The Survivors | Book 16 | New Lies

by Hystad, Nathan

  Life isn’t to predict; it’s to live.

  “Maybe for you, but people will pay an astronomical fortune for a glimpse of their future? Do you know what someone would spend to avoid death? I’ll be the most formidable force in the universe,” Fronez said.

  And you expect Ovalax to be such a simple foe?

  “Not with your help.” Fronez grinned, and Regnig stepped away from him, dropping a cane.

  Nineteen

  The portal room was filled with cobwebs; at least, she hoped that was what they were. Jules batted them from her face and followed Karo as his armored suit’s lights cast against the dense webbing.

  “Someone needs a maid,” Dean mumbled.

  They entered a dark corridor and started up an incline. Water dripped down the stone foundation, and Jules’ light showed clumps of moss and mold growing in every crack. She was glad they wore helmets. There were no records of Sovan in the Gatekeepers’ files, but Regnig had made a notation in his journal, with a drawing of the symbol he believed to mark their world. It had been labeled in the book the Wibox had stolen from his library.

  As they emerged through the exit, they found Duliv pitch black. Clouds rolled across the dark skies, revealing a pocket of bright stars. Dean bumped into Jules as they stared forward, their flashlights not providing much assistance from this elevation.

  “I don’t think anyone’s home,” Dean whispered.

  He was right. There was no evidence of lights from a city or village, and they’d ventured half a kilometer from the surface, up the face of a mountain.

  Jules did a three-sixty and stopped when she spotted moonlight breaking through the clouds. It cast a ray, what her mom used to call “God rays” each time the sun directed a spotlight through on a gray day in Ohio. If it was a moon, what would you name them?

  She used her helmet’s visor zoom feature, and it centered on the location where the moonlight struck. She tapped it three times, each increment pixilating before focusing. It was a city. “Guys, I found something.” Jules pointed at it, but the clouds returned, blocking their sight. A notion came to her, and her fingers tingled. “Did you feel that?”

  “Feel what?” Karo asked, but it was gone.

  She hadn’t noticed that sensation since her gifts had been removed by the Deity, and it reminded her of what she’d lost. Jules attempted to form a sphere around her, wondering if they’d somehow returned, but nothing happened.

  “It’s a city. Let’s go.” Jules started forward, but Dean tried stopping her.

  “Jules, it’s dark, and we’re on a rocky cliff. Don’t you think it’s better to wait for daylight?” he asked.

  “Dean’s correct. You remember your Gatekeeper training. We should camp and depart at the first sign of light,” Karo told her.

  She almost argued with them, but they were probably making the best decision. Gatekeeper protocol stipulated you never put yourself or your partner in danger when arriving on a newly discovered portal world, and she wasn’t about to begin breaking procedure if she didn’t have to. Whatever they’d find, it wasn’t going anywhere in a few hours.

  “Okay, but the moment light peeks past that horizon, we’re leaving,” she told them, and both the men agreed with her.

  They made a camp, choosing to sleep outside, and Jules stared through her visor at the clouds. She wondered what really happened to the Sovan, and why they had been so interested in Ovalax in the first place.

  At some point, Jules fell asleep, and when she blinked her eyes open, she let out a scream. She was walking along the edge of a lake, her feet splashing in pools of water.

  Jules spun around, trying to gather her bearings, and saw that her companions were nowhere in sight. She’d lost Dean and Karo.

  “This has to be a dream,” she mumbled to herself. The tickle on her mind was there again, and everything buzzed. She wiggled her toes inside her boots and noticed the tingling sensation.

  Duliv’s star began to creep up, giving her enough light to see the mountain they’d entered the planet on. It was over five kilometers from her current position.

  Panicked, Jules tapped her arm console. “Dean. Karo. Come in.”

  “Jules! Where are you?” Dean’s voice was strained.

  “I … I don’t know what happened. I woke up in the valley. I can see the mountain.”

  “What do you mean… you were sleepwalking?” he asked.

  “I guess so. Just hurry up. I’ve pinged my location.” She let out a huff of breath and stared at the water as it rippled in the breeze. Thousands of tiny bugs hovered on the surface, as if activated by the rising sun.

  “Stay where you are. We’re coming,” Karo informed her.

  Jules checked the direction of the city and zoomed once to see the remnants of a faded civilization. It made her grateful for her life, her family, and everyone she knew. The universe was such a vast place, and they’d only begun to explore the far reaches of it. How many beings had come and gone in billions of years? It was enough to weigh you down and crush you, so she tried to think of something else.

  But that tickle… what was causing her to react like this?

  Jules dropped her pack and unclasped it, grabbing her pulse pistol. Something rolled out onto the ground, and she picked up the gift from Sarlun. The device had saved her life on Shimmal, and she didn’t recall stuffing it in her duffel bag.

  “How did you get here?” She held the sphere in her palm, and it glowed bright green, as if answering her question. She felt a sudden numbness in her extremities as it pulsed again.

  “It’s you. You’re the one doing this to me. Why?” It didn’t respond, a ring of beautiful jewels lining the outside.

  She glanced at her arm console, finding two blue dots indicating Karo and Dean tracking slowly toward her position. Stay put. That was what she was told to do. But the city was so close, only a couple of kilometers away. She could start on the investigation.

  Instead of telling them, Jules decided to walk, cradling the sphere in her gloved hand. It was comforting. Maybe she had packed it; she didn’t recall. Everything had been such a whirlwind over the last few months.

  The lake wasn’t too big, and she was past it in a few minutes, rising in altitude as the grass grew thicker. Soon it was knee-high, making it harder to walk. Jules sought out an easier path, but on either side of her were hearty bushes, with giant spikes on the branches.

  The grass rustled to her left, and she stopped. All she could hear was her own breath.

  Then to her right. She turned around, unable to see inside the dense brush.

  The field was two hundred meters wide, and she peered at the boundary. The grass began to rustle from either direction. Something was coming for her.

  Jules saw more signs of creatures under the meadow, and she clutched the gun, trying to decide what to do. She was cornered.

  They were gaining on her, and she had to make a choice. She glanced to the far edge of the field, took a deep breath, and ran.

  ____________

  We’d sent the message out two hours ago, and when night fell, Magnus, Sergo, and I moved silently to the fake rendezvous point. We’d already sent the drones, and everything was prepared for their capture.

  Suma had managed to determine the source of their communication methods, and hacked in, pretending to be their contact with the Sect of Memories. She proceeded to demand a meeting near the Institute.

  We waited from our hiding spot above them on a hillside, camouflaged from sight.

  “Where are they?” Sergo buzzed.

  “They might be cautious after what happened earlier with Bastion,” Magnus whispered.

  I spotted the first one, a slender Gretiol recruit. Then a female Shimmali girl. When an older Padlog, who looked like a honeybee with a fuzzy face and yellow and black markings, wandered into our view, I had to grab Sergo’s arm to keep him from blowing our cover.

  “I’d like to strangle that—”

  “Calm yourself, Sergo,” I order
ed.

  And then I saw her. A sergeant in our program. A human named Alice.

  Magnus and Sergo both stared at me. “They’ve even breached the humans?” the insectoid asked.

  “Does this mean that humans are giving sacrifices?” Magnus asked.

  “Quite possibly. If Ovalax has his way, I’ll be next,” I reminded them.

  We continued to wait, with the few recruits chatting amongst themselves. It was likely even they hadn’t known who the others were. They seemed relaxed, as if working for the Sect was an everyday occurrence. Eventually, three more arrived: one Bhlat, a Keppe, and a Shimmali man.

  “Think that’s it?” Sergo asked.

  “Let’s wait a while. If there’s any stragglers, I don’t want them seeing us in action and escaping to bring news to their Sect.” Magnus made the proper call. Five minutes later, a Molariun woman arrived.

  “Time to round them up.” I used my tablet, sending the drones overhead. The ground was hard-packed red shale, and the lights flashing from above made it look like blood in the night. The eight Sect members each gawked upwards, and our soldiers emerged from their concealed spots, pulse rifles raised.

  I was the first to materialize, and I walked assuredly to the surrounded recruits. “Hi, everyone. I’m Dean Parker. Is there anything you’d like to say?”

  No one spoke.

  “Then I’ll go first. You’re proven members of the Sect of Memories, and we’re not against religious beliefs. But the moment your organization used their position at the Alliance Institute to infiltrate and put our staff and crew in danger on Outpost, you broke the rules.

  “You are hereby removed from the Institute, and are placed under arrest for acts of terrorism. You will have no outside contact, and I will personally be questioning each of you. Raise your hands, and if you’re armed, tell us now before dropping your weapons.” I spoke loudly and clearly while walking a line before them. The light of a drone followed me, keeping in pace.

  “Ovalax is peace!” the human said.

  “Ovalax is knowledge!” This from the Padlog.

  “Ovalax is the future!”

  “Enough!” I growled, but they continued. It turned out none of them were armed, and I couldn’t help but feel they were just kids caught up in something bigger than themselves.

  I walked over to Sergeant Raron, who led the soldiers. “Bring them in to the brig. I’ll be there shortly.”

  “Yes, sir.” Raron’s soldiers handcuffed the Sect members, and we watched as they were hauled away in a transport vehicle, moving the two kilometers farther from camp to a secluded unmarked warehouse. It had been used to store supplies while Terran Thirty was under construction, but now it was mostly empty, with space to keep them contained.

  The shuttle rose, leaving the trio of us alone on the shale. “Only eight. Not bad,” Magnus said, as the soft thrusters grew farther away.

  “Look how much damage one did.” I’d heard the story of Dasso, the Padlog that had died while trying to escape Outpost.

  “We’re low on time, Parker. If we’re going to save Regnig, we need something on Ovalax.” Sergo was right. We lacked information, and I hated jumping in blind. There was an ancient Sect devoted to the thing, and I doubted any of them had a clue what Ovalax truly was.

  “I’ll ask the questions, but we may have to change our strategy,” I said.

  “To what?” Magnus asked.

  “Instead of my usual tactics, maybe we’ll use some of yours,” I told Magnus.

  He smiled. “Firepower?”

  “Firepower.”

  I hoped Jules, Karo, and Dean had better luck; otherwise, I was going to bring a war to Newei, and all that mattered was bringing Regnig out alive.

  ____________

  Jules jumped at the last second, trying to avoid contact with whatever creatures were rushing through the tall grass. Her shin hit one of them, and she fell face-first into the ground. Her helmet bounced, and she rolled to her side as it attacked.

  The creature’s teeth snapped at her face, leaving slimy streaks of green venom on her mask. Another arrived, bashing her head from behind. Jules tried to stand, but a third wrapped around her legs, tripping her up.

  She fired at one, her pulse striking its scaly flank. It reared and hissed angrily. They were five feet long, with six stubby legs and a pronounced snout, filled with sharp four-inch incisors. Jules continued shooting at them, but there were too many.

  The grass rustled in every direction. She was surrounded. Her armor would protect her from their initial onslaught, but those teeth might find a way in if given the opportunity. She aimed at the closest, shooting at it. The pulse blackened the scales, but it kept moving. It appeared they had their own form of armor.

  Jules risked a glance at her arm console, finding Karo and Dean were two kilometers away. She had to warn them. Jules started to send a communication when the creatures simultaneously rose onto their hind legs. The result was terrifying. A dozen mouths snapped at her, making her repeatedly pull the trigger.

  One barreled into her ankles, and she fell. Another rammed her spine, and she was shoved forward, her gun falling from her grip. Jules tried to locate it, while two more barraged her from either side.

  She scrambled up, crawling to her hands and knees. Jules saw the gun and lunged for it, grabbing the weapon. She shot the closest creature, hitting it square in the mouth. Teeth shattered, making it recoil. They had a weak spot! Jules fired again, narrowly missing the target, and the beast struck her in the chest, knocking her away. It climbed on top of her, and she waited for it to turn and face her before shoving the barrel of the pistol into its gaping maw. It tried to bite, but she was too fast. It went limp and fell to the ground. The others were starting to grow more cautious as their kind were killed.

  Jules assumed these things had never fought against pulse pistols and armored suits before, and were used to far easier prey. She continued to fight them, and for a moment, thought she would win, until the grass began rustling along the edges of the field. There had to be forty more of them arriving.

  It was only then she realized she’d dropped the sphere somewhere. The tickle on her mind became a flash of pain, and her fingers may as well have exploded. The jeweled ball rose from ten feet away, its green light strobing intensely.

  She managed to climb to her feet and witnessed dozens of blasts emanating from the sphere as it hovered in the air. The creatures raced through the grass, back into the dark cover of the thorny forest. Only a minute had passed, and the field was devoid of attackers.

  The sphere had saved her again.

  “What are you?” she asked as it floated over to her. It settled into her palm, while the green light dimmed into darkness. She had to find out where this thing came from, but in the meantime, she was grateful Sarlun had given it to her.

  “Jules, what was that?” Dean asked, his voice entering her earpiece.

  “I was trapped by some local creatures, but the gift from Sarlun saved me,” she said. “Be careful. I’ll stay where I am.” She looked at the object, wondering if it would fight again if the need should arise, and she judged that it would.

  “The ball? Be careful, Jules. We’re almost there.” Dean was panting, and it was clear by the speed of their markers on her console screen that they were running fast.

  She waited a couple of minutes before spotting Karo, then Dean, and she waved as they approached the field. Jules kept an eye on the edges of the bushy forest, but no threats were evident.

  Dean hugged her, their helmets bumping into one another. “What happened with you? You left us in the middle of the night!”

  “I don’t know. It wasn’t by choice. It might have something to do with this.” She held up the small item, but she didn’t think that was it. “Or it’s the city.” They all looked to the spires a couple of kilometers away, and Karo nodded.

  “I feel something as well,” he admitted. “It’s potent, whatever it is.”

  “I don’t s
ense anything different,” Dean told them. “Are you sure?”

  “Let’s get out of here. I don’t want you to meet the locals.” Jules went first, and they jogged out of the grassy field.

  The rest of the hike was as uneventful as one could hope, and they began to see signs of civilization outside the city limits. The structures weren’t crude, but they lacked a modern touch. There was glass for windows and colorful siding panels on the structures, but the hues had faded over the years, the panes broken and the roofs rotted long ago.

  Everything was unkempt, but Jules could see where roadways had once sat, and they took one of those paths, finding it led directly into the city. Structures were toppled, crumbled messes of stone and glass.

  “The Sovan didn’t deserve to be destroyed,” Karo said.

  “Then they shouldn’t have crossed Ovalax,” Dean muttered.

  “What if they were trying to help him?” The thought came to Jules the moment she saw the spires in the center of the city. They were taller than any of the buildings, slender and well-made because they still rose high into the sky, even centuries later. There were five of them, arcing together and meeting in a metallic ring.

  “You think so?” Karo asked.

  “It’s just an idea.” They continued marching into the middle of town, and Jules was certain that was their destination. No one questioned her decision, and Karo rubbed at his helmet when they neared. Jules understood why, because she was having the same experience. They were being drawn to the spires by an unseen force. Only Dean didn’t seem to be affected. Jules judged the towers were around a hundred stories high, and were narrower than she’d guessed.

  “They do meet.” Karo pointed up as they walked between the spires and into an empty courtyard, overgrown with thick bushes and ten-foot-tall weeds.