"That was nice," sighed Anna.
"More than nice," added Jamie.
He leaned in to kiss her again. It took some time before they surfaced.
"I love ye," whispered Jamie.
"I know," whispered Anna back.
"Will ye…"
Anna put a finger over his lips to hush him.
"I don’t know," she said, with her lopsided smile.
She reached over for a tissue, and blew her nose unromantically.
They laughed, and Jamie hugged her again gently.
Sissness came into the room, and saw them pulling away from each other.
"Sorry!" she cried, and made to leave.
"It’s ok," called Anna, and blew her nose again.
Sissness hesitated, and sat.
"It was another vision of Anastasia. And Vasily." Anna wiped her eyes. "It’s important, not about what made me cry, but what I saw."
Jamie and Sissness waited patiently, as she ordered her thoughts.
"They were on Winter," she started. "Anastasia had been in the ark, and Vasily was arguing with her. He couldn’t enter, and Anastasia was trying to placate his anger. I saw, well, the short of it is, Vasily was angry, and fired on the not-penguins there, and his men followed suit, and there was, well, a massacre."
She stopped and took a deep breath.
"We knew from the not-penguins we met. They returned to their ship, and had a row. They were in their cabin on board their ship, and Vasily went to a safe secreted in the wall of the cabin, and he brought out the Stone."
She stopped and looked up at them both.
"I know it’s the Stone. I can feel its power, and see it glowing. It glowed in the dim light of the room, and he showed it to Anastasia, gloating and yelling at her, and suddenly he hits her full in the stomach, she’s on the floor, he kicks her, and then he puts the Stone back, and locks the safe."
It’s as if she rushes to finish the story.
"Oh Anna," breathed Sissness. "I’m so sorry."
"It was the Stone," repeated Anna. "I saw it. I touched it. Such power." She stopped. "Now we know they definitely had it in this galaxy, and they went to Winter. They had the clues, and they followed in the path of the ‘gods’. We just don’t know whether they went to the Scylla system, and what they did with the stone. Whether it’s at Scylla, or they found the amulet there."
Jamie took her hand, and held it.
"I can’t control the visions," Anna added. "I wish I could, then we’d know more about where the Stone went all those years ago."
"We’ll find it," said Jamie firmly. "I know we will."
Anna smiled wanly at him.
Sissness looked at them, and quietly left the room.
Sixty Two
Maraid looked up from the Scrying ewer, and clasped her hands together. They were shaking. She sat down heavily in the chair. The black cat had run out of the hut as soon as she started having the vision, and probably wouldn’t venture back for some time. She looked around as if grounding herself back in reality. She needed some tea. Sweet tea. She instead reached over to the cupboard standing against the wall, and rummaged around in the bottom shelves. She brought out a bottle, and quickly poured a large whisky. She downed it quickly as well.
She took a deep breath, and then another, and breathed out slowly.
It was a while since she’d needed to have a wee dram. But sometimes, she needed it.
This was one of those times. The vision had been very real, and very disturbing.
It was not like one of her usual visions, where she looked at events from an objective viewpoint, almost looking in from above at people and things. She was always remote, not part of the scene.
This time though, she'd been part of it, the main part of it.
She'd seen Anna. Was it Anna, or someone else? And then, she was Anna. She'd looked around a wind-swept plain, where there was a set of standing stones. She knew them, they seemed familiar. She started towards them. And she was suddenly standing at the centre, moving to the end stones, like an entrance. Suddenly there was a presence. Evil was all she could think of. A human, a man, no he’d turned into an eagle, and had swooped towards her, its beak wide, and talons outstretched, and she'd leaped through the entrance. And been transported. Where? Nothing but a bright light.
And then, complete darkness. A cold spread throughout her body, and she could feel nothing. Nothing at all. It was like she had come to, standing over the ewer, rather than losing the vision like she was used to. She felt like she'd been taken over by the vision, rather than controlling it. For her this was intensely disturbing.
She poured another dram, downed it, and put the bottle away. Time for some discipline.
She couldn’t make sense of the vision at all. Standing stones, she understood. This was a reference to the auld ones, the ancients, who'd built standing stone rings at ley line intersections on the old Earth. But here in the Gaia galaxy? Standing Stones had magical and mystical power of their own. But the evil, the human, and the hawk. Perhaps the nothingness was the cold evil she'd experienced in her visions before. But what did it all mean, and how did it all connect? And what could she do to warn Anna, if it had been Anna?
On its own, it didn’t seem very alarming. But she'd felt the terror, and the nothingness, like she'd been there.
An eagle? Plenty of references for this as a bird of omen. But what omen? And for who? For Anna? For herself?
She suddenly felt she needed company. Time to return to the city and visit Mac.
The black cat sat outside, its fur fluffed up, its eyes round and black. It ran into the darkness under the trees, and was gone.
Sixty Three
They’d reached the main planet of the empaths. Mouse had called them an untranslatable name, and they called them the Mediators, for want of a better name. Mouse described them as large beings with red fur, large eyes, and long ringed tails. This wasn’t much help, as this could be anything really, and large to Mouse meant anything bigger than him.
They'd entered the system without a challenge, but soon, there were some coms requesting to know their business, and inviting them to the station orbiting the main inhabited planet. There were a number of outlying colonies on planets, moons orbiting gas giants, and other elaborate space stations throughout the system. The main planet was where the species had developed from, and then populated the rest of the system as their civilisation grew.
Sissness told them what she'd been able to find about the Mediators. They traded only to sustain themselves, and had a large industrial base, but in balance with their ecologies. Their interaction with the rest of the sector was largely to mediate other species’ quarrels, disputes, and outright wars. Their ability to be empathetic with other species, meant they could see into the motives of other beings, understand their perspectives, and act as a sounding board, counsellor, and mediator for those who could not resolve their own problems, and needed assistance working through issues. Skilled in diplomacy, they could take it to the next level of negotiation, to find peaceful means where parties were willing.
"They sound too guid to be true!" said Jamie, as Sissness finished.
"Humans could do with their help," suggested Anna.
Snark humphed and snorted.
"Sounds a bit wishy-washy," he grumped.
The others made similar noises. Sissness sighed.
"That’s what I’ve found out."
Sometimes she felt as if they were ready to shoot the messenger.
"They might want to get us and Brother Paulus together for a counselling session," suggested Brindle sarcastically.
"Actually, they probably will suggest it." Sissness was a bit put out. "It seems they're sensible, and don’t see why beings are at loggerheads all the time."
She was thinking she might like the Mediators.
Rather than meet at the space station, the Mediators had asked them to land their shuttle at the main Spaceport at their capital city. Evidently news of the humans, and Seasprite
, had reached them, and they wanted to enter talks directly, rather than on the station.
The team felt they were safe in this system. It was unlikely the Valderians, even if ordered by Brother Paulus, would dare to invade the Mediators system, and as they were close to the bears and beetles, were protected by them.
Anna, Jamie, Sissness, and Snark all decided to take the shuttle down to the planet, leaving Patters, Brindle, and Mouse in charge on the ship. Brindle made a song and dance about being left on the ship again, and made it known to the others in a way too hard to ignore. At the last minute, she was included in the party.
They set out with great anticipation of meeting the Mediators. On the way to the planet, they agreed an initial approach. Snark would lead their 'delegation', and the two humans would contribute as needed. Sissness would be their 'information officer', and Brindle would keep her eyes open, and comment on anything untoward.
They had weapons with their suits, but not visible. There had been some disagreement about this. While they thought they could trust the Mediators, what if the Brotherhood had agents amongst them? Feeling safe didn’t mean they were stupid, or so Snark argued.
As they landed at the Space Port, they could see a large city surrounded by, and immersed in, green vegetation. There were buildings, but as much green space as there were houses, monuments, and large buildings. Even the skyscrapers had greenery on every level, like giant ladders of vegetation reaching into the sky.
Directed to their landing bay, they touched down, walked down the ramp, and across to where a party of beings came out of the main port facilities to greet them.
Anna thought they looked like a kind of lemur, as they had the four legs and paws of a cat, but with a very long and bushy tail, with rings of black and grey on the red of the fur which covered them generally. Three arms with paw-hands, it was their heads drawing attention. A kind of pointy nose with fluffy cat ears. But what dominated their faces and drew attention, were their very large and expressive eyes. Dark pupils were surrounded by irises, and then different rings of colour for the different individuals, with many shades of red, violet, green, and blue.
One of the lemurs stepped forward, and so did Snark. They were almost the same size as Snark and the cats, so they were at the same level. Snark touched noses formally with the lead Mediator, and the introductions followed.
"Welcome, Snark," said the lead Mediator, who had deep blue eyes circling the large black pupils, before he'd introduced himself. "I am Neep. I'm the leader of my ‘tell’, what we call our groups of family and working units."
"Good to meet you, Neep," said Snark. He made to introduce Neep to the others, however Neep stepped forward, and greeted them all by name.
Neep introduced the members of his ‘tell’. Snark tried to remember all their names, but found it difficult. Perhaps he was getting old and forgetful. He was trying to remember the names according to the colour of their eyes, but kept getting it muddled up.
"You know our names?" Anna asked Neep.
"Yes," he said, and his eyes seemed to get even rounder. "We are empaths, but not mind readers. We have been in touch with the bears and beetles, who have briefed us on your arrival. Even given your ship’s speed, we've heard much about you all."
He made a chirping sound, which Snark could have sworn was laughter, but since they all seemed so polite and serious, he thought nothing of it.
With the introductions over, Neep and the other Mediators led them across to a door. Once through, they were directed to board some moving flooring, which transported them down a long corridor. After several of these, they arrived at a waiting vehicle.
The seats could accommodate all kinds of beings, and so Anna and Jamie could sit quite comfortably, but not at the same level as the cats and Mediators. Some of the ‘tell’ got into another vehicle, which followed them.
The city was a revelation. The buildings seemed to grow from amongst rich and thick vegetation which surrounded them, grew up them, and onto balconies, and hung off cladding and overhangs. There were many parks with all kinds of colours of strange vegetation, trees, vines, and flowers. The effect was calming and soothing.
The streets were mostly a form of lawn, with narrow wheel tracks, which the vehicles followed precisely. There were very many sleds travelling between the parks and buildings, with many Mediators enjoying walking amongst the parks, and green spaces, and there were lots in the trees themselves.
As they travelled, Neep kept up a travelogue of the sights and functions of the city they were passing. The central data hub, the justice building, the arts and cultural centre, a university, several artistic installations, and the names of the parks all featured.
They came to a structure which seemed to be made of a number of different materials. Wood, a dried clay mix, stone, and metal, in different configurations. It was a pleasing combination to the eye, and spoke of understated power in the way elements thrust upward.
The vehicle stopped at the entrance, and Neep waved them out. Glass doors set into an expanse of glass of many pastel colours, led into a coloured-light filled entrance hall with soaring ceilings, dotted with small booths, each with a ‘greeter’, where Mediators were stating their business.
Neep led them straight to a bank of doors, where they entered one, and the other part of the entourage entered another. They were lifts which glided upwards smoothly and quietly. The building was not very tall, so it wasn’t long before the lift slowed, the doors opened, and they exited into a light-filled hallway. They made their way to a space with many plants along the walls, hanging from the ceiling, and on every surface, apart from welcoming padded benches.
Instead of taking the seats, Neep ushered them to another door, and they entered another space, with a large round table with low greenery in the centre, and more greenery along the wall opposite an expanse of glass with a fine view of the city.
Sitting spread out amongst the seats at the table, were more Mediators. They stood as their guests entered the room. Neep came in with them, but the rest of his tell remained outside.
"Please be seated," said one of the Mediators, identified by large violet eyes.
The team sat at the places indicated, and found they were seated next to Mediators, rather than each other. The seats had no arms, and were large enough for the humans to sit, while the cats perched on the seats like the Mediators. They found they adjusted as they sat, and the height of the table also adjusted to accommodate the most comfortable positions for all concerned.
"Thank you, Neep, for bringing our guests to the Central Policy Hub," continued violet eyes, nodding at Neep, and he nodded back. "Welcome to our Homeworld, and to Central." One arm waved at the view out of the window. "We're intrigued to hear your story, and to know more about how we can assist you."
"Likewise," returned Snark simply. "We'd like to know more about you, and your world, and we hope we can also assist you with information."
Violet eyes seemed to smile.
"I am Crystal," violet eyes introduced herself. "I'm the leader of this tell. Neep and his tell are your guides for your stay here. My tell are authorised to negotiate with you."
Another round of introductions occurred, with each of the Mediators having a translatable name. Sissness thought this was done purposely, to facilitate this initial process. Again, they seemed to know their names, but made a show of letting Snark introduce the Seasprite team.
Brindle was looking appreciatively at a Mediator next to her, a burly looking male with sea-green eyes called Bren. Snark shook his head.
The door opened and a Mediator entered with a tray with small bowls, and a large pot which had steam rising from the lid. Crystal offered them a tea-like hot drink, which they all accepted. Once served, the server left, and they got down to business.
"We understand you are in this sector, on a mission to find an artefact of great importance to you," said one of the Mediators, named Pran. "Especially to you, Anna."
Pran’s eyes fixed
on Anna, and she felt them engulf her in their darkness, only broken by the ring of yellow around them.
"Yes, that’s right," confirmed Anna, without realising she was going to say anything.
"The Destiny Stone," said Pran confidently.
Anna looked at her in surprise. They'd never mentioned the Destiny Stone to the bears or beetles. Crystal smiled.
"We’re not mind readers, as I believe Neep will have told you, although some beings believe it. We are adept at empathising with others, and making connections between pieces of information to make meaning. We also intuit the truth or reality of situations, feelings, and events, so sometimes it seems as if we know the unknown."
Sissness and the others nodded, without knowing what to say. Crystal continued.
"We know about the Destiny Stone as news has come ahead of you of the Seasprite and its search. News travels fast when it's about the humans who have created the Kingdom of Hunter's Run out of what was one of the most dangerous places in three sectors, and with more coming as part of the Human Federation, which was completely unknown until very recently."
"Jamie here’s homeworld is part of Hunter's Run," said Snark, waving an arm in Jamie’s direction. "And the Cat Homeworld has diplomatic relations with the Kingdom, moving towards an alliance. Our mission is a private one, but we are supported by both Hunter's Run, and the Cat World."
"You are looking for support from us as well?" prompted Bren, making Brindle jump.
Snark considered this for a moment.
"We are. We have some support from the beings we call the bears and the beetles, who are close systems to yours. They've given us some military support in return for information about the Brotherhood."
"Yes, the Brotherhood," said Crystal, nodding.
She was looking directly at Snark, and he shook his head, as the deep black pools with the violet rims seemed to pull him in.
"We know a senior member of the Brotherhood," said Anna, "an extremist religious sect operating criminally in sectors nine and ten, who is seeking to expand into sector eight, and has hired the Valderians as a mercenary force. The Brotherhood also want the Destiny Stone, as they believe it will give them great power. Power to fuel their evil businesses, profits, and enslavement of societies."
Destiny Stone (A.I. Destiny Book 4) Page 24
