Across a Sea of Stars

by Michael E. Gonzales

  “With the same finger, he closed the wound, and it was gone.

  “He stirred the simmering mixture for several minutes—its smell worsening by the second.”

  "‘You do not intend that I should drink that?’ I asked.”

  "This is not for you. It is for Omnez Avai Avory. By this, he shall know you and I are in league once more. He will understand that we are aware of the situation and, coming from you, he will understand you are deeply sorry.

  "‘You are sorry—are you not?’ he asked me.”

  "I regret few things in my life as much as that which befell me on that day."

  "Good—for he shall see that in your heart."

  "If he allows it to beat long enough to read it."

  “Mag'Osnik drained the contents of the bowl into a round, clay vessel, placed a stopper in it, and sealed it. Handing it to me he said, ‘When you get to the base of his trunk, pour this into the soil. Do you understand?’"

  "I fear I may pour more blood than what is in here into that soil before I can empty this."

  "Tarnus, you shall live through this. I have seen you, Tattie, Cris, and one other standing before the Mind of Emer Alda."

  "Tell me, Thaumatergon, in your vision, did I have all my limbs?"

  “He smiled and said, ‘I could not tell. Now, go. Only Omnez Avai Avory can spread the alarm fast enough.’"

  "Mag'Osnik, before you go, you know I must ask. All these years have passed, and you have never spoken of it. I hated you until the flames became hot embers. Even now, the ash is quite warm. Where were you that day…that day when I needed your assistance beyond all measure?"

  “He placed his hand on my shoulder and looked deep into my eyes.”

  "My old friend. You would not have listened until this very moment. I wanted to be there for you more than life itself."

  "And why were you not?"

  "Because, my friend—I was dead."

  “With those words, he backed away from me and faded away into a darkness my eyes could not penetrate.”

  "‘Mag'Osnik!’ I shouted. Faintly, from far away, I heard his voice.”

  “Fare thee well, Captain Tarnus. We shall meet again, in this life…or the next.”

  “I stood there numb for quite some time. Dead…what did he mean, dead? I just felt his hand warm upon my shoulder, he was not dead. As I thought back, I recalled thinking, on that black day, that only death could keep him from the battlefield. Then, months later, I heard stories of others seeing him, in near villages and far off lands, even on other worlds. I had encountered a brother officer who had been on the field that day, he told me he had seen and spoken to Mag'Osnik. It was then that my hate took root.

  “Now, these many rotations later, he tells me this. I had never known him to lie.

  “I placed the globe of potion he'd given me into my pouch and headed on toward Omnez Avai Avory, my mind racing to understand the unfathomable.

  “As I walked, I was grasped in the coils of confusion. The night grew darker about me as my depression obscured my sight. Had I been wrong all this time, and thus denied myself my dearest friend, or was he, indeed, a spirit? Nearly as bad as wasting one's life is to waste one's hate, and as hate is a waste of life, I was doubly cursed by my own folly.

  “Thus, was my state as I entered the small dell where grows Omnez Avai Avory. I stopped on the edge and peered up at the behemoth creature. I have never seen the ancient entity, either near or from a great distance, and I was not struck by its size and the knowledge of its great age and wisdom.

  “I bowed my head and slunk slowly into the dell before the old one. In the center, I stopped and looked up. I heard the sound of moaning, like a tree bending in the wind. I was showered with a fall of dead leaves from above. I removed the globe from my pouch and, holding it before me, I advanced toward his arboreal majesty.

  “I had walked but a few steps when roots grabbed my feet, branches from above grabbed my arms and chest. He lifted me and tossed me away toward the smaller trees, whose branches lashed at my flesh. He picked me up again and tossed me into some rocks, where I was battered and bruised. His roots slashed at me, beating and whipping me.

  “I grabbed a flailing root and hung on. It carried me high in the air, then the root pulled me down with great speed; just above the ground it flicked me, and I was tossed against Omnez Avai Avory's massive roots. I could hear branches coming for me, so I threw the globe down. It hit the dirt but did not break. The branch wound around my neck and jerked me upward. I just managed to crush the globe with the heal of my boot before I was carried upward, the roots choking the life from me. Mag'Osnik's potion soaked into the ground at the base of the old one's trunk. I felt the branch loosen around my neck and I was gently set on the ground.

  “I lay there gasping for breath. I believe my larynx was crushed. I had broken ribs and was bleeding profusely.

  “A branch descended from some place far above and stopped directly before my face. Hanging from this branch was a single nut. It was the size of my thumb. I looked at it without moving, other than to gasp for air. The branch moved the nut closer to my face. I picked it, and as I did, it opened in my hand to reveal the seed within. Its color was of the purest white, and it seemed to glow. I looked up at the tree to find the branch was gone. Nuts are either planted or eaten. I placed it slowly in my mouth. Seeing no objection from Omnez Avai Avory, I chewed and swallowed it.

  “I sat, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. From behind me, a root emerged from the ground. It rose above my head, then gently touched my forehead, and pushed my head slowly to the ground. There were no stars in the sky as Omnez Avai Avory's huge crown obscured everything. My eyelids became heavy, my pain faded away and sleep enveloped me like the arms of a lover.

  “I awoke sometime after dawn and, though sore, I was no longer in dire pain, and I could breathe.

  “I looked up at the great tree, rose, and moved over to one of his larger roots. I sat in front of it and laid hands upon it saying, ‘Thank you, Omnez Avai Avory, for my life. I understand your anger, for as you were with me, so was I with Mag'Osnik.’ There came another moan from the high branches. ‘He has told me to explain to you what happened that day during the war. I have not spoken of that day to anyone. Mag'Osnik knows through some wizardry, I suppose.’”

  "You had alerted us to the fact that Caval Du Mal's forces were preparing to burn the entire forest northeast of the vale and south of the mountains, many thousands of square kronmals. I told you we would displace from the fortress at Thesserdale and stop them, but I did not give that order. As a result, the woods were destroyed and millions of your kin died. In anger, we lost your support and without you—we lost the war.”

  "Omnez Avai Avory, we did not leave Thesserdale because we learned that the fire in the woods was a diversion, Caval Du Mal set the fire in the hope we would leave the fortress. With Thesserdale abandoned, his armies had planned to march through and destroy Emer Alda. I myself took a detachment of three thousand to stop the fires being set, but we were ambushed. Twenty-two hundred of my brave soldiers were slaughtered, and the rest of us went into captivity, where hundreds more died. I managed to escape before the Galla nava took the rest to Kalob. I have lived in the shadow of that day all these years. I accept the blame, the decision to keep the army at Thesserdale was mine. I led the three thousand volunteers to their deaths, and I managed an escape when I should have remained with my soldiers and shared their fate. Now, you know the truth from my own lips. If it is your decision I should die for my responsibility, well—here I am. A wooden shaft through the heart is similar to how many of those under my command died that day.

  “But before I face your judgment I come to you, begging for your help—”

  He sighed, then went on. “I related the current state of affairs to him and explained that what was required was a planet-wide revolt. We needed allies, and a message to the faithful officers of the old king would open many eyes and loosen many tongues,”
he clarified, then continued.

  "The word, with your help, will spread around the planet swiftly, and the awakened peoples of Nazer will be as unstoppable. They will rally to the cause because you and the Avory have already struck a blow.

  "You are aware that Bruckna the Sorgina will retaliate for your having thwarted her plans by saving the Solar, and my own Tattie.

  "Now, ancient one, my head is yours if you desire it, but also my sword and my bow, if you would rather them."

  “My children, I stood and extended my arms and presented my throat to Omnez Avai Avory. I waited, and, as I did, I felt my heart pounding in my chest.”

  Completely caught up in the story, Cris asked, "What happened?"

  "He tore me limb from limb. What did you think, young Cris from Earth?"

  Looking at Tattie, Tarnus shook his head and asked, "What is it you see in this one?"

  Chapter 19

  Capek's Decision

  Shortly after midday, they stopped and ate from the loaf of beteko og and sipped the elixir. Cris made note that more than half the bread was gone, and now there were three to feed.

  The woods were slowly becoming more dense as they proceeded. Interestingly, there were a vast array of animal sounds now to be heard, and the air was fresh and scented with a smell that Cris could only describe as "green."

  The landscape was interesting: low, moss-covered hills, many with landfalls that produced cliffs, which exposed the rich soil into which the forest grew. The trees became huge again, their trunks thick and their tops towering into the sky. Now and then, they passed the ruins of some stone edifices. Crumbled towers, toppled walls, and moss-covered ramparts, the forest was in the process of reclaiming all of it.

  In the afternoon, the four travelers crested a hill and light could be seen ahead through the trees. After topping another hill, they stood on the forest's edge. There, only a few kilometers away, stood the great city of Emer Alda.

  As they stood there taking it all in, Cris was quick to see that he was standing on the lip of a huge and ancient impact crater, nineteen to twenty kilometers in diameter. The city had been constructed on and around the raised central peak of this crater.

  The forest had spilled down over the edge of the crater and now filled two-thirds of the crater floor. Off to their far left, a huge waterfall plummeted almost five hundred meters into the crater, where it formed a large lake, the water then vanished into the mouth of a mammoth cave.

  The city itself looked to have been built in layers, like a wedding cake. Each layer was supported from below by massive columns that were, themselves, buildings. The city was three layers tall. Each layer had its own unique architecture, the bottom, being the oldest, seemed to consist of a vast number of low, flat-roofed buildings and occasional spires. The next possessed several domes as well as spires and towers. The top layer was adorned with glass towers and skyscrapers.

  Radiating out from the city, like the spokes of a wheel, were four great causeways. Each was elevated several meters off the ground and consisted of a set of glass tubes that stretched from the city to a structure at the base of the crater wall. The top of each set of tubes was surmounted by a magnificent and ornate bridge. On this bridge, people could be seen walking, whereas the tubes seemed to carry some sort of conveyance.

  Observing the path of the causeway nearest them, they determined the way down was to their right. They followed the lip of the crater for a few hundred meters and soon saw their destination ahead. A domed building about fifteen meters square lay before them right on the crater's rim. It looked to be made of marble, and was decorated with Greek-style columns.

  From the top of the dome, a tall mast reached several meters into the heavens, at its top was a sort of crow's nest where Cris could see an armed guard. Above this guard, in stark contrast to the rest of the building, was an intricate antenna array. Some few meters away from the building was a large, flat, cobblestoned, or surfaced area, similar to a parking lot, but it was empty.

  As they approached the building, Cris looked at his companions. Tarnus was shirtless, his scarred body soiled and bruised, and his filthy trousers blood-stained. Tattie's clothes were equally as soiled and much the worse for wear since obtaining replacement clothes from the cargo of the Unsate. Her bow and quiver were slung over her back. Capek was the most acceptable in appearance of them, though he, too, was scratched, dented, and discolored.

  Cris's own appearance was rather disturbing. His Cossack's boots were caked in dried mud. The wooly great coat was rolled up and slung over his back with his rifle. His shirt and trousers were torn and tattered. His service hat was filthy, as well.

  They walked boldly up to the building where six armed men in uniform greeted them.

  Their officer or NCO, Cris could not tell which, led the reception committee. He wore a pistol on his hip, the other five carried rifles.

  "Stop, please—just who are you? What is your business here?" the leader demanded.

  "We've come to see the Velka Mislay, the Great Mind," Cris said.

  The guard laughed. "Have you now? And what do you know of the Velka Mislay?"

  "Not a damn thing, partner," Cris said. "We were told we had to come here and see the Mind."

  "And who issues these orders and thinks himself of such imminence as to command the guard at Emer Alda?"

  "Mag'Osnik sent us here," Tattie said, stepping forward. The guards all began to look at one another questioningly.

  "And why would the Thaumatergon send you here?"

  "This man is the Solar, the one who killed the son of Caval Du Mal."

  The guards fell silent. Then, glancing at the skies, the fellow with the pistol beckoned to them. "Vemde, vemde," he said excitedly. "Come inside where fewer eyes can see!"

  Inside, he led them deep into the building and bid them sit in a room containing much food.

  "Please, rest, refresh yourselves. Spring water is there, and you'll find meats and fruit. I will inform my superiors of your arrival." He then left the room. Cris noticed he left the door open. A good sign; at least they were not prisoners.

  "His superiors?" Cris asked. "And what are they likely to do?"

  "The guard of Emer Alda are a military force; these men have superiors…surely you understand that?" Tarnus quipped as he ate of the food on the table.

  "There is no love of Caval Du Mal here," Tattie said. "We are safe among these people."

  Twenty minutes later, the guard returned, looking flushed. "Celestra bids you welcome and asks that I accompany you to the city. Please, follow me."

  As the guard left the room, Cris turned to Tattie and asked, “Who?”

  But before she could respond, the guard bellowed, “This way, please.”

  Through the building and out the backside, the guard led them to a sort of open-air elevator. They all boarded the platform and Tattie at once moved to the railing facing the city.

  "Beautiful, isn't it?" she asked.

  "Yes," Cris replied, "it really is. I've never seen anything like it. Is this your first trip here?"

  "Yes. I've heard tales of this place and all its wonders all my life. But to see it—what's that word of yours—wow?"

  Cris chuckled. "Yeah," he turned his head to look at Tattie. "'Wow' is the word."

  The platform lowered them to the building from which the causeway originated. From here there were two choices: the bridge on the upper level, or the tube transport on the lower.

  "We will be taking the upper path," the guard said, "the tube is far too crowded. I have a cart to carry us all to the city."

  The cart, as the guard called it, was an odd vehicle that somewhat resembled an Old West stagecoach, but this cart was seven meters long, beautifully painted white with gold trim. There were no horses, of course. Whatever propelled it was silent and produced no obvious sign of its existence. The cart could carry twenty people in the passenger compartment. The guard, now their driver, sat in a separate compartment forward and on top.


  They all climbed aboard the lavish and ornate vehicle, and in short order, the cart started off down the causeway.

  "I wonder where the engine is that powers this thing?" Cris asked.

  Through some sort of intercom, the driver heard and responded, "The engine is in the floor of the causeway."

  "Oh—thanks." Cris realized their every word could be heard by the driver. Why was the driver eavesdropping? Cris was finding it hard to trust anyone outside their little circle.

  They had not been rolling five minutes when Tattie directed everyone's attention out the window. Just east of the city, thousands of small, dark dots began to appear in the sky, blossoming like a garden of black flowers.

  "I wonder what that is?" she asked.

  Cris knew instantly what it was. "Driver, can you move faster?"

  "I have already signaled a request for additional speed!"

  "Cris," Tattie recognized the tone of Cris's voice, "what is it?"

  "Flak."

  "Earth-speak again, Cris."

  "Anti-aircraft fire—they're trying to shoot down something flying. Look there, they got one!"

  An orange ball erupted in the sky, then an inky line of smoke fell to the ground and exploded.

  "They are still shooting!" Tattie said.

  "Must be more than one."

  "I am detecting fourteen objects approaching from that area at four hundred eighty kilometers per hour," Capek reported.

  "Stop the stage!" Cris roared. It did not stop, or even slow. "Everybody out!" he shouted.

  The door would not open, it had automatically locked as the cart had begun to move. Cris quickly produced his pistol and fired two rounds into the door latch. It slammed open and, as it did, an odd warbling sound was heard, louder than all other sounds. Cris knew it was an Emer Aldan air raid alarm.

  Fortunately, the vehicle was not traveling very fast. Tarnus was the first out. He hit the ground running. Tattie was next and ran along with the cart. Capek flung himself out, and also ran alongside. Cris jumped, but was unable to equal the speed of the stage. He fell, hard, rolling a couple of meters. Tattie was instantly at his side.