The Survivors (Book 12): New Discovery

by Hystad, Nathan

  “Weini Bablii brashunli everution.” His gaze met hers, and she noticed a slight uptick on the corners of his lips. He didn’t seem afraid; quite the opposite.

  She waited a moment, and something came through: “My princess looks well.”

  Jules stepped toward him. “What did you say?” The words traveled through the translator in his language. She slid it from her belt. She hit mute and turned to her father. “It says it’s a dialect found on a vacant space station near the Elion system two thousand years ago.”

  He spoke again, his knuckles lightly rapping against the glass case. He seemed shocked that he was stuck behind it. “Why am I behind a cage?”

  “We found you. We do not know if you’re safe.” She stood right before him, the glass and her energy barrier the only things between them.

  “You are Ja’ri. How could I not be safe?” His hand lifted, pressing a palm to the surface near her.

  Jules was drawn to him, to solve the mystery of what she was, and without thinking, her hand rose as well.

  “Jules, be careful,” her dad warned from behind her, but she almost didn’t hear him.

  Papa’s footsteps echoed across the room, but Jules was staring at the icy blue eyes. She noticed them flicker away from her gaze, and the soft expression of the young man turned to a frown. Her shield shattered, and she was thrown backwards at the impact.

  “Come no closer. She is mine!” The boy’s voice had changed, and Jules snapped to her father, who was being lifted in a blue energy barrier.

  “Let him down!” she ordered the boy, but he paid her no heed.

  Her father was groaning, his face flushed and red. He began to gasp inside the sphere he was trapped in, and Jules knew he had no oxygen inside. The boy was trying to kill him.

  “Stop it!” she shouted, but he didn’t. Jules acted. She shot a pulse from her fingertips, and instead of shattering the glass, it passed through and entered her adversary’s chest. He faltered, her dad falling to the ground in a heap. He was inhaling deep breaths, and Jules thought he was okay.

  The boy shouted again. “Weini bablii teelina narfusin.” The translator quickly relayed his call. “My princess, do not intervene.”

  His term, even if it was a loose translation, was beginning to grate on her. “I’m not your princess,” she said, sending another sphere through, this one encircling the boy. “What is your name?” She stalked to the glass again, directing power into her trap.

  “Lan’i. You’ve never been strong enough…” He started to smile, and she felt the opposition emanating from the boy. Instead of waiting to see who was truly more powerful, she tapped the button again, his eyes going wide as he froze in place. He was no longer hovering in the center, looking soft and hopeful. His face held an angry sneer, but he was caught.

  She rushed to Papa’s side, and he was sitting up, hand rubbing his throat. “How do you think that went?” he coughed out.

  “About how I expected.” She laughed as her dad smiled, pulling her into a hug.

  “A chip off the old block, aren’t you? At least we have a name for him, and we know it’s not O’ri.” Her dad wrapped an arm over her shoulders, and they left the boy behind in his case.

  ____________

  A month can feel like forever at certain times of your life. Other times, a month can fly by, and it leaves you shaking your head, wondering where the days went. That was how I felt as we neared the Ginda system. We were a few days out, and I still owed Brik a trip to Sterona. After Jules had met Lan’i, we’d all decided it was best to leave him stuck in time for the moment, and Jules hadn’t objected in the least.

  His first instinct was to try to kill me, so I couldn’t say I had fond feelings for the guy. Jules had grown closer to us in the past few weeks. I’d given her access to her own office, and she had the walls covered with images and printouts of everything she uncovered about these Zan’ra, as well as the symbol for the world where the underwater Deity had cried out for freedom.

  She was taking it all in stride, at least on the surface, but I knew Jules, mostly because I was just like her. I would dwell on a subject until it drove me crazy, or I found a solution. With her, I was confident she’d find the answer before losing her sanity.

  “Boss, are we good?” Slate, my ever-present friend, stood near the doorway, bigger than life in his armored suit. He didn’t don the helmet, and I patted my chest, my glove pressing against the exterior of my EVA.

  “Sorry, was just in my head a little bit,” I told him.

  “Well, get out of it. We’re about to leave for Sterona, where we have to stay on our toes. Remember the underground creatures?” he asked.

  “How can I forget? Rulo gained quite the souvenir that day.” My hand settled on my face in the spot where she’d been given a deep scar.

  Slate tapped his chin with a finger. “I wonder how’s she’s doing?”

  We’d left her behind the Cloud nebula with her partner, one of the Keppe from Magnus’ ship Fortune. It reminded me of the Collector and our recent encounter with the Zan’ra boy, breaking my focus again.

  “Boss, you have that look in your eyes. Is it that kid? Why don’t we just shoot the display out the airlock?” Slate asked.

  “Because he knows things. We just need to find a way to neutralize his powers first,” I told him, walking from the change room down the corridor toward the portal chamber.

  “You realize if you do find a way to cut off his abilities, we’d find out how to stop Jules’,” he said.

  I slapped a palm to my forehead. “I’ve been so stupid.”

  His eyes told me he clued in at the same moment as I did. “The crystals from Professor Thompson.”

  “Bingo. He’d used them to steal Jules’ powers at the Academy during the Kold attack, rendering her…”

  “Don’t say useless, because you remember what she did.” Slate’s smile was big.

  “Nothing about her is useless, even at a time like that without her abilities. But we can use them to have a frank discussion with this Lan’i.” I couldn’t believe none of us had thought about it until that moment. I’d even seen the box they sat in when I’d gone in search of the time-travel device.

  “Then it’s settled. We’ll grab them after we visit Sterona.”

  I strode through the corridors, finding Mary and Suma there with Brik. He wore a modified suit, his tail enclosed in the thick armor. “Are you ready, Brik?” I asked him, clapping my new friend on the shoulder.

  “I’m ready.” He grinned with his slim mouth, but I saw something in his eyes. A sadness. I didn’t blame him one bit. He was about to head to a planet that the entire population of his people had departed from long ago.

  Mary smiled at me, and Suma shifted on her feet, likely anxious for the four of us to return to the planet we’d lived on together. It was a little bit of a walk down memory lane for us, and I was even excited about it. At least this time the portal was working, and we’d be able to leave with ease.

  Brik blinked a few times, staring at me, conveying nervousness at returning to his old home.

  “Let’s go,” I said.

  “We haven’t returned… since that day,” Mary said.

  “I know. I can’t believe it’s been so long. Jules was just born. Can you believe it?” I asked.

  Suma stood in the portal entrance, gazing fondly at us. “I was a pretty cute kid back then.”

  Slate guffawed. “Boy, have things ever changed.”

  Suma shoved him in the shoulder, and he laughed. “I only mean that you’re a beautiful woman now… jeez.”

  “Sure, sure.” Suma entered first, moving to the portal table. I hadn’t used the portal since my trip to Earth and then Horizon, and the lights felt brighter today as the symbols lit up.

  There was a glowing circle on the floor, and Suma motioned Brik inside it. That was the radius of the portal’s power. If you stood outside it, you weren’t going anywhere.

  Suma didn’t bother with preamble. Wh
en she saw that we were in the zone, she pressed the icon, sending us to Sterona.

  Seventeen

  Jules had wanted to go with her parents today as they showed Brik around, but they’d asked her to stay on the ship, so she obeyed. She wandered the halls, tired of studying the confusing texts that made no sense to her, and bored with staring at the star maps, the images of the Zan’ra… all of it.

  She let out a sigh and continued on, moving slowly through the ship. Light was a state-of-the-art vessel, and she enjoyed the ambiance. The hallways were all bright, the walls and floors pristine. Every now and then, she spotted a cleaning robot or a maintenance man, mostly Shimmali people, but for the most part, it was so new that it sparkled.

  “Jules, there you are.” Dean jogged up to her from the opposite direction, and she instantly saw the worry on his brow.

  “What’s up?” she asked.

  “It’s Patty. I can’t find her.”

  “What do you mean, you can’t find her? It’s a spaceship. She has to be here somewhere.”

  Dean nodded, glancing over her shoulder. “She didn’t show up last night, and now I’m getting concerned. She’s been acting like a little snot the last while, have you noticed?”

  Jules had a lot of opinions about the girl but wanted to keep them to herself. “She’s having a hard time adjusting.”

  “If she’s seeing one of the crew, I’ll kill the guy.” Dean’s jaw muscles flexed as he bit down hard.

  “She’s not that stupid.” Jules wasn’t convinced if that was true or not.

  “Will you help me search for her?” Dean’s eyes were pleading, and Jules had no choice but to say she would.

  “Where should we start?” she asked.

  “Cafeteria. Then the coffee bar, maybe the pool, the library…” Dean was already off, walking quickly, and Jules hurried to catch up.

  They ended up at the mess hall soon after, but it was a ghost town at this off hour. Jules spotted Walo inside, and she waved, asking if the Padlog woman had seen Patty. She hadn’t, so they continued.

  The robot barista was no help, and Dean’s sister wasn’t there either. The pool had a giant Keppe man inside, swimming fast in splashing laps, and he swore there’d been no young human girl there for the last couple of hours.

  Dean was growing frazzled, and Jules didn’t blame him. Patty was his little sister, and her parents were off on a dangerous mission, leaving him in charge since he was over eighteen. In reality, her own mom and dad were supposed to be keeping an eye on her, but they were off on Sterona.

  “Library,” Dean said, leading her across the ship. Jules was getting quite the workout, and her legs began to burn by the time they entered the quiet space. Fontem was noticeably absent from his usual research spot, though there were a couple of books set out on his table. She walked over to them, eying the titles. She used a tablet translator on the strange text, and saw one referring to ancient beings. The book was dog-eared, and she flipped to it, seeing an image of a tall and broad being with long gray hair, a scaled face, and slotted eyes. Was this a Deity?

  “She’s not here, Ju.” Dean ran his hands through his hair, puffing out his cheeks.

  “She has to be somewhere. We haven’t checked engineering.”

  “She hates science.” Dean looked like he was almost ready to laugh at that, but held himself back. “What am I going to do with her?”

  “Have you tried talking with her?”

  “I do, but every time she makes some sassy remark, and I shout something in anger. This is not how I saw our relationship going.” He sat on the table, setting his feet on a chair. Jules slid up beside him.

  “She’s a handful, but maybe she’s calling out for help. Maybe she needs us more than ever.” Jules pictured the girl on their first ground mission at the Academy, and how she just ran off without a thought or care in the world. It was what eventually got her kicked out of the school, but it also had put her and Jules’ lives at risk. That was Patty, never worrying about the future or anyone but herself.

  “I swear, once we find her, I’m going to have a real talk, not the big bad brother routine again,” he said.

  “Then let’s keep going.” Jules rose, wishing she could stay and read the texts Fontem had laid out. She wondered where they’d been recovered. These books didn’t look like the ones from this library, unless he’d visited Regnig on Haven.

  An alarm rang out, a soft chime here in the library, but once they exited and were in the hallway, it grew louder. Red lights flashed every ten meters down the corridor, and Jules ran to a computer screen along the wall. She tapped a communication directly to the bridge, using her access code, and Loweck’s face appeared.

  “What is it, Jules?” She was flushed, her brows furrowed.

  “What’s happening?” Jules asked.

  Loweck ran a hand over her forehead. “The ship is gone.”

  “The ship?” Dean asked from over Jules’ shoulder.

  “The Pleva Corp one we found. Someone took it. Left the hangar. I don’t have time to talk right now. We’re sending someone after them.” The screen faded, and Jules stared at the dark monitor.

  “Patty!” Dean shouted, racing ahead of her.

  Jules chased after him. How could Patty have accessed the Pleva Corp freighter and taken off in it, conveniently while her parents were away?

  By the time they reached the hangar, Jules was breathing hard, her lungs pushing out in exasperated shudders. Two guards stood at the door, shaking their heads at Dean.

  “Let us through,” Jules said, trying to compose herself after the sprint.

  “We’ve been told to close it off,” a man said, arms crossed at his chest.

  Jules moved for the door, and the woman on the right side stepped in front of her. “How did someone get through here in the first place?” Jules asked, her tone accusing.

  “Uhm, it was between shifts, and… someone left a surprise for us at the office,” the man said, his posture no longer so stiff.

  “Is that so?” Jules asked. She was small, but a Gatekeeper, and the daughter of the captain. “So you take a bribe, are late for your shift, and then someone sneaks through and steals a ship.” Jules pointed down the corridor. “Go to the office, tell your supervisor you’re off duty awaiting recourse, and have them send another two guards.”

  The two glanced at one another, and the woman shook her head. “Harry, I told you we shouldn’t be late.”

  “I haven’t eaten donuts in a long time. How was I to know it was a distraction? This was entrapment!” Harry said, but the fire was out of his gut. He stalked away, the woman berating him as they left.

  Dean entered the hangar first, and Jules searched for the Pleva Corp ship. It was gone. The left edge of the hangar was empty. She did notice a cargo bin lid off near where the ship had been parked, and she moved there now, wondering if it was a clue.

  She heard the noise before she saw the piece of clothing draped over the edge of the box, and she ran to the bin, finding Fontem inside. He was bleeding from a deep gash in his forehead, his eyes closed, but he was breathing.

  “Dean, help me pull him out.” Jules tugged under the man’s armpits, and Dean assisted, moving Fontem from inside the crate and onto the hard, shiny hangar floor.

  “What happened?” Dean asked Fontem, but he only groaned. “Was my sister there?”

  Fontem nodded weakly, and whispered something so quiet, Jules almost couldn’t believe the words. “He’s free.”

  ____________

  The building was as we’d left it, and Slate and I reminisced about finding little Suma stuck in the corridor connecting the towers together, way up here in the top of the high-rise.

  “Why did you have the portal room here?” Mary asked Brik.

  “I can’t recall. I was a kid when we left, and I had no idea something like this existed,” Brik said.

  “If they had a working portal, why didn’t they evacuate somewhere using it?” Slate asked. We’d always s
peculated that was how they’d left, not on colony ships.

  “Maybe it wasn’t operating properly. Remember how we were stuck from this side, unable to leave?” Suma said, making a lot of sense.

  “Yes, that’s it. You could travel here, but not out. Not until we fixed it,” Slate suggested.

  We found the exit, the door battered on the outside by the drones that had chased us on that first visit to the world. Later, we’d reprogrammed them to work for us, but at that time, it had been a nightmare outsmarting them with what little we had at our disposal.

  The air was slightly acrid as we stepped out, and Brik went first, his eyes blinking quickly as he saw the city from this high vantage point. It was evening, but the electrical storm continued above us, sending flashes of light across the quiet and powered-down city. The lava ocean remained, the glowing red a constant reminder of why the people had left in the first place.

  “Carlino,” he said, the word not translating.

  “Is that the city name?” I asked, and he nodded.

  “That’s the name. It’s so… eerie.”

  “To you, it feels like a few years since you’ve been here, but it’s been much longer than that, Brik. It’s understandable to be unsettled out by the sight,” Suma told him. We followed the local man to the lift, and we tested it before adding our weight to the platform. No one had used this in quite some time, and it creaked as we stepped on it.

  Mary and I had battled here, and I peered to the wall near the doorway, seeing the scorch marks from her Iskios Vortex powers. Across the way, on the balcony of the building over, were more gashes, from the Theos-gifted abilities. It was almost like a dream recalling that day, and Mary’s gaze followed mine, she likely thinking the exact same thing as I was.

  The elevator descended as Slate used the lever, and soon we had lowered to the ground. I stood back, wondering what Brik wanted to see. He’d been silent on the subject but took the lead now.