“Is she returning?” Jules asked. They’d found her among all the others rescued from the Collector’s ship, and she’d quickly taken to Regnig and his research.
She may and she may not. That is up to her, but this is not the life for one so young as her.
Jules understood. Regnig confined himself underground for days, weeks, or longer. As much as Jules liked being in the library here, she needed fresh air, sunlight on her skin, or space through a viewscreen. She realized she hadn’t even brought up the Terellion. “Where’s Fontem?”
He’s on his ship far away. Studying his own collection.
“Is that healthy?” she asked. Fontem had been obsessed with utilizing time travel to spend more time with his wife, who’d died long before him.
He’s looking for a device. You may have heard of it.
“I see,” she said. Her dad had expected this too. “Should we tell Fontem we have the time travel tool?”
That’s up to your father, I presume. I have said nothing, only that I have no record of such a tool on file. Regnig would have hated lying to the man, but Papa had likely made him promise to keep it a secret.
“Maybe he can help us with Lom of Pleva returning, even change something Papa did,” Jules said hopefully.
I do not think so, but it could be worth a try.
Her father hadn’t brought up Lom in quite some time, but she knew he wondered about the day his nemesis would return. Something had happened to her dad while he’d traveled through the portals years ago, and it involved an older version of himself trying to pass on a warning.
“I hope Lom never returns,” she whispered.
So do I, my dear. So do I.
Four
We appeared in Shimmal’s portal room, the stark white walls a reminder of Sarlun’s dedication to the Gatekeepers. My old friend was close by, already walking toward us from the entrance. His small snout wagged back and forth as we met, his dark eyes wide and excited. “Today’s the day,” he said in greeting.
“You better believe it,” I replied. “It feels like the last year or so flew by, but Captain Dean Parker is here for duty.”
“And with your Gatekeeper leader, Mary Parker, as well as the Light’s newest recruit. Welcome, Jules.” Sarlun wasn’t usually so animated, but his words made us all brighten, and we followed him from the portal room.
“How are things?” Mary asked him. She wore brightly-colored robes in anticipation of our quick stop on Shimmal, mostly because we were visiting Sarlun’s vacation property before making Light our temporarily permanent home.
Jules wore an almost-matching dress, and I’d opted for something a little less showy, with white pants and a gray cloak. Sarlun studied our attire and grinned in appreciation. “I see you’re taking a liking to the Shimmal fashion. Very good. And things are great.”
“Where are we with the return of the Collector’s subjects?” Jules asked, her eyes darting at the last word.
“Follow me. I’ll show you,” he said, leading us down the corridor and outside. It was warm, the sun high, the flowers of his courtyard sending waves of sweetness through my nose.
A few ships flew through the sky, their city quiet yet busy. I peered toward it, seeing more high-rises than before, and more traffic above us. The ships were long, almost like the hovertrains we’d adopted on New Spero and Earth. Seeing them made me think about Paul back at the colonies. Since we’d stopped Frasier and the Restorers, things had been going far better on Earth.
This city was futuristic, even for us. The buildings stood tall, their shapes and bends appearing to defy gravity and physics. One caught my eye in the distance, and I tapped Sarlun, curious what the curved, half-circle structure was. It reminded me of their portal symbol. “Tell me about that one.”
“That’s a tribute to our founders, the first of the Shimmali people. It is said we were derived from an ancient god, one seeking to create an enlightened society. The first people were each born with that symbol, an open circle, if you will,” Sarlun said as we walked.
“What do you mean, born with it?” Jules asked.
Sarlun pointed to his chest. “Like a brand. Here.”
“That seems odd. When did the brand stop?” I had never heard of this before.
Sarlun slowed, turning to me. “What do you mean, stop?”
“New generations are born with this symbol?” I asked.
He nodded, stopping to unclasp the top buttons from his uniform. He pulled the material from his chest, and I saw it, a pale emblem as described.
“That’s the same as the portal… do you think…” Jules started.
“There has been speculation that whoever created the true portal technology predates the Theos, as you saw with the raw stone on Menocury L05. Theologians over the ages have also suggested that these same entities created all races.” Sarlun continued to walk, buttoning his shirt.
Jules was right beside him, her long brown hair styled in a loose braid hanging down her back. She was so much like me, it was almost heartbreaking. I knew exactly what she was feeling and could almost predict her next question. It would be about her abilities and how they related to…
“Do you think they made me? Or were the same ones responsible for O’ri and my powers?” Jules asked, taking the comments from my thoughts.
“I suspect there’s a possibility,” Sarlun replied as another series of transports roared through the sky above us.
“It appears that you’re prospering,” Mary said.
“We are. Thanks to the portals, and the Alliance, our trade is at an all-time high,” Sarlun said. He spoke English now, and I almost didn’t notice he wasn’t squawking his words.
We kept moving, over a bridge with a high see-through rail, and down a few steps until we reached a docking bay for visiting shuttles. The Collector’s ship was parked there, and from what I could tell, it was bolted to the concrete. “We’ve shut the engines off and dismantled it, but we found some odd surprises inside that we didn’t trust. We’re being careful with how we store it. Once we’ve finished studying it, we’ll be moving it to a more secure facility.”
I was surprised to see Brik there, waiting for us near the ship’s entrance. I waved to the creature from Sterona, and he smiled from his narrow slit of a mouth. Brik’s people were interesting: he had a prolonged thick tail hanging to the ground; his face was long; his head was bald and marked with light green lines. His deep-set dark eyes were alive as we approached, and he appeared excited today.
“Hello, Brik,” I said after powering up the translator on my belt.
“Greetings, Parkers.” His words were smooth, reminding me of a fish making bubbles.
“We weren’t expecting you,” Jules told him. “But I’m glad you’re here.” She smiled, and I was so proud to see my daughter able to put people at ease. I nudged Mary with my elbow, thinking she got that from her mother.
Mary grabbed my hand, and we climbed the ladder on the outside of the ship. His hatch was on the top, as it had been when we’d discovered him hiding on the hillside near the boundary of a dimensional shift we’d called Cloud. From here, we could see more of the city, and I concentrated on keeping my balance as we clambered into the Collector’s ship for what I hoped was the last time.
“Lady Jules, I owe you with my life, so speak the word, and I will do your bidding,” Brik told Jules as we stepped into the first level near the entrance.
Jules beamed. “You don’t owe me anything, Brik. We just want to find your home. Right, Papa?”
“That’s right. We have a lot of memories of Sterona, and I can’t wait to meet the rest of your people, Brik,” I told him.
We’d spent a few days with the man over the last year, and I still knew next to nothing about his people. But he was friendly and always affable, which suggested they were a good race to befriend. Mary was already discussing inviting them into the Alliance.
The lights flickered on at our movement, and the first thing I noticed were the emp
ty displays all in a long line down the hall. There were multiple decks similar to this one, each bereft of the trapped creatures. Some of them had been on his ship for four thousand years or so, according to our best estimates, which was hard to wrap my head around.
There were around twenty of them with no determined origin, but the Gatekeepers were working on translation and star maps, and Sarlun hoped to have some results shortly. They were all living comfortably on Shimmal, and so far, there had only been a few minor issues between the frustrated beings.
Jules took the lead now, Brik following close behind.
“Lady Jules was born there. The others will be thrilled to hear such good news. Perhaps there is life to be had on our old world after all,” Brik said, trailing after my daughter toward the lift. I knew where Jules was headed, and Mary frowned as we lowered to deck seven.
There was one display lit up on this level, near the end, and Jules was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. Mary held me back. “We don’t have to bring him aboard Light.”
“I think we do. Look at her. She needs to discover more about herself, and he might be able to tell her,” I said.
“He might be dangerous,” Mary whispered.
“Everything is dangerous. She’s the one who wants to keep him frozen in time like this. She and Regnig are running numerous tests. She’ll figure it out and do what is necessary when it’s right,” I said, feigning confidence.
“I’ll have to trust you on that, Dean. The room will be guarded, though. No one in or out, deal?” Mary raised her hand to shake mine, and I kissed it instead.
“Deal.” We moved within the corridor, and I almost expected the Collector’s voice to carry through the speakers, his lumpy clay golem to limp down the hall toward us. But the Collector wasn’t on the ship any longer. He was safely away, frozen somewhere on this planet, under constant watch.
Jules stared at the boy, and I swore her eyes glowed slightly darker in his presence. It might have been the dim lighting or the reflection off the glass case, but something had changed in her. The boy himself was slight: wide in the shoulders, slim at the waist. He was stuck there, floating in the time trap set by the Collector, and his blond hair stuck out like he was under water. It was the eyes that drew my attention, though. They were icy blue, glowing like Jules’.
“That’s the same color as the world where the Iskios took me,” Mary whispered in my ear.
“I know.” I wrapped my arm around her, aware that the ordeal had been extremely traumatic. That was the day we’d learned she was pregnant, and the day they took her from me, sending Slate and me back to New Spero with so much as a flick of the wrist. It was all related; it had to be. That planet was the clue to Jules’ powers, but I didn’t want to return there, not for anything, even if we were certain the Iskios were gone, their Vortex sent to another dimension with the Shifter I’d obtained from Garo Alnod.
“Brik, have you ever seen anyone with glowing eyes like this before?” Jules asked the being, her words translated in the device on Brik’s belt.
“No, Lady Jules. I have not. Other than yours.”
“Mom, Papa, can we leave?” she asked, turning from the boy hovering there behind the display.
I nodded, and Jules came over to hug me, then Mary, who stroked her daughter’s hair before we returned to the lift that elevated us up to the top level of the Collector’s ship.
“You don’t have to worry, honey. You’ll be safe. I promise,” I told her after the others had climbed from the vessel. I hated making a promise I couldn’t keep, but I knew this was one I wouldn’t fail her on.
“Thanks. How about we head up to Light and see what’s in store for us?” Jules asked.
“That sounds perfect.” I followed her out, and after another hour or so, we were moving in a shuttle toward my brand-new starship, funded by the Alliance of Worlds.
“It’s so wonderful,” Mary said, and I couldn’t help but agree. Horizon was pleasant, but this… this was the finest exploration vessel I’d ever laid eyes on. It took the best elements of the Keppe ships and mixed it with the Shimmali technology, twisted with some updates from the Molariuns, and we had Light. It was longer than the others, sleeker, and at two point one kilometers in length, it was quite a hike to traverse.
My crew had been mostly picked by the Alliance and the Gatekeepers, other than my main crew, whom I’d had a personal hand in accepting or denying. I was looking forward to spending time with so many of my close friends over the next couple of years, after we’d been all split up for so long.
Karo wouldn’t be coming, but he was protecting Hugo while he took his first tumultuous but exciting steps to becoming a Gatekeeper himself. I didn’t know if the boy would ever actually join their ranks, but the fundamentals and other education would be priceless. He’d learn intricate math, physics, negotiation, and so many other useful subjects in our modern era.
“Look at the colors,” Jules said, staring from the shuttle viewer.
The outside hull was tinged golden along the top half and midnight blue on the lower section, the front of the ship coming to a peak just above the complex weapons system. For an exploration craft, Light was armed to the teeth.
We neared the hull, and soon it was all we saw through the viewer as the shuttle moved for the hangar to the lower decks near the rear of Light. The starship was docked beside immense scaffolding along the Shimmali manufacturing station between the planet and their moon. We entered through the main hangar, the blue energy barrier flashing as the shuttle pressed through, and into the otherwise bare room.
Soon it would be loaded with two of our cloaked Kraski ships, along with multiple shuttles like this one and other various ships, including a Padlog fighter donated by the Supreme. Sergo was excited by the fact that the old insectoid was speaking with him again, after he realized his granddaughter Walo was serious about the rogue thief-turned-hero. I’d taken the chance to vouch for him over the last handful of years, and hoped it wouldn’t bite me in the butt.
The doors sprang open, and it was clear the others wanted me to set foot on my new vessel first, so I obliged. The shuttle ramp had three steps, and I took them slowly. I’d been on Light a few times over the past year to see the updates as they happened, but this was our first visit to the completed project. This was different. Final.
My shoes landed on the hangar floor, and I rubbed my beard, looking around, the rest of our group coming to stand beside me.
“What do you think?” Sarlun asked, his snout twitching in anticipation.
“I think Captain Dean Parker is home.”
Five
This was going to be so much fun. Jules tried to hold in her excitement, but it kept spilling over the edges of her mind as they walked through every square inch of Light. They’d seen the gym, the training rooms where pilots and Gatekeepers could hone their skills, and the swimming pool.
There was also an underwater facility that any aquatic guests could call home, and Jules peered through the glass, watching the green plants ripple in the water.
“We’ll be bringing the Philod to Dechar as our first stop. She’s quite the character,” Papa said.
Jules had met Uce. She sported eight legs and a bulbous head with eyes on the top of the skull for looking up at her prey. She sang a beautiful song to communicate, and being around her felt like Jules was with something special, that the universe was full of great and powerful things to counter the dark and horrible ones.
“We have habitats for a few other races built in here as well,” Sarlun said, walking to the wall across from the Philod pod. The walls were light gray along the bottoms, the upper half a smooth black screen with lights and computer readouts with live updates. Sarlun tapped the screen, and the wall opened up, showcasing the desert landscape beyond. The space was at least three thousand square feet, and a bright hot lamp shone directly over the sand.
“This is for the Lucat, who thrives in fifty degrees Celsius during the day and ten at night.”
Sarlun pointed to a rocky structure at the far corner of the room. “He’ll sleep in there.”
Jules tried to picture the Lucat and thought he was the one with the forked tongue, the squat leathery legs, and the white scaled belly. There were so many races out there, it made Jules feel better about not knowing her own heritage, or that of her abilities. The human part was pretty self-explanatory.
Brik walked alongside them for the afternoon, his tail nearly tripping her twice, but it was Papa that drew her attention the most. He was quiet, subdued, but Jules felt the thrill and happiness emanating from him. It was in his tone, his posture, and spread across his face that never seemed to lose the small grin tilting the corners of his mouth upwards.
He was in his element. Jules had been through a lot with him at her side, but mostly when she was younger. He’d been stuck at home for too long, and it was high time for him to take the reins of his destiny and seek out the adventure he needed to thrive. They were cut from the same cloth.
“There are three mess halls: one on deck four, one on deck eight, and one for the private bridge crew on deck six,” Sarlun told them as they walked past the hall on deck eight. They’d already seen the first one, the largest of the three, and Jules had peeked in, hoping to find something to snack on. The ship hadn’t been stocked yet, and she’d left with a grumbling stomach.
They continued the trip, and Jules wished Dean was there with her. Even Patty. The girl was still her friend, even if she was sixteen and nothing more than raging hormones.
Eventually, they stopped at engineering, which was at the very rear of the vessel and took up all twelve stories. They walked in from the top deck, and Jules’ breath caught in her throat. They peered at the drive from the balcony overlooking the entire room, and it was beautiful. There were screens along the far walls, showing space beyond the ship in a panoramic view. The thrusters were off, but Jules suspected she’d be able to see them glowing bright blue as they took the power from the stones inside the clear drive tube. That cylinder stretched from the stark-white engineering floor to the ceiling just out of her reach.
The Survivors (Book 12): New Discovery Page 4
