by R N Skye
“Non-potent please,” answered Ava.
“According to the records the city of Hylye-Amahn has had all infrastructure deactivated due to relocation. It is of note to know that the current location was recently changed and is currently equal to the precise coordinates of the former city of Valee which was destroyed. The details of the destruction of Valee and the specifics of the relocation of Hylye-Amahn are available only upon lumen master authorization.
Ava already knew this from the crash course in local history that she had received in a dream from the night before. “I Need keys and instruction for emergency restart of all infrastructures,” stated Ava.
“One moment please spoke the historian. Thank you for waiting. Students are authorized unless the Lumen Master objects,” stated the historian then pausing.
Ava looked at Laura and Laura looked at Ava and shrugged; still nothing. Ava was about to argue with the device when Laura rolled her eyes and addressed the historian. “Good heavens there are no Lumen Masters here that object; give her the keys for goodness sakes.”
A large screen appeared where the sphere had been showing directions to where several obelisks stood in a row, each with a large multifaceted glyph on each side about shoulder high.
“Have you familiarized yourself with the location and the activation instructions?” asked the historian.
“Yes,” replied Ava.
“Please place your right hand on the sphere.” The screen was gone and the sphere was back.
Ava placed her right hand on the sphere; again a slight tingle.
“You may remove your hand.”
Ava removed her hand and saw a golden glyph matching the glyphs on the obelisks pulsing on her hand.
“The key will be returned to the records center automatically once you have reactivated the requested systems”
Ava and Laura left the records center and quickly walked the several blocks to the row of obelisks. Ava then reached out held her right hand and placed it on the first one. She felt a tingle in her hand and the obelisk disappeared. Nothing was immediately apparent so she moved to the next one. The same thing occurred as she ran through all of them; each disappearing after she completed the activation. At last she came to the final obelisk. Like at Yllyan the last obelisk was for the trolleys and as she activated it a trolley appeared; this time the trolley was yellow and dark blue.
Ava grabbed Laura’s hand and jumped in to the standing trolley. Soon they were silently glided towards the street that would take them to the station. Several chimes later Ava recognized the Station Street and followed by Laura climbed down to the street. They quickly crossed the street and waited for the trolley that would take them to the Station.
While they waited there was a sound of someone behind them. Turning they saw a disheveled man with hollow eyes standing before them. “Bob, is that you?” asked Laura with a puzzled look. “Ava this is Bob Omere. He is one of the magetechs that work with Edward.”
The pale man remained silent but had a strange animalistic look in his eyes, looking hungrily at the two women. Laura pulled Ava behind her as the man stepped forward and reached to them before his hand could even touch the older woman it began to smolder and he jerked it back and howled with pain.
“You cannot cure this world; the seed of the Allyant has been planted. Only a Dernier Chanson can stop the Allyant and you Elios have failed to create one in time. The man laughed maniacally. I hunger for your Lumen, Elios but I know I cannot have it, but I see that the neophyte has not realized hers yet and it is ripe. I will have it for the Allyant!” The man dove for Ava and grabbed her by the hair and arm. With a yell Ava reached out and tried to pry the man’s hands off of her but he was too strong for her. The harder she tried to break free the stronger he became and she began to feel more weak with every struggle. As she sank to the sidewalk she saw Laura with a brilliant glowing blue sword and watched amazed as the sword divided the man in two. The last thing she remembered before she lost consciousness was the chime of the approaching trolley and a bright flash of strange glyphs in the air incinerating the body of her attacker.
Ari had just finished bonding to his instructor when Roger hollered down to them that there were sails on the horizon and he had activated the cloaking glyphs and slowed them down to slow speed.
Ari called up and yelled, “All Stop”
“Before you shut down your instructor tell it you want the instructions dream when you sleep next,” Shane admonished. “Trust me you will have a much more effective first day.”
“Schedule me for instruction dream next time I go to sleep.” Ari said quickly then he commanded the device to take the shape of a wrist bracer like he had often seen Shane do, simultaneously he deactivated it and hurried up to the wheelhouse.
Roger showed the representational dots of three navy schooners to the east. “Their look outs in the mast are pretty high up so they might have spotted us before I realized how close we were. I hit the cloak and slowed us down; I just hope I wasn’t too late. With any luck between us not having any sail up and the sun being in their eyes the may have missed us.”
“Shane,” barked Ari, “get to work on strengthening that rope. So we can deploy the tow. Roger, change your course and head south and let’s see if we can get around them.”
While Roger and Shane went to work Ari studied the navigation console and the view screen. As soon as he had the view screen pointed at the lead ship he started zooming in. In a few seconds he was soon seeing the sailors on deck; he scrolled even closer. He could see the men running around, officers yelling orders and the ships began to change course heading in their direction. “They spotted us alright.”
Shane had to turn himself invisible, and then had to feel around for the ropes. Without common visible cues that he didn’t even realize that he used, it took a minute to undo it from both the cleat and the tow but eventually he had the rope in hand and took it below where he could make it visible and figure out how to strengthen it.
First he examined the rope and then he called up his instructor. Thinking once again along the materials route he looked at what was available to transmute one material into another. After looking he found a combination of enchantments that would most likely do the trick; it was a long complex string of glyphs that would petrify the ropes strand by strand into stone. He then could use the second enchantment that would transmute the stone into steel reserving the strands. He would have to be very careful because in the stone state it would be extremely brittle.
He laid the coil of thick rope down in a way that it wouldn’t jostle he quickly reviewed the glyphs and while they were in his mind he added the lumen and activated them. The Rope was instantly stone. As quickly as he could he cast the glyphs that would transmute the stone to steel and instantly the stone rope was now a quite unbreakable shiny steel cable twice as thick as his thumb.
The steel cable was far too heavy to lift so Shane etched some levitation glyphs along with the invisible glyphs that would sync with the ships invisibility and he took it back up on deck. He looped the cable through the hole designed for a rope but the cable while flexible was not flexible enough to tie a knot with it. Using his welding glyph he pulled the end of the cable through the hole and back far enough until he was able to bend it upon its self. Holding it together he welded the cable to its self and it was as secure as it was ever going to get, taking the other end he did the same with the cleat. He then uncloaked the tow long enough for him to get it into the water then he cloaked it and the cable and ran back to the wheelhouse.
Making sure that the ship thrusters were off he levitated the sloop out of the water and then handed the control plate to Roger and informed Ari of the status of the tow and he could take it as fast as he wanted to.
Ari called a course change back to east and then said, “Roger take it up to medium speed. Let’s check the wake of that cable, Shane look up front and see if you can see any noticeable wake.”
Shane scrambled for
ward and leaned over the edge. Realizing that he was visible out on the deck of an invisible ship he hurried and cast the cloak glyphs on himself; hoping that he hadn’t been spotted by the oncoming ships.
The spot where the cable came out of the water was negligible but if you knew what to look for, it was still a tell-tale sign of their presence.
After a few tense minutes they were soon well past the naval ships and due to the navigation devises they were fairly sure of the location of the island and changed the course of the levitated sloop.
Roger continued to steer with Ari directing him around various islands and ships; they brought the speed down to slow in so the cable slicing through the water was only a ripple.
“Call me if you need me for anything,” Shane said to the others I need to work on a few Ideas.
Alone in his cabin Shane connected mentally with his instructor and began following up on an idea that he had had combining the window glyphs with the coordinate information that was available from the navigation glyphs. Conjuring up another brass plate he etched in the glyphs necessary to create the window and adjusted the frame to be made of brass. He then added glyphs to create two miniature navigation screens. The first he glyphed to provide the window origination location the second to provide the coordinates that could be selected to be the outside window. He then created a third screen that could be used to see a visual of the destination that would place a marker on the destination navigation so that once you saw the spot that you wanted you could just touch the dot on destination the navigation screen and the destination. After looking it and going through his notes he added glyphs and control lines so that he could size the windows.
His first test was to open a small window suspended inside his cabin. He set the origination coordinates by zooming the dot on the navigation screen until it indicated a location on the sloop that was where his cabin door was located; he was relieved as he watched the dot continue to move with the boat. He then used the image viewer to look out upon the rear deck of the ship. He touched the image on the spot that he wanted the destination side of the window to appear and the coordinates instantly popped up on the destination navigation screen. He was soon dismayed as he saw that as the ship moved the dot stayed at the original plot. After a few more tries he was finally able to link the coordinate to a visual anchor and the dot was soon following whatever he selected as a target; whether moving or stationary. As he sat up and stretched mentally getting ready to link the targeting to the actual window location glyphs he realized that his targeting glyphs would work for an auto steering control or pilot system as well; he noted that in his book and then continued on with his current project.
After thirty more minutes he had the windows linked to the targeting glyphs and was ready to give it a try. Using the same beginning location of in his cabin he then selected a location at the stern, Realizing that the ship was cloaked he decided on Ari’s cabin instead so that he wouldn’t risk having something visible show up on deck. Keeping the window small he actuated the window. A small opening appeared near his doorway. Looking through it he could see Ari’s cot with a note book lying on the bed. He got up and looked around to the back of his window and was amazed that except for the border the window appeared to be truly two dimensional. There was no thickness to it and from the rear it was invisible. From the back he could put his hand through it and like a projection but from the front he could not penetrate the borders and his hand could reach through the window. To prove that it worked he reached through and picked up Ari’s not book and brought it through then put it back.
Thinking again he considered that they may need to look down on something or even up to something, so he deactivated his new device and querying his instructor. Based on the many things he had already learned he soon added a window orientation control. Once the device was re-activated, he set it to the window orientation to horizontal and then used the target viewer to look in on Ari and Roger. Once the target was set on the ceiling he opened a half hand square window and peeked in on the wheelhouse,
The two men were concentrating on the navigation console and were discussing where to approach the island to land and if they should wait until it was dark. Shane closed the window and decided it was time to share his findings with his friends; with the windows device they wouldn’t have to land at all.
Shane stepped into the wheelhouse holding his latest devise, “Hi, I have an answer to your problem.”
“What problem,” Chorused the two men?
“When and where to land”
“You’ve got good hearing,” commented Roger.
“Or have you been lurking around invisible?” Ari said with a raised eyebrow.
“Better,” Shane grinned. “Find a spot out of traffic safely away from the island and I’ll show you,” he said holding up the brass plat that was the window controller.
Ari nodded to Roger and he quickly considered the navigation console for a moment then began steering the tow device toward a shallow reef were it want likely on of the navy ships would venture.
Once stopped Shane went through the process of the device. After explaining it to them he noted their blank looks. Let me show you he said.
Holding the brass device in his left hand he began touching various glyphs and controls with his right as he anchored the origination window to occupy the space that was the doorway that led below to the galley. He then he used the viewer to move across the water until he was over the island and deep into a copse of trees. Looking around both high and low he saw no sign of anyone. As soon as he saw that it was clear he opened a small window and gradually resized it to equal the space available provided by the doorway to the galley.
Ari and Roger gaped. Instead of a tight staircase leading to the lower decks of the sloop there was a doorway the opened onto a highly vegetated wood.
“One of you guys want to try it out?” Shane broke the silence.
Carefully Ari put his hand through the opening, then in one bold move stepped through the doorway. He paused as he looked around, turning to examine the door from his side. He then walked around it and was momentarily out of sight but then he walked back into view and reentered the door back into the wheelhouse.
“Close it up Shane. We need to think on how to use this.”
Shane deactivated the doorway and the stairway to the galley was once again in view.
“Monsieur, we may as well stay here. With the new device we can use the viewer to find out where everyone and everything is then we can rescue mademoiselle Desmond and make our way home.”
“My thoughts as well,” concurred Ari. “Shane it’s your watch, take the tow control topside and if you see anyone coming move us clear. Roger you may as well get dinner going. I’ll start reconnoitering the island.”
Ari began scanning the island for signs of the expedition. He began by watching the dots that represented the ships both moored and those patrolling. He soon noticed a pattern of ships concentrating on a certain area and switched to the viewer and carefully examined the ships and the newly built marina. Something puzzled him though. As he scanned the tents and newly erected buildings he saw the usual people, both civilian and military, but according to the information that he had received from IDAD there should be ruins or a city, but all he could see were acres and acres of sand. Changing tact he zoomed in on the tents and started reviewing the people.
Eventually he found a large wood framed, canvas roofed structure that seemed to be full of activity. He could see two men arguing. One pointing to the large sandy area and the other was appearing very angry as if in disbelief. Zooming in for a closer view Ari laughed out loud. The angry man was good old Wendell. Ari watched as Wendell slapped the other man and said something to a pair of guards who responded by grabbing the man and took him to the marina and handed him off to a pair of naval guards who in turn took the man on board the ship deposited him with several others in the ships brig.
Scrolling back to Wendell he found him in
the building talking to an Army officer.
“Shane, get down here, I need to hear what these guys are saying.”
Shane hurried to the wheelhouse and after a brief explanation from Ari as to what he needed he used the window device to open a very small window near a shadowy corner of the room to a spot above the navigation console.
As the viewer showed the two men talking their voices came from the opening above the console.
“Cities just don’t up and disappear,” yelled Wendell his voice almost a shriek. I want answers and I want them now. I’m going back to the ship and I’m going to start torturing the civilians from the university and if I don’t get the answers I need I’m going to start with the soldiers that were supposed to be guarding this dig. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes Sir,” saluted the army officer.
“Deactivate the window,” whispered Ari,
Shane complied.
Ari followed Wendell to the ship and instead of going to the brig he went into the captain’s office and shut the door,
“We need to get to those prisoners before Wendell does,” he said as he manipulated the viewer to see how many were in the brig. “Roger, throw a few more potatoes in the pot we are going to have eight more passengers very soon.
Ari scanned the brig and saw that there was only one entrance, “Ok Shane what we need to do is put our side of the magical doorway in the store room below along the port wall where it won’t block the doorway to the store room. Then we put the other side in the brig of the navy ship right here,” he pointed to a location away from the prisoners but would still allow visibility to the brig entryway. As soon as the door is open I want you to use your glyphs to seal that door so that we won’t be interrupted while we get those folks out.”
“Not a problem. I recognize a couple of them. The man sitting on the cot in the corner was my last magetech professor; professor Wetz. The two students to his right are Alicia Newcomb and John Louder from my research group. If I don’t miss my guess the man sitting on the floor in the other corner is Lance G’mere; also from my study group. I don’t recognize the other four. I don’t see Ava though.” A stab of worry gripped his chest,
