Sendek filled the screen, a spinning orb of blue and green hanging in the heavens. Its beauty soothed Talia’s nerves.
“Why don’t we start with Daedalus? Although it’s the farthest away, as the largest moon, it will be the easiest to settle,” she stated.
The view panned out, passed a rocky mass and then a smaller reddish gray mass before focusing on the third moon called Daedalus. The frozen ice caps were clearly visible through the thin atmosphere.
“This is your best chance for a successful settlement. The moon’s soil is full of minerals that will be beneficial to growing crops, ore that settlers can mine for onsite construction to save on shuttle costs, plenty of water at both poles, and a thin atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen. We do not detect any plant or animal life on the surface, but we believe that if we heat up the core of the moon we can catalyze the terraforming process.
“As we heat the core, the polar ice caps will melt, providing the liquid water needed to increase the thickness and quality of the atmosphere. Theoretically, heating the core will also increase the gravitational pull, decreasing the amount of atmosphere that is currently leaking into space. However, you need to understand that we have never actually tried to heat the core of a planetary body; our findings are based on simulations.”
“How exactly would you heat the core?” Major Sutton asked.
Talia pulled up a simulation of the process and let it run while she explained. “After orbiting the moon, a team sends a remotely controlled drill robot to the surface. It drills through the crust, into the core. This robot is loaded with fusion pellets, which compress in the intense heat and pressure of the core until fusion begins. The reaction spreads into the core and stirs things up, if you will, with the new supply of helium.”
“How long before we see the results?” asked the Colonel.
“Almost immediately. The pressure will build quickly, increasing seismic and volcanic activity as the planet finds a new balance within the magnetic fields. The eruptions will saturate the atmosphere with carbon dioxide, which in turn will warm the surface, melt the ice caps and initiate weather patterns not currently found on the planet. The orbiting team will monitor the progress. It’s estimated that things will calm down to a livable state within a year or two of the catalyst.”
“That quickly?” The Major’s voice dripped with disbelief.
Talia glared at him. “It’s a relatively small mass. During the first year, we will seed the moon with vegetation and see what grows. Then it’s a simple matter of funding and recruiting volunteers willing to settle on Daedalus. It will be very hard work, but completely possible. The moon has the resources to support a colony without continued help from Sendek, and there is a high probability that the atmosphere will allow the colonists to work and live without the use of space suits.”
Talia directed her next comment to Colonel Rankin. “I have sent a file that outlines the most feasible scenario and timeline for the Daedalus colonization, along with the most likely challenges to your team.”
Colonel Rankin made a show of looking at his watch and said, “All right. Quickly now, what about Cadmus?”
Bringing up a view of each moon, Talia continued.
“Let’s talk about Atreus first. As the closest moon to Sendek, Atreus may look more desirable from a settlement standpoint. It is possible, but it would be a completely different type of colony than Daedalus. Atreus doesn’t have any atmosphere and no form of water that we have discovered. Since we don’t have the technology to create an atmosphere out of nothing, colonists will have the added danger of living in a vacuum. Space suits and air locks will always be a part of life, but the habitats make it feasible.
“In the beginning, we will need to transport all water and oxygen until we can develop the technology to create it chemically from the regolith that covers the surface. The lack of atmosphere also exposes the colonists to a higher risk of radiation poisoning from solar flares, but there are procedures that can reduce those risks. They are outlined in the full report. Do you have any questions?”
The Colonel shook his head. “I’m interested in the final moon.”
Talia pulled it up on the screen.
“Cadmus.” Major Sutton spoke the moon’s name.
He and the Colonel sat straighter in their seats. Both men stared intently at the red and black ball of rock. The lava flows were clearly visible from space, making it look wild, young, and inhospitable.
“The smallest of Sendek’s moons, it’s believed to be a massive asteroid that got caught in the gravitational pull of the two larger moons and Sendek,” Talia explained. “The gravity is too weak to keep an atmosphere attached to it. It has the fastest orbit and passes between the other two moons four times a year. Each pass exerts vast gravitational pull from both directions causing the volcanic activity. Right now, you can see the enormous amount of seismic activity present for most of the year. If you wanted to live in hell, this would be the place. I don’t recommend trying to colonize Cadmus, but I’ve sent you a copy of the file anyway.”
“Miss Zaryn,” Major Sutton said, watching her closely. “Is there any reason, any at all, for someone to settle on Cadmus?”
“No. Settlement there would be impossible for even the most dedicated scientists. If you timed things correctly, you could mine Cadmus, but the same ores are more easily accessible on the other two moons, or here on Sendek for that matter. The cost and the risk are too great to make the effort worthwhile.”
Colonel Rankin stood up. He nodded to Major Sutton, who also stood.
“We’ll go over the details in your files, Miss Zaryn, and meet again to discuss them if needed.” Colonel Rankin turned toward the door but paused before leaving. “Did you ever work out the double feedback problem with the ferret satellite?”
“No, sir. It was en-route to be tested here when a terrorist group stole it from the tram.”
“That’s too bad,” Rankin said. He and Major Sutton left the room.
Chapter 8
Back already?” Stefan peered at Landry from around a pile of books.
Landry shrugged, pulled up a chair and straddled it. “Rankin was in a hurry. What are you looking for?”
“Anything about the Signum we may have missed. Mostly I’m hiding from my advisers.” Stefan ducked his head sheepishly.
“Any luck?”
“Do you see any advisers?” Stefan closed the book and stretched. “Nothing on the Signum though. The computer is sifting through books. Why don’t you tell me what you learned at the SEF today?”
“Not a lot really. The SEF is not aware of any valid reason why the Signum would want settlement rights to Cadmus. It’s definitely a decoy. Hey, did I miss a debriefing after the last tram incident?”
“No, why?”
“I don’t remember hearing that the stolen equipment was defective, but Rankin knew about some feedback problem.”
“What were his emotions like when he asked about it?”
“I never can tell with him. He doesn’t care about anything enough to have emotions.”
“Just ask him about it. Did you pick up any sign that a member of the Signum is working at the SEF?”
“I only met a handful of people, and I couldn’t get a good feel for them.”
Landry paused, his brow furrowed. Something had blocked his abilities.
“What is it? Did you remember something?” Stefan watched Landry.
“I was thinking about the presenter, Miss Zaryn. I could feel the room fine until she walked in. Her emotions overpowered everything else.”
“You were distracted by a woman?” Stefan’s eyebrows lifted, and he tried not to smile. “How interesting. What did she look like?”
“It wasn’t like that. Something about her emotional state blocked the others, or covered them. I’m not sure which, but I think we should keep a tap on any communications coming from the SEF offices for a while. I’ll research Miss Zaryn’s records. She was hiding something, and she se
emed afraid of me. I want to know why.”
“Was she beautiful?” Stefan lowered his voice and waggled his eyebrows.
“Doesn’t make a difference. She could lead me to the Signum and Werner. Yes, she was beautiful.”
“Good, I was worried about you. Now I know you’re still human. Get a team on surveillance and keep me updated.” Stefan watched two of his advisers go past in the hall. “Maybe I’ll stay in the library.”
Landry winked at him and said, “I’ll start my research and leave you to whatever urgent business they have planned for you.”
“Try to find some time to relax. Maybe take Miss Zaryn to dinner? As research?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Landry left his cousin and headed to a side room to access one of the library’s computer terminals.
After typing in his clearance password, he initiated a search for Talia Zaryn. It only took seconds for the information to come up—travel itineraries, awards, research papers, thesis papers, articles about her and by her, but nothing to connect her to the Signum.
It’s never that simple, or is it? Landry noticed the most basic documents were missing from the list. There was no record of her birth, hometown, or parentage.
“Computer, pull up Talia Zaryn’s university application.”
A new screen popped up and he scanned the top for her parents’ names. He pulled up their records and found them to be complete, but no record of a daughter being born to them.
I think I should pay Miss Zaryn a visit tomorrow.
When the room cleared of the Signum, Ruin led Jaron down another corridor. “Your mission is to sabotage a section of the ground transport system. Every year the University sends a group into the mountains for a retreat. The brightest students on the planet go on this excursion.”
They reached a door and stepped inside a small room.
The room contained the same lighting as the hallway, a single light bulb hanging on a long cord from the ceiling, creating a circle of dim light around a table and two chairs. A box and an envelope sat on the table.
“In order to get on the tram, you will enroll at the University and sign up for an extracurricular class that sends students to the mountains. There is a list of those classes in this envelope.”
Ruin picked up the envelope and handed it to Jaron. He pointed to the table and Jaron saw that the top was a map.
Ruin tapped his finger on a spot in the upper left corner. “We will blow out the bridge at Kiyan Cross. Your job is to cut power to the cameras, brakes, and doors. No one will survive the crash, no one. Do you understand?”
Jaron examined the map of the tram rail line. He played the part that was expected. “I understand perfectly. What will be the reward for my sacrifice?”
At the end of the table a wooden box sat partly in shadows. Ruin picked it up and reverently carried it into the light, placing it before Jaron.
The box looked ancient. Worn and faded, it had a pattern of intricate swirls and designs carved into it.
Jaron had seen the design before—carved into the walls of the Wizard’s Mountain on Orek, his home world. Thoughts of that life brought Dailya’s face to mind. The familiar ache blossomed, but the demon cut it away, dulling the pain once more.
Focus, and you can have your revenge. The demon hissed through his mind.
“You will be given the Mark of the Dragon. This is the highest honor the Signum can bestow. The Signum have possessed this brand for seven thousand years. Forged from the silver scales of a dragon by one of the last mages, its mystical properties will ensure your acceptance into the next world.”
Ruin opened the top of the box to reveal a branding iron in the shape of a dragon lying on dark red velvet lining. “Do you accept your mission?”
Jaron pushed his right sleeve up, revealing tattoos and scars. He pointed to his forearm and said, “How about here?”
Ruin removed the brand from the box and placed it into a side drawer that acted as a firing compartment. When the brand glowed yellow-orange, he reached for Jaron’s arm.
Ruin watched Jaron’s face as he pressed the dragon into his skin.
Jaron barely flinched, didn’t make a sound as the brand seared his flesh. His eyes watered, but he blinked them clear as he stared straight ahead. The brand would leave its mark on his skin, and he found pleasure in that thought. He would be tied to the dragons one way or another.
He welcomed the pain and the smell of burning flesh. The magic of dragons would help him return to Dailya when all of this was over.
Chapter 9
Talia found herself in a strange place. Metallic gray walls surrounded her, sparse furniture and no clutter. The air tasted stale and smelled like pure oxygen when it leaked from the tanks in the lab.
She sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed. Instead of soft skin, a hard covering of scales encased her well-defined muscles. Legs, arms, hands, and torso burned a deep scarlet that caught and reflected the light in the room. Not a shimmer, but close to it.
A mirror hung on the wall, and Talia hurried to it, holding her breath. Her nose was elongated, ears sharp and pointy. She fingered the boney ridges that ran down her neck and onto her shoulders. The only thing that looked like Talia were the eyes—still violet.
The image in the mirror smiled, and Talia screamed.
She bolted upright in bed, called for the lights, and touched her face. Her fingers met smooth skin and her nose was back to normal proportions, but the room was wrong. Her mother’s quilt was missing and so was the bedside table.
I’m in Joharadin, not Gneledar. Talia crawled out of bed to find her dream journal and sat at the kitchen table to write. Her body had reacted differently to this dream. Instead of the usual weakness and shakes, she felt strong. She didn’t even need to wake Keeta for comfort. Let him sleep.
The Dragumon in her nightmares were always green and genderless. Yet in this dream, Talia sensed the red one was a female. One with a sense of power, pride, and a viciousness that made Talia’s stomach churn.
What did it mean? She didn’t understand the original dream set and now here was something new.
Why would I dream of myself as one of them?
Kansisi gazed through the starship viewport at the planet glowing bright enough to cause his green scales to shimmer in its light. The blue and green sphere hung like a jewel in the sky, finally within his reach.
For nine hundred years, he lived with only one desire—to return to the planet of his birth and claim it for the Dragumon.
After the dragons exiled them to Demaria, his people patiently gathered the technology needed to travel the stars. They suffered through slavery at the hands of imbeciles, but it was worth it when they stole their starships. That had been easy compared to locating Sendek’s galactic address. Fortunately, exile had one redeeming factor—long life. No Dragumon had died of illness or old age since walking through the portal taking them from Sendek.
Sick of starships, Kansisi struggled with his desire to attack immediately and establish the new order for his people. He could wipe out the cities of men in a matter of days, clearing the way for the Dragumon. He had done it many times before, but now he played a game of cat and mouse to please Shishali, his lover, and Nysyk, his best friend. They thought it enjoyable but he craved the surface of Sendek under his feet.
Shishali glided into the room. The sleek, red-scaled female with violet eyes had retained the graceful walk of a dragonkin after all these years, even though most of the Dragumon adopted the more efficient human-like walk.
She moved beautifully and Kansisi enjoyed watching her. Her scales were dull in the light of the spacecraft, but he remembered how they shimmered and glowed in the light of the suns.
“Shishali, this is not a good time.”
“I know you better than anyone else on this ship. I know all this waiting is driving you crazy, but try to enjoy the game.”
She walked past his desk and stood close to him, Sendek brig
htening her as she passed into its light. She reached up and caressed his face.
“Think how it will be to watch them fight for their lives, knowing how useless it is. You must tell them of all the worlds you destroyed in their name. Will they agonize over the loss of billions?” Her mouth curled into a cruel snarl as she bared her pointed teeth.
He pulled her close. “Will you ever tire of death and war? What do you want?”
“The same thing you want—a second chance to live. Give me that and I will always be yours.” She slipped from his arms. “I dreamed I walked on Sendek, and when I returned to the ship, someone came with me. A woman with violet eyes, a descendant of Father Elvin. The Signum lie about the mages being gone. I thought you needed to know.”
She left before he could comment.
Kansisi pulled up the planet schematic at his desk. The Dragumon satellites were programmed to monitor a special kind of energy force on the planet—the energy given off by a mage.
The satellite color-coded natural energy forces present on the planet: greens for the forests, blues the oceans, and small pockets of red around volcanic areas. Most of the world glowed with some form of natural energy, but Joharadin remained solid black, filled only with manmade energy sources. Werner was an idiot.
Kansisi laughed at the memory. When the Dragumon entered the Sendekian solar system two weeks earlier, they had picked up a looped coded message from a group of people looking for them.
“The Signum wait and hope for an alliance with the Dragumon to overthrow the current system of government.”
Shishali and his second in command, Nysyk, thrilled at the irony of it. The last time Dragumon walked on Sendek, the humans wanted to destroy them, and now they wanted an alliance.
Once communications were established, Nysyk had convinced the Signum leader that the Dragumon were allergic to trees. Everyone enjoyed a laugh as the Signum proceeded to pull up all the trees in the city as a sign of good faith.
The Magic Wakes Page 5
