“Like he can’t feel the Kyroibi or whatever is controlling his actions,” Ellie muttered as she stepped forward and Re’geya returned to his normal appearance.
They were nearing Helsynnic airspace and in just a few moments, they would be on the ground with limited time to act. Ellie had hoped the Kyroibi would guide her as they made their approach, homing in on the location of the hidden knowledge like a beacon, but as she reached out, she felt nothing except the embarrassment that she had believed it could be so easy.
Mikk, disguised once again as a Paisreatta pilot, opened the communications link, revealing a bored looking Helsynnic guard, who barely looked up from his console as he completed the security scan of their ship.
“Proceed directly to the coordinates I have transmitted. We have our orders to destroy your vessel should you deviate from course.”
“And risk the destruction of the galaxy when you strike down the Eidyn Master? I should think not,” Gri replied in a haughty tone that surprised Ellie. “The Emperor has little reason to fear. Our pilot will maintain the current course.”
With that, he made a dramatic show of manually cutting off the transmission and turned an amused smirk to Mikk. “Oh yes, Nyessovor was definitely keeping watch on that exchange. It is too bad for the young guard that his posturing will likely get him demoted, rather than the promotion he was expecting.”
“In any event, it’s show time,” Ellie said with a swallow as the walls around them disappeared, revealing the wide and ornate courtyard of a rather large palace. Under any other circumstances the view might have been breathtaking, but under the current circumstance, Ellie held what little breath she had. Fanned out in a semi-circle to meet them was a very large party of imperial guards. “It might be best if those of us who aren’t going with Gri and the uh… Eidyn Master were to stay out of sight until they’re gone.”
“What if they stay here?” Mikk asked.
“We’ll just have to pulse to somewhere safe. I’m sure we can do a scan to find some part of this planet that is safe.” Though as she looked out at the towering skyscrapers in the distance, she had to wonder what they were in for.
“I do hope we have more of a plan than that,” Bethany muttered as they crammed themselves into the maintenance area behind the displacement core. “Just don’t tell me we’re gonna go knocking on doors until we find someone willing to trust a bunch of outsider strangers with information that might get them in trouble with the current government.”
“Of course we have a plan. Gri said to look for the Eidyn exiles,” Mikk reminded them.
“Yeah well, that would be easy if we had any idea where…” Ellie began, but trailed off when a thought struck her.
Family.
Somewhere on this planet, it was possible that the descendants of her great grandfather’s sister might still exist. The Kyroibi was capable of tracking those she was close to including family. Of course, she wasn’t exactly close to anyone on Helsyn, but if she did have family here, it was worth a shot.
“Give me a moment,” she said and got up, heading into the quiet of the small shuttle’s cargo hold.
Sitting down on the floor, she let her mind drift to the Kyroibi bond, beginning with Julian’s. Though fainter than ever, Ellie could still feel his life force was strong. Naturally, she worried, but quickly moved on, knowing that lingering would only disrupt her concentration, which would ultimately keep her from him. Instead she moved to her mother and stepfather. Each bond comingled and despite being as far across the galaxy as Julian, formed a strong pathway. In fact, so strong that Ellie could feel her mother’s emotions and encouragement, which bolstered her and gave her the strength to move on into the unknown.
She cast her consciousness wide, feeling the bonds of all her loved ones at once, though faintly, as her focus extended the span of the galaxy. Slowly, she pulled back, drawing her focus in until its reach spanned only the planet of Helsyn. With a start, Ellie felt something. Weak at first, but there it was. A familial bond. A distant cousin, perhaps, but it was a start. She focused on the source of the bond and realized they were not too far from the ship.
In fact, they were very close.
Too close.
She let her mind cast out again, just to make sure she wasn’t focused on Gri or Re’geya, taking into account every familiar bond she encountered. With everyone accounted for, a single, faint, but very clear tether was left and it led directly into the castle.
Keeping the tether in the back of her mind, Ellie went back to the cockpit and let the others know they had a start.
“So we’re supposed to get in there somehow?”
“Um, well, it was your idea that I act the part of a guard. I guess I’ll be escorting you to the dungeons. Or whatever pit of despair they use for prisoners here.”
“I’m suddenly not liking these odds,” Mikk muttered as she ran from storage compartment to storage compartment, loading herself with every undetectable weapon she could find.
“Unless you’ve got information I don’t on the whereabouts of hidden knowledge, it’s all we’ve got,” Ellie reminded her. “At least they didn’t leave anyone to watch the ship. Still, I’d feel better if we had some sort of a map or something. And before you ask, the Kyroibi has nothing on Helsynnic architecture.”
“Too bad,” Bethany quipped as they snuck out an emergency escape hatch on the opposite side of the ship. “I’m kind of digging the design.”
Admittedly, the tall structures with ornate spires jutting into the clouds were rather stunning. Ellie was reminded of the scenery in old science fiction films like Metropolis and again had to wonder how much of Earth might have been influenced by rogue Eidyssic.
“Well right now let us dig some stealth,” Mikk muttered, still stuffing weapons into her flight suit’s many hidden pockets. “I don’t like this. I think I’d rather take my chances on a goose chase through that city back there.”
“No time. Besides, I see a clear path to the right of us. From there, we’ll have to be careful.”
Luckily, Ellie noticed the ground in the courtyard was made of a similar substance to the bright yet flexible surfaces on Ia’na Eidyn. Their feet made no sound on the crushed crystal ground cover as they made their way across the courtyard as quickly as possible, stopping only to make sure the corridor was clear.
Inside, Ellie stopped, reached out, and found that the bond was stronger than it had been, but it seemed to be coming from deeper inside the structure. She motioned for the others to follow. At the end of the hall, they were blocked by a large, ornate door.
“Are you sure this is the right way?” Bethany asked.
“Positive. The bond is getting stronger.”
Bethany held up her arm and turned it so that her wrist showed. There, three implanted diodes pulsed with information. Ellie’s eyes grew wide.
“You and Re’geya are pretty serious, I guess.”
“We are, but I wasn’t showing you this to invite you to the wedding. If I’m reading this right, Reg is right down the hall and he’s on alert. Are you sure this is the right way?”
“It is.” Ellie reached out, sensing both Reg and Gri along with the stronger, yet unfamiliar bond of her blood relative. “I can sense them all. They’re—” she began, but cut off as Bethany brushed past her, gun in one hand, the other reaching for the door.
“Wait,” she whispered, grabbing Bethany’s arm to keep her from opening the door. “We can’t go in there.”
“Why not?”
“Think about it,” Ellie said with a deflated sigh. “If Gri and Reg are there, that’s likely the Emperor’s receiving room, meaning the relative I’m sensing is probably an enslaved guard or worse. We’re not going to get any information here and I’m sorry. I’ve just wasted our t—”
Ellie jumped as the door behind her swung open and hit the wall with an echoing thump.
“Eidyn Master. So nice of you to join us at last.”
Ellie froze. The voice, while
not familiar, had the guttural tone of the Helsynnic, but the accent was curious, sounding almost like the musical lilt of the Eidyssic language. She turned just as Mikk let out a gasp. Nyessovor stood in the doorway. Behind him, Gri and Re’geya stood surrounded by guards.
Chapter 14
Before anyone had a chance to react, the emperor’s guards had them surrounded. Ellie turned to Nyessovor and held up her hands to show she was unarmed before allowing her exo-shield to retract. The familial bond she had tracked to the chamber was strong, overwhelmingly so, but it was also impossible to lock onto any one of the faceless guards who made for a formidable blockade against escape. She caught Gri’s eye, returning his curiosity with a look that conveyed an apology as well as the complexity of the situation.
“Guess you can drop the disguise, Reg,” she said with another apologetic shrug before turning back to the emperor with a disarming smile. “So much for our clever plan.”
“I must admit, for a moment, your plan fooled me,” Nyessovor replied with a chuckle. “But as Eidyn Master, surely you didn’t think sending in a decoy would distract from your obvious assassination attempt.”
“My… wha…” Ellie stammered, briefly confused until she turned and noticed both Mikk and Bethany—each armed to the teeth—engaged in a standoff with the guards. “Ladies,” she whispered, giving them each a meaningful look before turning back to the emperor. “Okay, I can see how you might have gotten that impression, but I assure you, I want peace as much as anyone else.”
“Is that so?” Nyessovor looked unconvinced.
“I will not deny that I meant to deceive,” Ellie replied, deciding the truth was likely the best option. Perhaps she’d misread the hostility. After all, the emperor had been in negotiations with the assembly prior to her return from T’al Eidyn. “You see, there’s a possibility that one of my family members hid some information here on Helsyn. Information that may prove crucial in saving us all from a fate my well-meaning ancestors saddled us all with.”
“Well,” Nyessovor said, seeming to contemplate seriously her words. “Then it seems perhaps we are all in agreement that peace for the galaxy is the ultimate goal.”
Ellie let out her breath, but did not allow her guard to come down.
“Was that why you asked me here today? To discuss peace and perhaps help me to find the hidden information?”
Though she was certain that was most decidedly not why a meeting had been arranged, Nyessovor’s next words were not what she expected.
“No, Eidyn Master. I asked you here to kill you, of course, and to destroy the abominable lie you carry. To that end, my plans have not changed in the least.”
“Wait, what?” Ellie asked, confused.
“Did you think I was going to let you live, knowing as I do that you are the weapon meant to take us all down?”
“No, I got that part loud and clear,” Ellie shot back. “What’s not clear is why you think the Kyroibi needs to be destroyed. Not that I’m disagreeing with you, but typically people in power want to possess the Kyroibi at any cost, including my own mother, but none have ever expressed a desire to see the knowledge destroyed.”
“Ah yes, forbidden knowledge.” Nyessovor barked out a sharp laugh. “More like a means to keep sedated the population. No, I’m afraid even you don’t know the truth about that which you protect with your life. And that is why I’m going to have to take both.” He raised a hand to signal to his guards, but Bethany, Mikk, Vonsse, and Re’geya, were quicker. Even the ever-peaceful Gri had a stun rod in each hand. Ellie’s head spun at the number of weapons suddenly pointed at both the emperor and his guards.
“And you think we’re just gonna let you do that?” Bethany hissed as she flipped the switch to power up the plasma rifle she held easily in her left hand.
“Okay, everyone needs to calm down,” Ellie said with more bravado than she felt. “You’re wrong, Emperor. I do know the true knowledge of the Kyroibi. Well, some of it. But I know enough to know that if you kill me, yes, the Kyroibi will be destroyed because it’s part of my genetics now, but if you think that will stop the battalion, you’re wrong.”
“When I destroy the Kyroibi, the battalion will be mine to control.”
“Oh?” Ellie was again taken aback by the emperor’s words. “Perhaps you know something of the hidden information I came here to find. If you know a way to disarm the battalion, it would definitely be in everyone’s interest to allow you to do so. I won’t stand in your way.”
“Of course you won’t stand in my way. I make no empty threat, Eidyn Master. You will die today. And when I am done here, I will use the battalion to end the legacy of control your people have held over the galaxy for too long.”
Ellie sighed, but even as her hopes were dashed yet again, she realized something curious. Nyessovor was clearly blinded by rage and acting without rational thought, but his intention was not power. He wanted the same thing they did. She thought back to one of her last conversations with her mother. Isa had expressed a similar confusion about the effect the entity had on her.
The entity, that which the scholars of the temple seemed to believe had attached itself to her, was manipulating the emperor, but to what end, was unclear.
“You realize that destroying the Kyroibi will kill you as well. The battalion will not stop until all threat to the universe is gone. Incidentally, in their misguided creation, all sentient beings are considered a threat by the battalion.”
“It is worth my life to see this thing destroyed.”
“As you wish,” Mikk said with a shrug, but Ellie held up her hand. The last thing she needed was a fight to break out in which anyone was killed or injured. Not just because she knew the guards were likely there against their will but also because she could not get a lock on which one was her relative who might have the information she needed. The bond was strong, certainly, but not familiar enough to pick out someone she’d never met in her life.
Which meant she had just one last hope. Unfortunately, it was also a risky maneuver.
“Very well,” Ellie said, bowing her head in deference. “I agree. I will help you and I will ask those with me to stand down, but first, I need your cooperation.”
“You are not exactly in a position to ask for such.”
“Uh… We’re in the middle of a pretty overpowered standoff here so I actually kind of am,” Ellie said and rolled her eyes. Using the gentlest tone she could muster given the number of weapons brandished on both sides, she asked, “I know this may seem an odd question, but is everyone here healthy? Physically, that is.”
The emperor scowled, but he wasn’t the only one who was confused. Bethany looked over at Mikk, who shrugged and looked at Gri. Many sets of eyes turned, curious as to what her end game was.
“My guard is incapable of illness.”
“I hope for everyone’s sake you’re right,” Ellie muttered as her fingers closed around the small gray box in her pocket and lifted the latch. She’d barely raised the lid before the grounding stone began to hum with energy. Something was being drawn in. She could only hope her theory was correct and it was the entity.
Time seemed to stand still. No one, it seemed, had any idea that she’d done anything. Not even Nyessovor, who still stood scowling at her, arms folded, with a slightly bored expression. But she could feel the clashing of energies as the stone drew in the entity. At the same time, Ellie felt an extreme revulsion. It was all she could do to keep her hands around the box with the stone. Had she been holding it against her bare palm, she would have dropped it.
The revulsion grew into a physical feeling of unease that turned into a churning in her gut. Ellie fought the urge to be sick. Her diodes flared with a sickly light and for a brief and terrifying moment, she wondered if what she was feeling was her own abstraction coming loose from her being to be trapped within the stone. But before the terrifying thought had time to take root, the pain ended. The hum stopped. Her diodes flared briefly with their full light before
dimming to a natural glow.
It was then that she noticed she wasn’t the only one bathed in the soft light of emotion. Though faint, and not as prominent against his pale complexion, Nyessovor’s skin glowed with the same complex geometric pattern as hers. Ellie caught his eye and saw confusion before he stumbled forward, blinking away the fog that invaded his head. When he again looked up, it was with clear eyes and a warm smile, though there were hints of guilt emanating from the light of his diodes.
“Eidyn Master, you must think the worst of me.”
“If I’m being honest, I don’t know what to think,” Ellie muttered, quickly closing the latch on the case around the grounding stone. The sudden clearing of her own mind was welcome and she took a deep and steadying breath, noticing that she felt both physically and emotionally drained, yet she wasn’t entirely sure why.
“That makes two of us,” said Gri, who took a cautious step forward. When the guards surrounding them didn’t attack, he took another step closer, peering at the already fading light issuing from Nyessovor’s skin.
Nyessovor barked something to his guards in a language Ellie didn’t recognize, though she was reminded of her great grandfather’s curiously accented speech. Odder still, the Kyroibi had little information, other than it seemed an ancient language that was no longer used anywhere in the galaxy. At his command, the guards lowered their weapons and retreated.
“It seems we all have our vulnerabilities as well as secrets,” he said with a sympathetic smile. “My own deception began shortly before your birth. I was asked by a relative to get close to Emperor Svoryk. It was our intention to bring down his reign of tyranny and establish once again a fair governance for all people of the Ghowrn system. However, there was much that neither of us could have anticipated.”
“You’re part Eidyssic,” Ellie blurted out before her brain could stop her mouth. “How were you able to gain the trust of the Huptsovians?”
“You’ll find a good many Helsynnic have Eidyssic blood, even if there are few who would openly admit it as of late. In fact, for our continued safety, it would be best if you share that news with no one. There are several, both Helsynnic and Huptsovian, who felt my ascension to the position of Emperor was a mistake. There are nearly as many who would line up to cut my throat for their chance at the throne.”
The Needs of the Many Page 11
