by Adair Hart
Kazaal looked up at Emily. “You’re not a killer. I’m sorry. Help me!”
Emily shook her head slowly as she stood on the branch. Her compassion wanted to help, but her fury said otherwise.
“Please!” said Kazaal between roars.
“No.”
Kazaal twitched one final time.
She trembled as she watched Kazaal die. The creatures were effective and could apparently handle even the tough hide of Kazaal. If they had not, the outcome would have been very different. She watched as his legs, arms, and head were severed and carried off.
This was her first kill, albeit indirectly, but still something she would need to deal with.
Alone.
After spending the night in the familiar enclosure she had discovered on her initial arrival, Emily set out to the river. Her sleep had been solid, something that had been missing when she was in Kazaal’s cave. With him gone, she felt at peace for the first time in a long while. She quenched her thirst and enjoyed cleaning herself in the river. The robe got a good washing and was laid out to rest on a nearby rock.
As she lay naked against a tree, she grabbed her PSD from the leather pouch she was carrying it in. She opened it up and checked to see if there had been any contact. There probably was not, but she had not given up hope that Dr. Snowden, Evaran, and V would appear in the Torvatta. Her head drooped as the PSD showed no activity or communications. She missed them, especially having breakfast with them in the conference room. Her eyes fluttered as she nodded off with positive thoughts of them.
Several hours later, she woke up and got dressed. She had decided to go back to Kazaal’s cave and do a thorough search of the place. Maybe there were more items she could find. It would also be a mental victory for her. The green dot that she had wanted to go to was close by, so she would not have to go too far out of her way. After downing her food pellet and taking in her morning drink, she headed back toward Kazaal’s cave.
It took her a while to get there. Although she was healing, there was still some pain in her chest. She figured there was probably some residual damage from when Kazaal hit her, but the nanobots should handle it. The climb up the cliffs and then down them were done at leisure this time, instead of in a hurry. A lump formed in her throat as she approached the forest. She thought of Ezekial again, who just wanted to live. At least he had been avenged.
When she arrived at the outskirts of Kazaal’s cave, she paused. It had only been yesterday that she was his captive. She scowled and wrinkled her nose as the overpowering scent from the cave wafted past her. Looking around, she saw nothing that would bother her. She entered the cave and then pulled out her PSD and activated the illumination beam. The cave had additional rooms she had not seen before, probably due to the dim lighting.
The first room had containers made of bone supports with cloth wrapped around them. They had various items in them. One of the containers had feathers. She guessed from the birds Kazaal had killed or maybe a humanoid with feathers. Others had bones, unusual-looking rocks, and sand-like powders. It reminded her of a large spice rack, except the smell rising off them was anything but pleasant. The second room had equipment-based supplies. She walked around the various piles of objects, poking her light around them. There were a few things here she could use.
She headed back to the main room and then to the clothing room. The robe had worked well in a pinch, but she needed something closer to the skin that would not impede her movement. After rummaging through the pile, she found some leather pants and a cloth shirt. She put them to the side and continued browsing. After a bit, she found a fur head covering that had a soft interior and tough exterior. It was a bit large for her, but there was a leather strip on the back that allowed it to fit snugly on her head. She gathered up the items and headed back to the main room. The pants would need trimmed a bit, but she could do that before she left.
Drawing her lips to the side, she gazed at the second room. There had to be something of value she could use to help her survive better. With determination in her eyes, she entered the second room and took a good look at the various piles. One of the piles caught her eye. It looked like bone armor pieces held together by leather straps. She wondered who Kazaal killed to get them. There were four leg pieces, four arm pieces, and a chest plate that also had a back part to it. She tried on the various armor parts and noted that with a bit of tweaking, they could fit her. The leg armor covered the lower and upper leg, and consisted of a series of vertical bones strung together. It reminded her a bit of the cage Kazaal had put her in. The arm armor was similar. They would need some modification, as whomever Kazaal had killed to get them had large legs and arms, so the part where the ends met were overextended on her.
After another look around, she found a neck guard that consisted of sculpted wooden half rings held together by leather straps. She could definitely use that. After several minutes more of filtering through the other piles, she gathered up the bone pieces and neck guard and headed back to the main room.
It did not take her long to trim the pants. She liked the loose feeling of them on her legs. They would not impede her movement and tucked nicely into the fur boots she already had. After putting on her cloth shirt, she tightened the arm bone armor by removing the end pieces until they wrapped firmly around her upper and lower arms. She repeated this for the leg ones. The chest plate was big, so she cut it in half using a tool from the PSD. It now only covered her chest and half her back, but it was better than nothing.
She walked around the main room to get a feel for the clothing. Her movement was fluid, and having a second layer could be the deciding factor in a bad situation. She scoured the main room and found a fur rug. After halving it, she rolled it up. Along with using the backpack as a pillow, she would have something portable to sleep on. She packed it up and slipped on her adjusted fur head covering. The knives that Kazaal had moved were nowhere to be found. They were the one thing she had hoped was left around somewhere. She still had her PSD, but if she needed to use the stun or repulsion blast, she would not be able to with the morphable matter object out. With a last look around, she exited the cave.
She was greeted by a light breeze that carried the smell of grass. It was something she now savored. It was dark out, and the night sky was clear with a bright moon shining down. She could not see any stars, which sent a chill through her. After consulting her PSD, she headed off toward the green dot. Her path would take her through the grasslands to a forest. Given how close it would be, she figured it would take several hours to get there.
Halfway through the grasslands, she caught a strong animal scent. Her heartbeat raced, and she pulled out her PSD. The scent drew closer as she continued to walk. She noticed that her nanobots were tingling, almost as if they knew something was going on. Scanning toward the scent highlighted several shapes in the distance. She focused her gaze on them and made out some canine-like creatures. Her breath quickened as they headed toward her. When they got close, she could see that they resembled wolves, except they had scales instead of fur and had several horns on their bodies. With a snap of the PSD, she switched it back into pen mode. Her eyes had adjusted in the moonlight, and she stood her ground while singling out the leader of the pack. He was easy to pick out by his size and the way the others acted around him.
She fired a repulsion blast at the ground in front of him. The leader growled as he halted his advance, causing the others to stop. She fired again, this time right over the head of him. The leader spun around and took off. She figured he could feel the power of the blast, and she was happy she did not have to hurt it. Her eyes narrowed as another thought crept into her mind. If it had attacked, she would have killed it. Being seen as weak was dangerous in this environment, and she was tired of being attacked. If she could scare away attackers, that would be her first choice. Otherwise, they would fall victim to the brutal laws of survival.
There were no more distractions as she reached the edge of the forest. It was oddly formed with spar
sely populated trees that reached the sky. The porous canopy allowed the moonlight to form rays that gave it an almost magical feel, but she knew this place was anything but that. The hairs on her neck shot up as she sensed another presence nearby. She sniffed the air and scanned her surroundings with the PSD. Although the PSD turned up nothing, the strong scent of something lingered. She paused and strained to see if she could hear it, but to no avail. With her PSD out and her eyes scanning all around, she crept forward.
There were insects buzzing around, some quite large, but nothing that would threaten her, or so she thought anyways. Small rodent-like creatures scurried about but ran away when she approached them. The presence of something behind her did not fade. She spun around at one point and thought she caught a glimpse of a face, but it was not a face she recognized. It was pale and drawn out, with an oversized mouth, black eyes, and wild black hair that shot off in every direction. The body the face was attached to was slender and tall, probably around ten or eleven feet tall. When she focused, it seemed to disappear. She knew that if she did not have the nanobots, she would not have even seen whatever it was, or sensed it. Maybe that was what it was expecting, and she caught it by surprise. Either way, she quickened her pace.
The trip through the forest should have taken an hour, but going slowly and scanning continuously added another half hour. When she came upon the spot where the green dot was, her eyes widened. A structure resembling a miniature stepped pyramid, similar to the one she came through on, was in front of her. Large pylons stood at each corner, with glowing tops. She observed it from the forest edge, unsure of what to do. The sound of rapid footsteps behind her caused her to spin around. Although she could not see it, she knew whatever it was would be on her in a few seconds. She ran forward toward the mini pyramid. She spun around with her PSD aimed forward and saw nothing. Whatever it was, it seemed to keep its distance from the pyramid. She jumped and pivoted when a beam from one of the pylons scanned her. The sound of scraping stone caught her attention. The pyramid slid back, revealing a ramp leading underground.
With a final look around, she entered the ramp way.
Evaran and the others followed John and Leah down to the rift room.
Dr. Snowden noted that the ramp took several turns, with rooms at each bend. He wondered where the guards or personnel that manned them were. Once they arrived, he took a moment to look it over. To their immediate right was a device that had a cylindrical base, with a slanted surface coming off it halfway down. A metal rod extended up from the base and ended in an upside-down dome-shaped structure.
His eyes narrowed as he noticed the two crystal rods that were about fifteen feet apart with a gold rhombus-shaped base. They stood at the back of the room and had evenly spaced silver rings on them. The featureless walls were in stark contrast to the device and crystals.
Evaran looked around the room. “Where is everyone?”
“They left,” said Leah.
“To …”
“To Azoculus. Per our protocol, all personnel are to leave if the base comes under attack, except for the guards.”
Lord Vygon shook his head. “So the guards just sacrifice themselves to stall for time.”
“Yeah … ,” said Leah. “Except they locked us in our room. I guess we’re expendable.”
“Interesting.” Evaran walked over to the device and placed his UIC on it. It tried to connect, but the blue light never stabilized. “This is unusual. This object has … different matter in it, similar to the sentinel staff.” He looked at John. “How does this work?”
John shrugged as he looked at Leah.
“I suspect you are withholding information.”
John sighed. “May as well tell them. Not like we’re getting out of here, and even if we did, we’d be killed for suspicion anyways. I have to ask, though, what’re you going to do with us?”
Evaran tilted his head. “You will go to Atlantis, and the Helians will deal with you there. If you continue to help us, I will speak to that on your behalf.”
John looked at Leah, who nodded. “In that case, we don’t really know how it works. We’re administrators, not rift operators, but we are trained in the basics on how to use the rift controller.”
Lord Vygon smirked. “Not a bad strategy if you think about it. Give advanced tech to low-tech people, and if they’re ever captured, they truly wouldn’t know how it worked. However … you do know how to operate it.”
John nodded. “To some degree. We only know of one destination.”
Evaran gestured toward the console. “Azoculus, as you mentioned. Please show me what you would do to open the rift door.”
John and Leah walked up to the rift controller and began to show Evaran how it worked. While Evaran listened to them, Dr. Snowden and Lord Vygon broke from the group and walked over to the crystal rods.
Dr. Snowden noticed a circular pattern with raised edges on the floor in front of the crystals. It reminded him of a rubber doormat that had been carved into an elaborate design, then tossed on the ground. He tapped Lord Vygon’s arm and pointed to it. “Check that out. I remember seeing them in Atlantis.”
Lord Vygon studied the pad, then looked around. “I bet that’s where the sentinels’ staff weapon sent people.” He pointed at the bottom of one of the walls where a crushed beacon lay. “Evaran’s beacon stopped transmitting a few moments after it was teleported. I’m guessing they decided they didn’t like it.”
Dr. Snowden looked at the crushed beacon, then at the pad. “If she appeared there, she wouldn’t willingly go through that rift.”
Lord Vygon looked down. “Yeah … I’m pretty sure it wasn’t consensual.”
Dr. Snowden scowled. He thought of Emily appearing, confused and terrified, and then being forced through. His face turned red as he clenched his jaw. He turned his head when he felt Lord Vygon’s hand on his shoulder.
“Come, let us join the others.”
Dr. Snowden exhaled a slow breath from his nose as they both walked back to Evaran. He focused on his breathing and repeated the word relax in his mind.
Evaran raised his head when he saw Dr. Snowden and Lord Vygon return. “The teleport system has been shut down. I am guessing that was part of the base attack protocol. I am intrigued by this rift technology. It is powered using something called a rift stone. I have never heard of that before, but suspect it is related to rifts in general, as is all this technology.”
Lord Vygon stepped forward. “It allows a controlled rift to form when bombarded with a specific type of energy.”
Everyone stared at Lord Vygon.
“You have seen this technology before?” asked Evaran.
Lord Vygon put his hand on the back of his neck. “Yeah … but I can’t tell you from where. If John and Leah can operate the rift controller, they should be able to open a rift door, and we can toss a quantum beacon through.”
“Why can’t we just go through the rift door?” asked Dr. Snowden.
“The Purifiers know this base is compromised,” said Evaran. “The other base is probably secured by now. A quantum beacon will at least tell us where it leads, even if they destroy it.”
“We can take on whatever’s over there!”
“Not likely,” said John. “They probably have it shielded by now. Anything that goes through from this side would get splatted.”
Dr. Snowden snorted. “Well … won’t that happen with the beacon?”
Evaran nodded. “Yes. However, like the beacon we sent to get this location, it would transmit the location before being … splatted.”
Dr. Snowden sighed.
Lord Vygon looked at Evaran. “I can go get the beacon, assuming you left it in the usual place in the research lab. If not, V can help.”
Evaran studied Lord Vygon for a moment. “Go.”
Lord Vygon nodded and then exited the room in a blur of motion.
“Hmm,” said Evaran. “So once they go through the rift door, they go to this Azoculus planet, and fr
om there, to the prison planet. Does the other facility have just one rift door?”
“Yeah,” said Leah.
“Then the rift door can take on multiple destinations. Can we get to the prison planet from here?”
Leah bobbed her head. “You could … if you knew the destination code. The rift operator here would not have known that, and me and John only know Azoculus. Knowing a destination’s code is taken very seriously.”
“Could the rift door be opened from the other side?” asked Evaran.
Leah nodded. “Yeah … there will probably be more coming through later to try to reclaim the base, unless this rift door is shut down or shielded.”
“I see,” said Evaran. “Once we find out where Azoculus is, then you two can shut it down.”
Dr. Snowden shook his head. “How did these Purifiers get over here in the first place?”
“That’d be the main rift stone,” said John. “It has the ability to open doors to other places, without needing an active rift door on the other end. It’s on the capital planet, but it never repeats an exact destination, although it can get one close by sometimes. It’s kind of random from what I heard.”
“That needs shut down, or Earth might get another wave of this ridiculous purification,” said Dr. Snowden.
“I concur,” said Evaran. “We will after we find Emily.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Evaran walked over to the crystal rods with everyone following him. Dr. Snowden pointed out the pad. Evaran rubbed his chin and then tapped the pad with his foot. He scanned it with his ring. “Interesting. With the teleport down, we should probably shield the rift door. Leah, can you do that until Lord Vygon gets back?”
Leah nodded.
Everyone followed Leah to the rift controller. She placed her hand on the bottom part of the upside-down dome and pressed a panel. The panel emitted a glow as it sank in. A projection shot up showing a scattering of dots with lines linking them. She tapped a finger at a dot, causing the projection to zoom in, and a rectangular box appeared under it. When she tapped at the box, a grid of tiles with unusual designs embedded on them appeared where her finger was.
