by Thomas Fay
‘You’re right, I have been. Now I’ll have to explain the truth to him.’
‘I’m sure that he’ll understand.’
Cassandra looked over at Xavier. Izikiel followed her gaze. He saw that the little girl was still clinging to him as they both looked up expectantly. He felt the sense of familiarity return as he watched her.
‘I am not the only one who has deceived you,’ Cassandra said, in a soft tone. ‘The little girl is far more than she appears to be.’
‘What do you mean?’ Izikiel asked.
‘She is a very powerful true believer,’ Cassandra replied. ‘I suspect that she may even be a disciple.’
SIXTY
He stared at the dark haired woman for a moment, trying to decide what to say. A car drove by outside, rattling the window pane as she repeated her question.
‘I was outside on the hill. I saw that your light was on and -’ he said.
‘You miss her, don’t you?’ she asked, her blue eyes looking directly at him.
He let out a slow breath. Then he nodded.
‘Yes’
‘Me too. But it’s been almost a year now. We’ve got to accept the fact that she’s not coming back.’
‘I know. I just wish we knew what had happened to her.’
The young woman turned her head to look out of the window. The wind had picked up outside and several branches scratched against the glass. The light inside the room flickered intermittently.
‘Sometimes, I feel as if she is calling out to me. It’s almost as if she’s trying to reach me across a great distance.’
He was about to say something but stopped. He knew what she meant. He had felt it too. The woman looked up at him, understanding evident in her eyes.
‘You’ve felt it too, haven’t you?’
‘Yes,’ he replied. ‘What does it mean?’
The woman continued to look through the window for a while without saying anything. Finally, she turned and said, ‘It means that our mother is alive and wants us to find our way to her.’
PART IV – ALLUSION
SIXTY ONE
The Valiant Crusader travelled at phenomenal speed through the darkness of space. Its flaming exhaust trailed behind it for kilometres as the quantum-helix drive pushed the metallic structure to its breaking point. Passing along the fringe of a stellar nebula, the ship entered the edge of the Tellus planetary system. Light from its distant yellow dwarf star barely reached to the edges of the system, creating a world of ice and shadows. The Valiant Crusader decelerated rapidly as its onboard navigation and guidance system detected a dense asteroid field. Its automatic programming also revived its occupants.
Izikiel sat up as his personal shield peeled back. Beside him, the little girl slowly stirred. She rubbed her eyes. Pausing, she turned her head to look at him. For a moment he thought that she would be able to speak. But clearly that was not the case as she lowered her hands and looked away.
‘Status?’ Vorn asked. There was a hint of reluctance in his voice and he deliberately avoided looking at his co-pilot.
‘Asteroid field,’ Cassandra replied as she adjusted her seat to a fully upright position. ‘Looks like ice fragments and some dense rocks. There could be some viable mineral deposits out there.’
‘Alright, tag the location and let’s see if we can sell it to a deep space miner.’
Turning around in his seat, Vorn asked, ‘Is everyone alright?’
Izikiel nodded as the others replied in the affirmative.
‘It looks like we’ve dropped out in the middle of an asteroid field. We’ll have to pick our way through it carefully.’
‘How long until we reach Tellus?’ Te’Anne asked.
‘That depends on how dense this field is but I’d say probably about a week.’
‘Great,’ Jonas said. ‘What exactly are we supposed to do on this ship for a week?’
Cassandra turned around in her seat to look directly at Jonas. Now that Izikiel knew what she was, he could clearly discern the touch of the Eternal Flame around her. He could almost see the flaming aura.
‘I’m sure that you can find something to amuse yourself with,’ she said.
‘Ah, right. I’ll be in the main cabin if anyone needs me,’ Jonas replied.
He hastily stood up and exited the control room. Cassandra sighed as she turned her attention back to the console in front of her. Izikiel felt a strange sense of compassion for the human-form Elemental. In one swift moment her world had changed as everyone around her had become a stranger. It was almost as if she were living a different life now. It was a feeling that he was all too familiar with.
‘C’mon, Xavier, we should go and keep an eye on Jonas before he eats all of the food,’ Te’Anne said, standing up.
‘Good idea,’ Xavier replied.
He turned towards the little girl. After a moment’s hesitation, he held out his hand. The silent child reached out and took the big scavenger’s hand. Together with Te’Anne, they left the control room. That left Izikiel alone with Vorn and Cassandra. This was going to be fun, he thought.
‘Vorn, are you alright?’ Izikiel asked. When the freighter captain didn’t answer, Izikiel repeated his question.
‘I’m fine,’ he finally said without turning around.
Izikiel looked at Cassandra. Her face betrayed a hint of concern underpinned with sadness as she looked back at him. Izikiel slowly nodded as Cassandra said, ‘Vorn, I’m really -’
‘Look you two, disciple, Elemental, whatever you want to call yourselves,’ Vorn said as he turned around abruptly. ‘Just leave me alone. I’ve had enough of you true believers.’
A sudden vision flashed through Izikiel’s mind. It showed him a boy of about ten with dark hair and freckles. He stood with his parents on an elevated space platform, similar to the one on New Babylon but on a smaller scale. A series of incredibly tall buildings stretched out behind them, filling the sky. They were silhouetted against the warm light from the setting sun. There was something unmistakeable about the boy and Izikiel easily recognised him as the fiercely independent freighter captain. As the light from the sun shone down upon his parents, Izikiel suddenly realised why Vorn was reacting the way that he was.
‘Your parents were true believers, weren’t they?’ Izikiel asked.
‘How did you know?’ Vorn asked.
Izikiel smiled.
‘Right, because you’re a disciple,’ Vorn remarked with a hint of distaste. ‘Yes, both my parents were true believers. In fact, they were descended from a long line of true believers who had survived the destruction of the Great City on Vesta. They had always hoped that I would follow in their footsteps.’
‘But you have,’ Izikiel said. ‘Don’t you see that you subconsciously seek out true believers?’
Vorn looked at Cassandra for a moment then back at him. His brow furrowed in concentration.
‘You mean...?’
‘Yes. How else do you explain your co-pilot being from an alien race who are truly one with the Eternal Flame? Or agreeing to take me to Aurora?’
‘But that would mean...’
Izikiel smiled again as he looked at Vorn. The revelation while surprising, made perfect sense.
‘That you yourself are a true believer.’
SIXTY TWO
Silence descended over the control room of the Valiant Crusader as Vorn skilfully manoeuvred the ship around a gigantic frozen asteroid. A fragment of some forgotten world, it rotated slowly past them on its journey through deep space. Dozens more appeared ahead of them and Vorn input a series of instructions into the console before him. Looking back up at the view screen, he made several small adjustments. Apparently satisfied, he turned to Izikiel. His eyes betrayed a certain curiosity despite his show of indifference.
‘If what you say is true then shouldn’t I possess the abilities of a true believer?’ Vorn asked.
Izikiel was about to reply but Cassandra beat him to it.
‘The ability to bend
the Eternal Flame’s power to your will is not something innate. It takes years of patient study and practice,’ she explained.
‘So I am a true believer who not only doesn’t believe but has no power?’
Cassandra shook her head slowly as she reached out towards him. Catching herself at the last moment, she said, ‘No. You are one of the few who has the ability to establish a connection to the Eternal Flame. That in itself makes you rather unique.’
Vorn nodded. He continued to avoid looking at Cassandra. Turning his attention to Izikiel, he asked, ‘Can you tell me more?’
Izikiel smiled as he nodded his head.
‘Yes but under one condition.’
‘Which is?’ Vorn asked, suspicious.
‘That you and Cassandra resolve your differences. It’s obvious to anyone how much she cares about you. Yes, she deceived you but she had good reason to. I’m sure that you’ve done more than a few questionable things in your time.’
Vorn was about to reply but fell silent when he felt Cassandra’s hand on his. Looking up at her, he expelled a slow breath of air.
‘I’m sorry, Vorn. I truly am,’ Cassandra said.
Vorn shook his head.
‘No, I’m the one who should be sorry. I’ve known you for almost ten years. We’ve travelled across the known Universe together and I react the way I do to who you really are.’
‘So is that an apology?’ Cassandra asked tilting her head slightly to the side as a smile spread across her lips.
‘Yes’
Cassandra laughed as Izikiel felt the tension drain away. He was glad the two of them had resolved their differences. He needed both of them focused on what was to come.
‘I’ve programmed a path through the asteroids. It should take us about a day to clear the field at this speed and then we can try to re-engage the quantum-helix drive to get to Tellus faster,’ Vorn said.
‘No,’ Izikiel said, shaking his head. ‘We need to travel under normal propulsion the rest of the way.’
‘Why?’ Cassandra asked.
Izikiel considered how much to tell them. He needed them ready but he also didn’t want them too worried about what was coming. Not that he was exactly sure what that was himself.
‘Because we need all the time we can spare to prepare for our arrival on Tellus,’ Izikiel replied. ‘There’s something you should know.’
‘What’s that?’ Vorn asked.
Izikiel thought back to his conversation with the Baron on Aurora. Thoughts of the white haired human-form Elemental brought a twinge of sadness with them. He hoped that the Baron had somehow survived the unravelling of the Ecclesia.
‘There is something wrong on Tellus. The Baron told me as much when we were on Aurora. We should be prepared for the worst.’
‘What do you mean?’ Cassandra asked. Her blue eyes sparkled with that same inner fire Izikiel had noticed before. Only now, he recognised it for what it really was; a direct link to the Eternal Flame.
‘I don’t know but whatever it is, even the Elementals seem cautious of it. We should be ready for anything.’
‘Do you at least have some idea of what we’re flying into?’ Vorn asked.
Izikiel considered the question. He knew it was something that the Baron had known about. Which meant it was likely that the second disciple Sofija had told him. The logical conclusion was that it had something to do with the Interstellar Library and the final Guardian of the Eternal Flame. Somehow, he knew that they were related but he had no idea how or what to expect when they reached Tellus.
‘In truth, I have no idea what awaits us on Tellus. All I know is that we need to get to the Interstellar Library. The fate of humanity rests on what is contained within those archives.’
SIXTY THREE
It took the Valiant Crusader just over a day to clear the frozen asteroid field. Vorn manually guided the ship past a final ice covered rock and they emerged into open space. An amethyst coloured gas giant filled much of the forward view screen. A smaller ringed planet of dark blue colour rotated slowly in front of it. The light from Tellus’ distant star was brighter now, shining with a warm yellow light. There was no sign of the colonised world.
Those on board the ship had spent most of the day in and around the central compartment. Although it was large enough to accommodate up to twenty people, it had begun to feel crowded by the end of the day. Xavier and Jonas had spent much of the time checking their equipment. The composite suits of armour were truly a wonder of technological advancement. Izikiel had been fascinated by the former security officers’ explanation of how they integrated with their bodies to form what was effectively a second skin.
‘Amazing,’ Izikiel said as Xavier finished demonstrating the suits ability to respond to his nerve impulses through the embedded tattoos. ‘The applications for such a technology must be limitless.’
‘Indeed,’ Xavier agreed. Looking at Izikiel’s legs, he said, ‘The medical cybernetic-mesh on your legs is based on the same technology.’
Izikiel followed Xavier’s gaze. He could just make out the faintest outline of the mesh through his polyformic leggings.
‘You mean the mesh is relaying impulses directly from my nervous system to my legs?’
Xavier nodded.
‘But that means...’ Izikiel’s words trailed off as he recalled being trapped beneath the snow and ice on Aurora. He saw the ice covered rocks lying across his legs. Saw the blood pooling around him. A cold chill went through him as he realised that his legs really were paralysed.
‘I’m sorry, Izikiel. I thought you knew,’ Xavier said.
‘No, it’s alright. I think on some level I did but I just didn’t want to admit it to myself.’
‘That’s understandable,’ Xavier agreed. ‘One of the men under my command lost an arm once. It was during a fire fight with smugglers just outside New Babylon. I don’t think he ever fully accepted it. He kept insisting that he could still feel his arm, even though it had been blown off at the shoulder.’
Izikiel nodded. Lifting his leg up, he bent his knee. Straightening it, he put his foot back down on the floor.
‘That is very impressive though. We certainly didn’t have anything like this back in my time,’ he said.
‘You mean you can remember what your life was like before you woke up on Vesta?’ Te’Anne asked.
‘Yes. I don’t remember everything yet but certainly a lot more than I did before communing with the heart of the Ecclesia.’
‘So what do you remember?’
Izikiel took a deep breath. He realised that Xavier, Jonas and Te’Anne had all turned to look at him. Even Cassandra, who had been performing a diagnostic on the ships’ systems, lowered the hand held scanner she was holding and looked at him.
‘I was definitely born on Earth, in the early twenty first century. I lived with my mother and older sister in a house on the outskirts of London, the largest city in the United Kingdom. It was a two storey house in a quiet street surrounded by ancient forest. I remember the house clearly, as well as, the way the world looked, the cars, the people, the fashions.’
‘Do you remember how you got to Vesta?’ Xavier asked.
Izikiel shook his head.
‘No. I don’t think the Baron was able to unlock my memories that far. But I’m sure that they will return in time. I can feel myself remembering more and more all the time. One thing I know for sure is that I’m definitely a long way into the future from my time. The technology you take for granted is a clear indication of that.’
‘You mean you didn’t have space ships back then?’ Vorn asked as he walked into the main compartment.
‘No, definitely not. The closest thing we had were space shuttles which were only capable of leaving the Earth’s atmosphere with a large number of disposable rocket boosters. They appear obsolete compared to a ship such as this.’
‘Sadly this ship is obsolete in many ways as well. It’s the last of a dying breed.
‘What do you mea
n? This is appears to be very advanced technology,’ Izikiel said.
‘This ship and the others you saw at New Babylon are advanced. They’re so advanced in fact that no one knows how to build one now. That knowledge has been lost,’ Vorn said. ‘There are less than a thousand ships still operational. Every few years another one deteriorates beyond our ability to repair it. Every time that happens, we come one step closer to losing space flight all together.’
SIXTY FOUR
Now that he had regained a significant portion of his memories, Izikiel marvelled at how similar the interior of the Valiant Crusader was to that of a twenty first century jet airliner. A composite plastic moulding covered the walls and ceiling, with narrow light fixtures providing a steady illumination. The central couch was heavily upholstered, with a series of compartments along its sides for storage. Even the viewport looked similar to those on an aeroplane. The only difference appeared to be the absence of a window shade.
But that was where the similarities ended. On some level, Izikiel was still struggling to accept the fact that he was on board a space ship. A vessel that he now remembered reading about in stories as he was growing up. Science fiction stories about space travel, distant worlds and alien beings. The stuff that dreams were made of. He found it even harder to believe that dream was in danger of dying out.
‘Surely there must be someone who still has the knowledge to construct a space ship?’ Izikiel asked.
Vorn shook his head.
‘The Valiant Crusader was the last ship to roll off the Tellus shipyards assembly line. That was almost ten years ago, when I...liberated it from the Defence Department.’
‘You stole this ship?’ Jonas asked.
‘Stole is such a harsh word. I prefer the term borrowed indefinitely,’ Vorn said.
‘Isn’t that the same as stealing?’
‘Technically, yes but it sounds better.’
Both Vorn and Jonas laughed as the others joined in. Except Cassandra who was staring at Izikiel intently as if she wanted to say something. He met her gaze, marvelling at how the power of the Eternal Flame was barely contained beneath the surface of her luminous blue eyes.
