by Thomas Fay
As the others returned to their acceleration couches, Izikiel extended his arm towards the little girl. She took it, smiling up at him.
‘Thank you,’ he whispered.
She nodded her head slowly as he led her towards one of the acceleration couches. Watching her settle in, he continued to stare at her as if by sheer force of will he could unravel the mystery of who she really was. As if sensing what he was trying to do, her smile vanished to be replaced by a blank stare. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, she nodded her head. Izikiel could see that she was struggling to say something but whatever had trapped her in the form of a perpetual child was too powerful. Her tiny shoulders slumped forward and she closed her eyes.
Izikiel stepped back as her personal shield closed and he could no longer see her clearly. Taking his seat, he reclined back into the soft material and watched as the shimmering force shield closed over him. Closing his eyes, Izikiel felt the ship shudder as it entered the upper atmosphere. Then it began to shake as ferocious storms battered its metallic hull.
It reminded Izikiel of when he had been a little boy and a surprise storm had struck his house. Hiding under his bed, he’d watched terrified as lightning bolts lit up the night sky and thunder echoed all around. He hadn’t moved until his older sister had found him. She had crawled under the bed and stayed with him until the storm passed, all the time explaining to him how a storm was just two supercharged fronts colliding in the atmosphere. Somehow understanding what he was experiencing had made him feel better and having his sister by his side had made him feel safe. After the storm had passed they had gone outside. The smell of wet grass and asphalt had quickly chased all the bad images away.
Izikiel opened his eyes. Blinking, he realised where he was. But the memory he had just experienced had been so vivid he knew it had to be real. That gave him hope that whatever had happened to him was slowly unravelling and he was beginning to remember his past life. There was still so much he could not recall.
Encased within the protective personal shield aboard a star ship descending through a nightmarish storm, Izikiel smiled. It was only a matter of time now.
FORTY THREE
The last of the storm fronts had dissipated once they dropped through a particularly dense cloud formation. The Valiant Crusader emerged into a pale daylight. It was almost as if all of the colour had been bleached from the world. The entire surface below them appeared to be made of ice and snow. Dark blue patches denoted half frozen lakes and rivers. Vorn brought the ship down directly on top of the signal’s origin. The personal shields peeled back and everyone looked at the view screen which showed the scene outside the ship.
‘Not much to look at, is it?’ Jonas said.
Te’Anne let out a slow whistle as she turned her head from side to side.
‘And here I thought that Vesta was a desolate place. This gives a whole new meaning to the word.’
‘The signal’s origin is about ten metres in front of us. From the look of things, I’d say that this used to be the star port,’ Cassandra said. Looking up from her instrument panel, she frowned. ‘I’m also reading some power fluctuations just underneath the snow. There might be some functioning equipment still down there.’
‘It could be buried miles beneath the surface. We have no way of reaching it,’ Jonas said.
‘Not necessarily,’ Vorn said. ‘Cassandra, can you reconstruct that message we heard earlier?’
‘It’s pretty badly corrupted but I can try.’
Cassandra’s fingers entered a series of instructions into the instrument panel before her. The original message began repeating in rapid succession, over and over. Each time it was slightly different. Finally, a coherent voice resonated throughout the cabin.
‘To the ship captain, this is the Star port Authority of Aurora. We have you on our scanners and note that you are hereby directed to proceed to an available landing pad and await clearance to disembark. Please transmit your ship identification.’
‘Nice work, Cassandra. Transmit our identification, please.’
‘Valiant Crusader ID-77445-TDD,’ a synthetic voice droned.
‘So what exactly is supposed to -’ Jonas began as the ground shook beneath their feet. They all scrambled to hold onto something as the ship lifted into the air. Sharp cracking sounds resounded around the ship as gigantic pieces of ice broke apart beneath them. Then the movement stopped and the ship stabilised.
Izikiel let go of the bulkhead he had been holding onto. Looking at the others, he asked, ‘Was that supposed to happen?’
‘Yes,’ Vorn replied.
‘So what do we do now?’
‘Now, we go and see if anybody’s home. Cassandra, full systems check. Keep it in standby mode as we may need to leave in a hurry.’
‘What, I don’t get to go with you?’ Cassandra replied in a sweet voice even as her eyes betrayed the faintest hint of annoyance.
‘I can’t risk it. We don’t know what’s happened out there and we may need a hasty extraction.’
‘Fine’
Vorn gave Izikiel a look that summarised his feelings. Izikiel smiled back despite himself. There was definitely something very likeable about the merchant captain.
They quickly gathered their possessions. Xavier and Jonas donned their armoured suits. Checking their weapons, they nodded. Vorn moved towards the rear hatch and lowered the landing ramp.
‘Alright, here we go.’
The moment they stepped outside the ship, Izikiel felt the extreme cold. The air was crisp and still. Snow crunched underneath his boots as he moved forward. Visibility was incredible. He could see a number of small foothills with soaring mountains in the distance. A large lake glistened faintly in the pale white light filtering through the clouds above. There appeared to be no sign of the star port.
Turning back towards the ship, Izikiel sucked in his breath. The Valiant Crusader stood perched about a metre off the ground. Revealed underneath the snow was a complex metallic structure with thick pipes and conduits criss-crossing its surface. He realised this had to be the landing pad. Several lights flickered on the structure denoting it was still fully functional.
‘Incredible,’ Izikiel said.
‘You haven’t seen anything yet,’ Vorn said. Walking partially back up the ship’s ramp, he called out. ‘Cassandra, activate the ship’s electromagnetic field generator. Let’s see what else is functional.’
A strange, high pitched sound radiated out of the ship for several seconds. Izikiel’s teeth vibrated as the sound reached a fever pitch. Then it stopped. He turned around waiting for something to happen. Xavier and Jonas stood with their weapons drawn as Te’Anne waited on the other side of the ship.
‘That’s it?’ she asked, tapping her foot on the snow.
‘Just wait,’ Vorn replied, holding up his hand.
Nothing changed. Izikiel was starting to wonder what the star ship captain was expecting to happened. Turning around, he began to walk back to the ship. Then he felt it. The ground began to shake. At first it was a faint vibration. Then it intensified and large cracks began to appear in the snow. The ground heaved, sending Izikiel to his knees.
‘Earthquake!’ Jonas called out as he and Xavier sprinted for the ship.
‘Hold your ground, there is nothing to be afraid of,’ Vorn said.
Large pieces of snow covered ice rose into the air. Over a dozen sections of the ground had lifted a metre into the air. Scrambling to his feet, Izikiel watched as the piece closest to him continued to rise into the air. A shining metallic surface was now visible beneath it. Conduits, intricate pipe work and more flashing lights dotted its surface. Looking over at another section, he saw that this one was different.
A large circular opening in the metallic outer wall showed a well lit interior of highly polished metal. Various devices of indeterminable purpose protruded from its sides as the snow slowly fell away. Another section looked similar to the landing pad the Valiant Crusader occupied. The ground stopped m
oving and all the sections locked into their new positions with a loud metallic grinding noise. Izikiel marvelled at the structures which had risen up from beneath the frozen surface. A dozen metallic constructs glinted in the pale Aurora sun light.
‘Well I’ll be...’ Jonas said as he let out a low whistle.
Vorn walked over to the nearest structure and pressed several buttons inside. The dormant structures sprang to life. A steady hum filled the air as each of them powered up. The snow and ice on top of them melted rapidly as the metallic surfaces heated up. Then several of the structures extended rubberised conduits and interconnected with each other. Others unfolded various communication arrays and other sensory instrumentation, while a few doubled and even tripled in height. When they had finished, Izikiel found himself staring at a metallic city embedded into the ice.
‘What is this?’ he asked.
Smiling, Vorn said, ‘Ladies and gentlemen welcome to the Aurora star port.’
FORTY FOUR
Night fell across Aurora. The pale sunlight of the day was replaced by an indigo coloured light reflected from the snow and ice. Visibility fell as distant objects became diffused in the sparser light. Otherwise, nothing changed. The temperature remained at a steady minus thirty.
Izikiel stood a short distance from the star port. Behind him, the Valiant Crusader now extruded a number of rubber tubes and electrical conduits as it tapped into the landing pad’s connections. Vorn had estimated that it would take them about half a day to fully refuel and recharge the ship. Not that he knew where they were going to go next.
Staring out at the distant mountain formation, Izikiel felt a familiar presence. The little girl approached him. Her feet barely made an imprint in the snow as it crunched softly under her feet. She looked up at him, her large blue eyes glinting slightly.
‘Why did we come here?’ he asked.
The little girl turned her head towards the mountains. Slowly, almost painfully, she lifted her right arm. Izikiel realised that she was pointing at a specific peak. It was taller than the others and even at this distance he could see what appeared to be a river on its side. The ship’s sensors had been unable to detect any sign of life on the planet. Yet now more than ever, he was convinced that there was something here. The little girl seemed to sense it too.
Closing his eyes, he did the only thing that he could. He reached out to the Eternal Flame. Almost reluctantly, he felt himself moving away from the planet’s surface. Rising up through the dense cloud formations, he soon found himself floating in high orbit. Looking across to the day side of the planet, he saw the fiery outline of the Aurora system’s sun. Entwined around it was a flaming tentacle of plasma.
Izikiel willed himself forward. As he moved towards it, so it extended towards him. Reaching a distance high above the planet, he stopped. Staring intently at the burning effigy heading towards him, he felt detached. It was almost as if everything was happening to someone else. Images from the fall of New Babylon were still fresh in his mind.
(‘Why have you brought me here?’) he asked.
The plasma stopped moving. After a moment, the hollow voice resounded in his mind.
(‘So that you may learn how to defeat the Void Lords.’)
(‘But there is nothing here. It’s just a barren, frozen world.’)
(‘No. There is one here who can teach you.’)
Izikiel suddenly thought of Da’Amo. The ancient true believer had given him purpose and taught him to use the power of the Eternal Flame. Now, it seemed, there was another.
(‘Where? We haven’t been able to find anyone alive on the surface.’)
(‘Because they do not wish to be found,’) the voice replied as the plasma retracted moving at incredible speed back towards the Aurora sun. Izikiel found himself spiralling down towards the planet. Just before he entered the upper atmosphere, the hollow voice said, (‘Only a true believer can find them now.’) Then the voice was gone and Izikiel fell through the clouds towards the distant snow covered star port. The ground rushed up before him. He brought his arms up as darkness overtook him.
Opening his eyes, he found himself staring directly at the mountain range. His breath steamed. He could feel the cold on his exposed face as the polyformic clothing maintained the rest of his body at an even temperature. Narrowing his eyes, he concentrated on the distant mountain. Slowly, almost imperceptibly, he felt his body getting warmer. He held onto that heat. Willed it to expand. Soon he could not feel the cold at all as his skin began to radiate an inner heat. Then his vision changed.
He could still see the snow covered mountains silhouetted against the pale blue sky. But now he could see through the mountain. Ghostly images of caverns and underground chambers floated in front of his eyes. Scanning through them quickly, he moved around the mountain until he found what he was looking for. A lone shape, glowing with an inner light, located at the base of the mountain. Blinking, Izikiel allowed his body to return to normal. He realised that the snow around his feet had melted. Turning to the little girl, he said, ‘Come on. I know where we’re going now.’
FORTY FIVE
The weather had deteriorated steadily as they moved away from the star port. Vorn and Cassandra remained with the ship to ensure that its systems recharged properly and in case they needed to be picked up. Izikiel had also insisted that the little girl remain with them. It had been difficult but eventually she seemed to understand what he wanted from her. The remaining four of them had set off at dawn the following day, heading for the mountain range. According to the ship’s instruments it was about thirty kilometres.
They should have made it by nightfall. Then the weather changed. At first it was only a few clouds. Then the wind picked up and it started snowing. Fairly soon they were caught in a mild blizzard as visibility dropped to almost nothing. The temperature also dropped. Izikiel was shivering inside his snow suit. A variation on the polyformic clothing he had worn on Vesta, it was a lot bulkier with a hood and face shield for extreme cold. He stared at the wall of snow billowing in front of him. There was no way they were going any further. Activating his suit’s com channel, he yelled over the howling wind.
‘We’re not getting anywhere in this weather. We should turn back.’
A faint electronic crackle was followed by Te’Anne’s voice next to his ear.
‘I agree. It doesn’t look like this is going to blow over before morning. We should make camp and wait it out.’
‘Sounds good to me,’ Jonas’ voice said over the com. ‘This is getting a bit ridiculous given I can barely see my own extremities.’
‘Your what?’ Xavier asked.
‘My arms and legs. Don’t you know what it means?’ Jonas asked.
‘I do. Didn’t think you did.’
Despite the poor visibility, there was no mistaking the gesture which Jonas gave Xavier. Izikiel smiled inside his protective hood. Having Jonas along was proving very useful. Not only was he well trained in combat and survival but he was also rather entertaining. It was good to see Xavier more relaxed as well. Clearly they had been good friends and the fact that Jonas had never even asked about Xavier’s unique eye showed his true character.
Izikiel tried to think back to what friends he used to have. Somehow, he knew he had experienced similar comradeship with others. But as with most things, he simply couldn’t remember any details. Just a general feeling, a sense of what it had been like.
Shaking his head, he saw that Xavier and Jonas where already setting up two tents. Small and portable, they folded down into a backpack, yet expanded out into a one metre high dome with a three metre diameter. White in colour, they blended perfectly with the snow around them. Izikiel waited until the second tent was up before he asked the obvious question.
‘So, who’s with whom?’
For a moment no one said anything. Xavier even managed to look slightly uncomfortable in his bulky snow suit.
‘Oh, for the love of Serafine. Izikiel, you’re with me,’ Te’Anne
said. Her voice had a distinctly irritated tone. Turning towards her brother and Jonas, she added, ‘I’m sure you two won’t mind sharing. After all, you’re probably used to Xavier’s snoring.’
‘Sure, no problem,’ Jonas replied.
Even though Izikiel couldn’t see his face, he was sure that the man was smiling. Shrugging his bulky suit arms, he followed Te’Anne to their tent as Jonas and Xavier moved towards theirs. Kneeling, Izikiel moved inside on all fours, his head touching the fabric of the roof. Once he was inside, Te’Anne closed the tent flap behind him.
She activated a control on the floor. Several red lights flashed and then turned into a number. It read twenty two. Realising it had to be some form of temperature control, Izikiel watched as Te’Anne removed her bulky suit. Shivering for a moment, she adjusted the temperature up another two degrees. Following her lead, Izikiel removed his hood and face shield. The air inside the tent was warm. He marvelled at the technology that allowed the tent to maintain a temperature difference of over fifty degrees to the exterior. Then all thoughts of technology vanished as he looked at Te’Anne.
Her hair was untied and framed her face. The heat within the tent was making her skin shine with the faintest hint of perspiration. As he looked into Te’Anne’s eyes, he saw that she was staring at him intently.
‘I hope your brother and Jonas don’t mind sharing the other tent,’ Izikiel.
‘They’re fine,’ she replied as she sat up on her legs.
She was close to him. Very close. Izikiel felt a strange unease. He was pretty sure he knew what she wanted from him. And his feelings for her had only grown stronger from the first moment that he had woken up inside the cave on Vesta. But try as hard as he could, he simply couldn’t remember any details of what he was supposed to do next.
‘Umm...Te’Anne,’ he began, unable to look at her.
‘Yes, Izikiel?’ she asked in a soft voice as she placed her hand on his forearm.
