Navat

by Elin Wyn

  The woman stopped shaking. She crumbled to the ground and went still.

  “Is she dead?” I asked after a few moments.

  “I’m not sure.”

  Before any of us could check for a pulse, she lifted her head. She looked at each of us, then stood up as if nothing had happened. She opened her mouth as if to speak.

  “Hello.”

  Navat

  The voice that came out of the infected human wasn’t the same as the voice that the Gorgos used. This new voice was deep and gentle, but it didn’t match the appearance of the human, either.

  “Who are we speaking to now?” Maki asked, apparently on the same train of thought as me.

  “I am called Thijn,” the human replied.

  “What are you?” Alessa asked softly. She was looking a little pale once more.

  “I dare not speak the name of my people,” Thijn said. “The others are watching. I wish not to evoke their wrath further.”

  “What are you doing inside that human?” I demanded.

  “I needed a vessel,” Thijn explained.

  “You mean a host?” Alessa sneered.

  “No,” Thijn protested. “Not a host. I am not here to claim this body as my own. I only wish to borrow it.”

  “Borrowing without permission is called stealing,” Maki pointed out.

  “I had no other choice. I’m not strong enough to take a vessel on my own. This body was already in use. I slipped in when the other being slipped out.”

  “Don’t you have your own body to use?” Axtin asked.

  “Indeed.” Thijn pointed to one of the burials. “However, mine is incapable of supporting life.”

  “You’re one of them?” Alessa gasped.

  “Yes.”

  “Then you know what this place is,” I said.

  “I wish I did not,” Thijn sighed. Sadness clouded the eyes of the human vessel. “My people lived here long ago. We were a simple people, but prosperous. Like the society that roams this planet now, we had a good relationship with the earth beneath us and the creatures around us.”

  “What happened?”

  “An enemy far older than us came to this planet,” Thijn continued. “To this day, I do not know what they wanted with us.”

  “What did they do?”

  “They built this place,” Thijn looked around with a mournful gaze. “We had no idea until it was too late. We did not have settlements here. We were desert dwellers.”

  “Some of our friends found a temple out in the desert,” Axtin said. “Was it yours?”

  “I know the place of which you speak but we are not the originators,” Thijn explained. “We never disturbed it.”

  “Why did your enemies build this place?” Maki asked.

  “They built it to keep us contained,” Thijn’s voice dropped to a whisper. “They used to go from settlement to settlement and take whoever they believed worthy. We never understood what qualities they were looking for. They brought us here and experimented on us.”

  “Were they looking for hosts?” I asked.

  “At the time, I did not know. Now that I see what they are doing to your kind,” Thijn looked to Alessa, then to Maki. “I believe they were scouting my people for hosts. For what purpose? I do not know.”

  “Sounds like the Gorgos have done this before,” Tyehn sighed.

  “Gorgos?” Thijn asked.

  “That’s what we’ve been calling them,” Axtin explained. “We’re trying to get rid of them. Are you sure you don’t know anything about them?”

  “We figured out how to drive them away,” Thijn said. “But not after taking great losses. Our population never recovered. We died out less than one hundred cycles after they came to this planet.”

  “But you stopped them?” I asked. “You made them leave?”

  “Indeed,” Thijn nodded.

  “How?” I demanded. “How did your people do it?”

  “I cannot say for sure,” Thijn said. “My time came to an end before our enemies saw their defeat.”

  “Then how do you know?” Maki asked. “How are you talking to us at all?”

  “I cannot explain it,” Thijn shrugged the human vessel’s small shoulders. “My energy became trapped between planes of existence. That is the only way I know how to explain it. My body died. My soul occasionally finds a way to cling to life. My people communicated telepathically. I have always believed that has something to do with my ability to cling to this world.”

  “You’ve done this before?” I asked.

  “Not with this much success,” Thijn said. “No one has been here in hundreds of years. I have never had the opportunity to converse with others before.”

  “Will you help us?” Alessa asked. “Can you show us how your people fought off the Gorgos?”

  “The walls contain the answer,” Thijn said.

  “I don’t understand,” Maki said. “You mean these symbols?”

  Thijn nodded.

  “We can’t read them. Are they in your language?”

  “No, they are in the language of the ancients. My people were able to learn pieces of it because it formed the basis for all language in the galaxy.”

  “Why would such a species write symbols over your burials?” Maki asked.

  “I do not know,” Thijn replied. “Perhaps to mock us? To claim us even in death? Or maybe they possessed a conscience and buried us according to their customs. I do not know. I will never know for certain. I do know that these words gave my people the tools to eradicate our enemies.”

  “Can you read them for us?” I asked.

  “I will do what I can. A light please?” Thijn gestured to the walls. Maki pulled out her flashlight and illuminated the lines of characters.

  “What do you think about all this?” Alessa whispered to me.

  “I don’t know,” I whispered back. “This Thijn character seems genuine, I suppose.”

  “I don’t feel right about any of this. What about the human that body belongs to? Is she still in there somewhere?” she said.

  “I hope so.”

  “Maybe Thijn can remain in her body long enough for us to save her,” Alessa said hopefully. I didn’t know how to respond to that. We’d both heard the Gorgos communicating through the human woman. From what I’d seen, it was already too late to save the human. With any luck, she was already long gone.

  “This is the most important of the symbols,” Thijn explained to Maki, who stood far too close for comfort. As I’d said, Thijn seemed genuine but if this was some sort of trap, we were all caught.

  “What does it mean?” Maki pulled out her camera, ready to snap images.

  “In your people’s tongue, it literally means the light of sound,” Thijn explained.

  “That doesn’t make any sense,” Maki furrowed her brow. “Sound doesn’t have light. Are you sure it’s a literal translation?”

  “I am,” Thijn nodded. “These other symbols aid with context, though I am not sure how well they will translate into your language. This vessel’s mind has been damaged. It is difficult to access her language center.”

  “Anything you can tell us is greatly appreciated,” Maki said.

  “Of course,” Thijn nodded. “I-”

  Thijn suddenly went very still. Unnaturally still.

  “Thijn?” Maki said.

  Tyehn reached for Maki and pulled her back a step.

  The human’s eyes shifted once more. They looked almost normal now.

  “Help me!” Cried a feminine human voice.

  Her eyes switched again.

  “The ancient enemies are returning,” Thijn’s voice said. “Beware!”

  The human’s head started to shake rapidly back and forth. Something beneath her skin squirmed.

  “Fools!” The voice of the Gorgo came through. “There is nothing you can do to stop us! We are eternal!”

  The human opened her mouth wider than what should’ve been possible. Two distinct screams tore from her throat, one h
uman and one that sounded like Thijn.

  “We have to do something,” Alessa pleaded. “We have to help her!”

  “I don’t think there’s anything we can do,” Axtin said. “We can’t transport her like this.”

  “She’s in pain!” Alessa cried.

  The human, and whichever entity was currently possessing her, fell to the floor writhing and screaming in agony. She clawed at herself, shredding her own skin to ribbons.

  “Make it stop!” She screamed. “Make it stop!”

  “Do we have a sedative?” Alessa asked. “A stun gun? Anything?”

  “We’re all out,” Axtin replied. “I never found the sedative from the med pack.”

  “Shit,” Alessa swore.

  The human lashed out at us. I couldn’t tell if her goal was to harm us or to plead for help.

  “We have to end it,” I said.

  “What?” Alessa looked up at me, wide-eyed. “You can’t!”

  “There isn’t anything we can do for her except end her pain,” I replied.

  “Please!” The human wailed in multiple voices.

  She dragged herself forward, latching onto Alessa’s arm. She tried to pull Alessa down. If I hadn’t been holding her, Alessa would’ve fallen to the floor along with the human.

  “Axtin, take her.”

  Axtin walked over and whisked Alessa away.

  “What are you going to do?” Alessa demanded.

  “Don’t look,” I warned her but I knew she wasn’t going to listen to me. I drew my weapon. The writhing human went still. She looked up at me with surprising clarity.

  “Do it,” she begged. “Before those horrible things take my mind away from me again. Please!”

  “We can still save her,” Alessa insisted. “She has control of her own mind right now.”

  “It won’t last,” the human said. “I can feel them pressing against my mind. It feels like a thousand snakes. End it!”

  “Navat!” Alessa cried.

  “End it!” The human screamed again.

  I pulled out my weapon and fired a round into the human’s chest. She fell backward and went still. I tucked my weapon away with a heavy sigh.

  The human jerked. Her upper body launched upright into a sitting position.

  “What the fuck?” I heard Maki gasp from the other side of the burial chamber. The human woman’s eyes were milky white. She grinned even though her chest wound still bled violently.

  “Thank you for making room for us,” the voice of the Gorgo hissed.

  I pulled my weapon out and fired a shot right between the human’s eyes. She slumped over once more.

  Now that her brain was destroyed, the Gorgo couldn’t keep hold of her.

  I watched something slither away beneath her skin and vanish, leaving only a corpse behind.

  “It’s over.”

  Alessa

  “What the fuck just happened?” was all I could make myself say.

  I wiggled out of Axtin’s grip, despite not being strong enough to stand without excruciating pain.

  “I’m sorry,” Navat said. From the mournful look in his eyes, I could tell he meant it. “I didn’t see another option.”

  I wanted to argue. I wanted to insist that it didn’t have to end this way but I knew that wasn’t true. That poor woman. It must’ve been terrible to share her mind like that. It was amazing she held on for as long as she did.

  “At least we learned something,” Maki said in a shaky voice. “We learned that the Gorgos can still use a host so long as their brain is intact.”

  “That wouldn’t have done them much good in this case,” Axtin pointed out. “I didn’t think they could use a dead host.”

  “They just did that to screw with our heads,” Tyehn hissed. “It was a scare tactic.”

  “Well, it fucking worked,” I sputtered.

  “Come here,” Navat said to me. “You shouldn’t be putting any weight on your left side.”

  He stepped over the body so that I wouldn’t have to. When he reached me, he lifted his arm so that I could situate myself at his side.

  I wrapped an arm around his waist, hooking my fingers around his belt to keep myself upright. He placed his arm beneath mine, allowing me to use him for leverage to support myself.

  “I’m sorry,” he repeated.

  “I know. I am too,” I sighed heavily. “I just want to leave.”

  “We’ll figure it out,” he assured me. “There are only so many passageways and corridors we can take. It’s only a matter of time before we’re back on the surface.”

  “I hope you’re right.” I felt defeated. Seeing that woman go through what she went through in her final moments took a lot out of me.

  “I know I am.” Navat offered me an encouraging smile.

  “What’s our next step?” Tyehn asked. “Is this light of sound business worth looking into?”

  “I think it is,” Maki said. “Thijn said it was how the last inhabitants fought off the Gorgos.”

  “That means the Gorgos have targeted this place before,” I said. “Why? What’s so special about us?”

  “The Puppet Master,” Axtin said. “That must be what they’re after.”

  “Then why go for humans as hosts?”

  “I don’t know,” Axtin sighed. “I know as much as the rest of you do.”

  “I think the light of sound is worth looking into,” I said.

  “Agreed,” Navat nodded. “However, I don’t think we’re going to solve that puzzle down here. We need to do some research.”

  “Maybe this old language is referenced in the archives somewhere,” Maki said thoughtfully.

  “If we’re lucky,” I agreed.

  A pinging sound nearly made me jump out of my skin.

  “What was that?” Axtin demanded, reaching for his hammer.

  Another ping sounded off.

  “Alessa, it’s coming from you,” Navat said. “I think it’s your wrist unit.”

  “What?”

  I lifted my wrist. Sure enough, my wrist unit was lit up and appeared to be working perfectly.

  “But how?” Maki sputtered.

  “The woman,” I said with a start. “She grabbed me by this wrist right before she died.”

  “So?”

  “Remember what Thijn said? His kind communicated through telepathy. Energy transfer! What if Thijn used that same energy to give my wrist unit a jump start?”

  “Is that possible?” Tyehn asked.

  “I don’t know,” I shrugged. “But my wrist unit is fully functional and I’m not going to waste another moment questioning it.”

  “Can you pull up the map?”

  I tinkered with the wrist unit until the mini holographic projector popped up. A clear overhead scan of the map filled the little holograph screen. I released the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding.

  “Oh, thank goodness,” Maki sighed.

  “Come on,” Navat jerked his head. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Navat and I took our place up front, using the map to weave through the corridors in the direction of where we came in. Hopefully, the damage from the cave-in wasn’t so terrible that we couldn’t dig our way out.

  We rounded a corner, heading into a pitch-black tunnel. I was trying to pick up the pace as much as possible, but Navat held me back.

  “Don’t push yourself,” he pleaded. “We’re getting out of here. Don’t risk further injury.”

  “Easy for you to say,” I scoffed.

  “Believe me, it’s not,” he chuckled.

  I was about to say something witty in return, but something thick and solid slammed into my stomach. Navat and I went flying backward. He twisted his body to protect me from the impact of landing.

  He shone his flashlight into the darkness, illuminating the armored body of another spindly-legged creature.

  “For fuck’s sake,” I muttered.

  “Stay down,” He urged as he climbed to his feet. He charged the creature. Tyehn a
nd Axtin followed him.

  “You don’t have to tell me twice,” I muttered. “I learned my lesson about those things. Watch out for the leg thorns.”

  I felt Maki’s arms hook underneath mind. She pulled me back.

  “Do you want to drive a knife into its gut this time?” I asked.

  “I’ll pass,” she shuddered. “You’re very nonchalant about this.”

  “Look,” I sighed. “I’ve been beaten up, traumatized, and I think I technically died earlier. I don’t have any more energy for anything other than putting one foot in front of the other and getting out of here.”

  “Understandable,” Maki nodded.

  “I have enough fear for the both of us,” Bayla whispered in the darkness. I almost couldn’t see her. She’d made herself tiny to cower behind Maki. Kip lurked behind her, watching the fight unfold.

  Thankfully, the three alien men learned from last time. Axtin smashed at its legs with his hammer. Navat was able to get underneath it and empty his weapon into the tender space between armored plates. The creature gave a final shudder before collapsing dead on the floor.

  “Well, now that wasn’t too bad,” Navat said as he helped me to my feet and tucked me under his arm. I took hold of his belt once more.

  “Why do I feel like that was a final ‘fuck you’ from this place?” I muttered.

  “It did feel that way, didn’t it?” Axtin laughed from behind me.

  I brought the map up once more. This time, Navat didn’t fight me when I wanted to pick up the pace. I didn’t care if it hurt more. I was done with this terrible tomb and the horrible monsters concealed within it.

  “I say we blow this place sky high when we’re finished researching,” I said.

  “You won’t hear any complaints from me,” Tyehn echoed.

  “We should move the bodies from the burial altars before we do that,” Maki said. “They were victims, too.”

  “Good point. I’ll agree to that. Who knows? We might get another visit from Thijn if we save the bodies.”

  “Thijn was an energy mass, not a ghost,” Maki laughed.

  “What exactly is the difference?”

  Maki’s silence was the only answer I needed.