“Will this module give us access to the instrument as well?” Keris asked.
“No, the instrument is too dangerous for us to risk it falling into the wrong hands. For that you will need a different kind of key. Boxx is a crucial part of that. When you get to the other side, I will–”
The image fizzed and the light was extinguished. The red indicator lights at the base of the unit winked out. The four Kelanni stood speechless. Finally Alondo asked, “What happened?”
Keris frowned. “The message was shorter than last time. She said something about the power failing. I don’t know…”
They were all thinking the same thing, but no-one wanted to vocalise it. Would they ever hear from her again?
Lyall stood erect. “Well, we have our instructions. Let’s pack up everyone. We need to stay ahead of the Prophet’s soldiers.”
Boxx picked up the apparatus ceremoniously, and waddled off towards the wagon. Keris followed Shann to where the graylesh were grazing and when Shann turned, she saw that the woman was holding out her cloak and staff. “Here, you’ll be needing these.”
Shann accepted them. “Thank you.” Her eyes met those of the Keltar. She did not know what to think. She had been so sure that the woman’s story had been a pack of lies. All she had to do was to uncover enough evidence to convince Lyall of that, and all would be well. Now it looked as if Lyall’s faith in her had been justified. She was certain that the sight they had just witnessed was beyond anything even a Keltar could manufacture. If the tower contained similar wonders, then the woman’s credibility would be enhanced even further. Yet Shann knew that the woman did intend to betray them. She was secretly communicating with her overseer in Chalimar–Shann had seen it with her own eyes. What are you up to? She needed more information, more evidence of the woman’s true intent, before she could confront her.
Far off on the eastern horizon the tower beckoned, eager now to reveal its innermost secrets.
~
The unnamed tower lifted itself up over the Eastern Plain, a definitive statement in stone. Keris, clad in full Keltar gear, inspected the entranceway at the tower’s base; a sliding metal door left carelessly half open by its final occupants, as if in hopes that someone might one day take up residence there again.
It was an odd experience. The deserted tower was identical to the one that dominated the Dagmar manse, where Keris had spent her youth. As a little girl, she had been told not to play anywhere near there. This was a different tower, in a different part of the world. Yet it still felt as if going inside would be an act of disobedience to her parents, that she would be punished when they found out.
Boxx was standing on its hind legs, waiting patiently. Shann was just behind it, wearing the dark cloak, and holding the staff in both hands. Keris noticed that the girl’s knuckles were white with tension. Alondo had brought his odd musical instrument with him, although Keris couldn’t imagine why. She was going to make some acerbic comment, but then thought better of it. There were more important things to worry about.
Keris took point, checking the interior briefly and then moving inside. Motes danced in the sunlight which streamed through the opening. There were no windows; the space beyond was swathed in gloom. Keris allowed a moment for her eyes to grow accustomed to the reduced light and checked for signs of life; nothing, no movement nor any signs of recent occupation. She squatted down, tracing a finger in the undisturbed layer of dust. Finally, she drew herself up, signalling for the others to follow.
Boxx, Shann and Alondo entered the structure, casting their eyes about them.
“It Is A Vacuum Hole Tower. Tall, Like The Great Tree,” Boxx stated in reverent tones.
“Cosy,” Alondo observed.
Keris ignored both of them, moving beyond the pool of light. There was a rapid clicking sound. Keris whirled around to see Shann’s hand on the wall. An instant later, light flooded forth from somewhere above her. There were rectangular glowing panels, the likes of which she had never seen before, set into the ceiling at regular intervals. A number of the panels remained dark.
“What did you do?” Keris demanded.
Shann stammered, “I…I just touched this thing on the wall here.”
“Well, don’t touch anything else,” Keris warned.
Shann glared at her resentfully.
Off to one side, a set of stairs spiralled upwards. Keris headed towards it. There was a noise and movement from the direction of the entrance. Keris turned again to see the silhouette of a cloaked figure standing at the opening. The figure swept inside, and Lyall’s features became visible in the dim artificial light. “They’re coming,” he announced. “One of the Keltar, and about half a dozen soldiers; they will be here shortly.”
Why only one? The thought flashed up and Keris dismissed it immediately. No time to speculate now. “Well there seems to be no-one here. Let’s get to the top.” She turned and led the way up the spiral stairs.
The first flight led to a floor with various rooms and cubicles. Some doors were closed; others were carelessly left open as if the last residents had left in a hurry. The doors that were open afforded strange views of oddly shaped chairs and banks of instrumentation that reminded Keris of the mechanism that the woman from the past used, to communicate with them. She was starting up the second flight of stairs when she saw Alondo entering one of the chambers. She stopped and snapped at him, “What are you doing?”
Alondo was wide eyed like a little child. “Look at this stuff.”
“Forget it. This isn’t a sightseeing trip. The Prophet’s men will be on us if we don’t hurry. Now get a move on!”
Lyall came up behind him and put an arm around his shoulder. “Sorry, old friend. There’s no time.”
Alondo looked as if someone had just confiscated his favourite toy. He followed Lyall dejectedly. Keris resumed her passage up the stairs, holding her diamond tipped staff at the ready. She led them up a second set of spiral stairs and then a third. Part way up the fourth, Shann spoke up. “Lyall?”
“What is it?” he called from behind her.
“This tower, there’s…something peculiar about it.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Just blip the bronze layer in your cloak once.”
Lyall reached up to his neck control and did as he was bidden. He winced, “Curious.”
“What’s the matter?” Keris inquired behind her.
“Shann has detected a large source of what can only be refined lodestone.” Lyall wore a puzzled expression. “Oddly though, it seems to lie above us.”
Keris adjusted her control experimentally. “Curious indeed,” she commented. “Let’s get to the top, quickly.” Keris increased the pace. Five floors...six…seven. Alondo was starting to pant.
You need to rest?” Lyall looked at him with concern.
“No, no…,” Alondo puffed, “I’m fine.” He added, “How many more floors to this thing?”
“Keris?” Lyall directed the question to her.
“I’m not sure; ten maybe?”
“Will you be all right?” Lyall asked.
“Of course,” Alondo wheezed with his hands on his knees. “I can do ten…ten is good…eleven might be a problem, but ten…ten, I could do.”
Lyall smiled. He put his friend’s arm about his shoulders and started up once more.
The rest of the climb was conducted in silence, their entire concentration expended on the effort of putting one foot in front of another. Thus Keris was unprepared for the sudden feel of wind and the light from an open doorway which expelled them onto a stone platform, exposed to the elements. They were at the top. Dominating the centre of the platform was a huge silver globe, secured by clamps. They walked over to it and Keris put up her hand and touched its surface. It was perfectly smooth.
“It’s changed,” Shann was looking down at the grey stone. “The lodestone is beneath us now.”
“It’s this platform,” Lyall confirmed. “The whole thing m
ust be virtually all lodestone… Remarkable.”
Keris was starting to walk around the massive orb. A quarter of the way round she stopped. “Over here.”
The others joined her. Keris pointed to a triangular indentation in the otherwise flawless surface. “This has to be it,” she declared. She stepped up and took out the access module she had stored in her pouch, inserting it carefully into the hole. The workings inside the transparent casing lit up with a yellow light, and a low humming sound emanated from the globe itself. The module turned red, and a door began to open on the globe’s curved exterior...and stopped. The gap was no more than a hand’s breadth.
Another sound intruded into the ensuing silence. Lyall ran to the entrance to the tower’s roof. “I hear voices,” he called out, “they’re coming.” He raced back and wrapped his hands around the gap in the door, pulling with all his might. Keris and Alondo both joined him. Strain showed on their faces and the tendons in their hands, but the door refused to budge. Then suddenly it was free. They pulled it open, and Lyall, Shann and Alondo scrambled inside. Shann reached out and pulled Boxx up and over the threshold. Keris grabbed the module and pulled it out of its slot. It went dark. Then she followed the others, ducking her head to enter.
She glanced around quickly, taking in the sphere’s interior. There was light emanating from somewhere, but she could not discern its source. The concave walls were the same silver colour, but otherwise featureless. At the centre of the floor was a raised dais with four levers, two red and two blue, just as the woman from the past had described. The dais was encircled by a handrail. There was no other furniture.
Keris went to the controls. They looked simple enough. She looked up. Lyall was struggling to try and close the door, which had jammed again. “Leave it,” she cried out, “there’s no time.” He pulled back and joined the rest. Keris placed both hands on the blue lever to her left. “Better hold onto something, I have no idea what will happen when I pull this.”
The others grabbed the handrail. Boxx curled neatly up into a ball.
Keris shut her eyes, clenched her teeth and pulled down on the lever with all her might.
<><><><><>
Chapter 16
As the lever reached the down position, Keris felt a low rumble, followed by a faint downward pressure. She opened her eyes. Released from its mountings, the sphere was now rising into the air above the tower, under the influence of the lodestone platform. Keris moved to the handrail next to Lyall and held on. It was a thrilling experience and she could feel her heart beating faster. She was filled with awe at a people who could have fashioned such wonders–her ancestors.
The sphere reached its maximum height. Through the jammed open door, she could see blue lightning playing about the exterior surface of the great globe. It was spectacular. A low whine started up and rose in pitch. A massive concussion. They were all hurled to one side. Keris and Lyall held on to the handrail, but Shann and Alondo lost their grip and tumbled over and over inside the globe. The ball that was Boxx rolled around but seemed otherwise unaffected. Another huge bang. A sense of falling. The impact of the sphere against the stone platform. Keris was bounced around and fell with the others in a disoriented heap.
Her head felt muzzy. She put her hand to her temple. It felt wet. White blood stained the tips of her fingers. She forced her mind to analyse what had happened. The Prophet’s men had caught up to them. A petard. A larger version of the lodestone grenade. They had used petards to bring down the sphere somehow, maybe by destroying the mechanism that controlled it. It didn’t matter. What mattered was that the sphere was not going to rise again, and with only one exit, it would soon become a trap if they did not move. She looked over to one side. The globe had rolled slightly on impact, so that the doorway was lower down, but still exposed to the open air.
The tall figure of Lyall was suddenly looming over her. “Are you all right?”
“Yes, yes.” She waved a hand. “Get out of here, go, go!” Her voice sounded muffled, as if she were trying to talk with blankets stuffed in her ears. She shook her head with annoyance. As she got her elbows under her and struggled to a sitting position, she saw the backs of two cloaked figures and one gaily clad musician clambering through the threshold one by one. A distant voice in the back of her mind suggested mildly that she would feel so much better if she simply lay back down and closed her eyes. She thrust the thought away savagely.
There were sounds coming from outside; coarse shouts, animalistic grunts, the clash of weapons. I must get out there. She went to get up and felt a warm tingling contact at the side of her face. She turned her head instinctively. The Chandara was sitting on its hind legs next to her, three fingers of one limb touching the sticky smear of blood at her temple. Its mouth rippled in a peculiar fashion, but no words came out. “Boxx, what are you doing?” Her voice still sounded odd in her ears.
“I Heal Keris,” it announced. Then its mouth reverted to the same rippling motion.
“Sorry, no time for that now.” She pulled away and got to her feet. Her legs swayed under her but she fought to regain control, forcing them to carry her towards the opening. Although it made no sense, she could still feel the Chandara’s touch. It was as if the whole side of her face were alive.
Framed in the entrance to the sphere, she could see Lyall sparring with four soldiers in iron studded leather breastplates. He was using the superior reach of his staff to fend them off, whilst they circled, weapons drawn, trying to outflank him. He flared his cloak and leaped out of their midst, the soldiers giving chase.
Keris clambered out of the silver globe, and from the corner of her eye she spotted Alondo to her right, crouched down. Bizarrely, he seemed to be adjusting the settings on that musical instrument he carried. At least he seemed to have the good sense to stay out of the fighting.
Her mind was starting to clear, and her tactical sense kicked in. In an instant, she registered the relative positions of friend and foe alike, as if they were pieces on a shassatan board. Alondo would correspond to “The Fool,” with no offensive role. Lyall was “The Wheel,” around which the other pieces revolved. She would be “The Dagger,” punishing each of the opponent’s moves with a counter-move. “The Dagger,” for the opposition would be the lone Keltar. She glanced around anxiously, but he did not seem to be within her field of vision.
She moved out onto the tower’s roof. The sound of clashing staffs, above and behind her. She wheeled around to see the Keltar battling another cloaked figure in mid-air above the ruined globe. Shann. The tiny girl was twisting and turning, parrying and dodging a furious array of blows. As Keris registered the scene, she could not help but be impressed by the girl’s tenacity. Wisely, she was not making it a contest of strength but was using her superior speed and agility to good effect. However, she was fighting a trained Keltar, and there was no way for her to avoid every blow. Already her arm bore what looked like a flesh wound. Sooner or later, a single vicious thrust or slash would fully connect, and she would go down.
Keris bent her legs, retracted the bronze layer of her cloak fully and shot into the air. The lodestone platform was a perfect base, affording almost infinite possibilities of movement in the air. However, the enemy had the same advantage. Overconfidence would be fatal. Twisting in the air, she altered her trajectory so as to land on the outer shell of the sphere near the top. She landed and pressed herself flat against the curved surface. Shann had landed on the platform and immediately taken off again in a different direction. Good girl. Don’t let yourself get caught on the ground. The Keltar gave chase. He was trying to anticipate the girl’s next move and trap her. He had not spotted Keris; she had the element of surprise. Just keep him occupied for a few moments more, girl.
Shann reached the apex of her leap. The Keltar was rising to meet her in the air, readying his staff once more to probe her defences, waiting for her to make a fatal error. His back was turned. Keris saw the opening. She flared her cloak and launched herself skyward.
Reaching the top of her leap, she angled her body towards the Keltar, and slammed open her bronze layer. Instantly, she felt the downward pressure of the upper lodestone layer on bronze. She hurtled downwards, feet first. Air rushed past as the pair of cloaked combatants rose to meet her. Keris twisted at the last, feeling resistance, as her boots impacted the Keltar’s side. She heard an “oomph” as air was forcibly expelled from the man’s lungs. The massive blow sent him tumbling towards the platform out of control, and he landed hard. Keris partially retracted her bronze and slowed her descent, alighting directly in front of the sprawling figure. From the corner of her eye she could see that Shann had landed safely some way off. The girl was breathing hard, but watching the confrontation, intently.
The man turned his face towards Keris. He was young and wiry looking, with fair hair combed straight back. Keris had a flash of recognition. She had seen him at the keep, but could not remember ever speaking to him. He rose to his feet, clutching his side. “You–you are Keris, the traitor.”
The word stung Keris in a way she had not expected. It felt like he had somehow turned the tables on her and gained the advantage. She scrambled to maintain her moral footing. “You do not understand what is going on here.”
“I understand well enough,” the man sneered. “You have sided with these impostors against the Prophet.”
The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) Page 17
