scientists as best as I can. I have created advanced interface programs to bring Josef Stein’s knowledge back to life,” Jahx said. He looked to the blossoming city. “This planet is healing. Other worlds will follow. There is not much more I can do here.”
“Yes there is,” Jetta said, taking his hand. “You could stay here with me. You can be happy.”
Jahx eyes brightened at the words she left unspoken.
“How would you even cross over? The Temple of Exxuthus has been destroyed,” Jetta dared to ask.
Jahx pointed to his head and then to Jetta’s heart. “There are other places where one can cross over. Weak points in the divide. Points within ourselves that have been opened by significant events... or people.”
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