Intrinsic: Book One of the Terran Cycle

by Philip C. Quaintrell

  The Novaarians formed a protective perimeter around them with Telarrek leading and Ilyseal and Namek close behind. Once inside the tower itself the space opened on a scale hard to fathom. They were on a level that appeared to have the circumference of a small moon with hundreds of smaller platforms hovering in the centre. There were people everywhere trying to get a glimpse of the new aliens in their midst. More security had already arrived asking people to move aside as the party made their way towards the centre of the ring.

  He felt Li’ara’s hand give his a squeeze as he was sure she felt as alien as he did. Once at the edge of the giant ring the guards formed a circle around them as a long vehicle with no roof was hovering in front. Ilyseal turned to them both.

  “This will take us to the Highclave,” she had to speak up to be heard over the roaring crowd. “They are located in the centre of Clave Tower.” One of the red uniformed guards opened the vehicle doors. Uthor and Telarrek sat in the front row of the shiny yellow vehicle with the others taking the back. He noticed Namek had sat next to the pilot. People screamed and reached out to touch them as the hover car banked to the right and suddenly dropped in altitude. It felt controlled but Kalian could feel his stomach lurch.

  They both leaned over the edge taking in the sights as they passed between the different layers and platforms that rested between the rings; he even noticed a few that resembled the Ever Root aboard the Valoran. Buildings of all shapes sat between patches of multicoloured grass and bronze-looking trees. Despite the nature of this artificial world, they had gone to great lengths to create the illusion of a real world. Turning his head to the sound of rushing water he saw a large rock formation in the corner of a park with an actual waterfall that ran into a lake. Everything was so beautiful with the mix of technology and nature. Earth had attempted to create a similar illusion but never on such a scale as this.

  “We are nearly there.” Ilyseal stretched her long neck over Kalian’s. Both humans leaned over the side to look down at the approaching Highclave. It was situated in the middle of the smallest ring in the centre of the curved tower. It was the only platform on that level with just one bridge connecting the oval extension to the outer ring. Being the only platform, it stood out against its expansive background. The base of the complex reminded him of a football stadium with its high walls and pitted interior. The walls gave way to a beautiful glass spire stretching half a mile up. It twisted into a spiral before reaching its pinnacle with what looked like a diamond pyramid at the apex. Through the glass they could both see the masses of people entering the stadium and filling every inch of the available seating.

  Their vehicle veered to the left making to enter the complex from behind. As they reached its level a small port opened up big enough to fit the vehicle through. They were guided in with green lights that floated in the air like a run way. More guards waited for them inside, each with a side arm on their waist and a compact rifle in their hands. The Highclave were obviously a high priority in terms of security.

  They were escorted to a comfortable room with sofas and a small hover-droid that brought them florescent blue drinks. Kalian noticed Li’ara doing that soldier thing where she assessed everything, looking for the exits and taking note of guard numbers.

  She’ll never switch off.

  He declined the drink with no thoughts to sustenance at this particular moment. He felt like he had been called to the principal’s office. He had no idea what they were going to say, but he knew what he needed to say. He hadn’t discussed it with Li’ara but he knew they had to talk about the future of their kind. Where were the terraforming group? How many research stations were still out there with crew onboard? Did any ships manage to reach Solar Drive before...? He needed to talk about them as well. If they really had no clue who these destroyers were, then they needed to be ready for a new threat.

  The lights flickered for a moment and the hover-droid almost dropped its drinks on the High Charge. Kalian knew it was him; he had let his nerves get the better of him and lost control for a second. He noticed that when he disrupted electrical devices the tingling feeling emanated from his finger tips not his spine. He could feel the static on his arms under his jacket. Li’ara was looking at him from across the room, she knew. Instead of the terrified feeling he would get if he suspected someone knew about him, he felt safe somehow. It felt good to have someone know about him, to have Li’ara know about him. Ever since he had met Li’ara his emotions and feelings had become rather complicated. He never used to have any feelings concerning other people. Thinking about the fate of his planet and species now, he felt regret at never stopping to make friends or any kind of intimate connection. At the same time he also felt himself lucky not to have the grief Li’ara now had.

  He took a breath and clenched his hands until the tingling left his finger tips. One of the guards had left to check on the buildings power supply and Kalian felt bad not being able to tell him the futility of his investigation. He felt Li’ara’s hand over his own and realised he had been closing his eyes. How did he know the guard had left? She gave him a knowing look that told him everything would be ok. For a moment he was lost in the emerald of her eyes and noticed the specks of yellow dispersed within. Telarrek’s presence brought him back to reality.

  “Do not look so concerned, they only wish to meet you.” He said.

  “Yeah, along with everyone else apparently.” Li’ara’s tone was dry. Telarrek let off a couple of grunts that resonated from his chest, he was laughing.

  “As a collective race we thirst for knowledge, we are an old society and anything new is hard to come by, especially something as big as a new intelligent species.”

  “Does Nova Prime know about us?” Kalian asked. He wondered just how many Novaarians were aware of Telarrek’s mission.

  “There are only a select number of officials within the Novaarian government as well as our member on the Highclave that are aware. The expedition was what you might call classified. It is for that reason I fear Nova Prime may face some judgment from the Highclave.” Before they could talk anymore a new alien entered the sitting room. Whether it was male or female Kalian couldn’t tell. It was almost completely concealed within a flowing black robe that hid its feet. The head was chevron-shaped with four milky white eyes set against an oak-red skin. The point of the chevron head separated the four eyes with two on each side. The mouth was inset against the overhang of where one might expect to see a nose. Kalian was sure he could see four small holes separated like the eyes at the point of the head. The skin reminded him of an insect with a coarse exoskeleton.

  The thick neck that supported such a wide cranium was just visible before the robe took over. What neither of them could miss however was the strange attachment to the side of the head and around the far right eye. It was clearly a piece of technology as it looked so alien against the oak-red skin. It encased the eye and at one part actually seemed to reach inside via a dark tubule. Two lights continued to blink red and blue against the head device. As it entered the room he saw how the augmentation ran down one side of the thick neck and entered the skin with more tubules. What was this thing? It looked scary as hell as it opened its mouth to several rows of razor like teeth.

  “The Highclave is ready to receive you.” Its voice gave no gender away as it sounded robotic with a slight echo. As it turned to leave, Kalian was sure he heard scuttling feet under the robe. He looked to Li’ara to see if her own reaction matched his own.

  “It was a Nix. They’re part of the Ch’kara domain, big meat eaters.” Li’ara stood ready to leave.

  Big meat eaters, you don’t say?

  Trying to forget the row upon row of teeth he stood up as well. They were led through a corridor off the hangar through which they had entered. He was waiting to hear the masses of people he had seen cramming into the stadium but only heard the sound of the others. They soon found themselves at an arched doorway twice the height of Telarrek. The Nix carried on through causing the do
or to split in half. The space inside was not what he was expecting. Instead of a giant arena it was a triangle-shape with them entering through the apex.

  They were surrounded by thousands of spectators of every planetary origin, all of them silent. As the space opened up there was a tall empty podium on the other side. It wasn’t as big as expected; he estimated the space was big enough to fit a couple of Fathom sized ships. He felt like they were in court. The crowds were ten feet above them in an oval shape that rose in height. Looking up the sight was awe inspiring as the twisting glass spire raised high into the Clave Tower. The Nix stopped halfway across the expanse and they stopped behind it. Looking back they saw Telarrek and the rest of the party had remained at the back near the door. They suddenly felt very alone, Kalian hadn’t realised how much he had come to rely on Telarrek and Ilyseal.

  Two of the small hovering cameras flew past, shining miniature spotlights on them. Just how many people were watching this? Thinking about what Telarrek had said about them being perceived as mythical, Kalian equated them to being something like the legends of Atlantis on Earth.

  Small white lights shone up from the floor in a circle around each of them, Kalian felt that they weren’t meant to leave these circles. A hushed whisper echoed around the stadium like a wave moving up to the higher tiers. Without him noticing, five silhouettes were now sitting in a line across the podium. They must have come from somewhere below. The central figure was instantly recognisable as a Novaarian though distinct in her appearance. She had long flowing tendrils that glittered in purple with golden rings running down each strand. Her face was similar to that of all her kind with dark blue spots around her swirling eyes. All the Novaarians they had encountered so far wore very little in attire with their armoured plating and flowing robes from the waist. The Highclave councillor was dressed uniquely with a golden headdress that encompassed the small holes that acted as their ears. She wore a robe that reminded Kalian of the ancient Japanese geishas in a mix of blue, purple and gold. She was definitely the most majestic looking alien he had ever seen, and in the last hour he had seen a lot.

  She was surrounded on each side by two other aliens that represented their quadrant of space. His eyes immediately fell on the Laronian councillor. Again she was the female of her species, at least he guessed she was. Her face had a feminine quality to it like that of a human woman; her skin glistened as her diamond scales caught the light. Her plunging neck line was covered by a necklace of large crystals.

  The next councillor was a Raalak, as was evident by his large everything. He wore no visible clothing from Kalian’s point of view but his bare chest had two unusual devices attached to it. Both circles of steel were interlaced into his rock like skin with an orange glow emanating from within. He could only guess at the purpose of such augments.

  The two aliens that occupied the other side of the podium were new to them. He recognised from the data module the small plump body of the Ch’kara next to the Novaarian. The back of its dark green skinned head was encompassed in a mechanical headdress that produced the miniature atmosphere around its face. The Ch’kara had evolved on Ch’ket, a planet with a higher percentage of carbon dioxide as well as methane. Travelling beyond their planets was impossible without their breather gear. Kalian could see the air around its face shimmering as the miniature force field kept the gases contained. When he had first read about their kind he was suspicious of their involvement with the aliens that had attacked Earth. Telarrek had said that the force field surrounding the goliath was impossible to make on such a small scale, and hearing of the technology involved with the Ch’kara’s breather gear it seemed plausible of their involvement. Their skill in such technology wasn’t unheard of since they were the largest manufacturers of Solar Drive engines. Their worlds were famous for the magnificent shipyards that surrounded the entire circumference in giant rings. Telarrek had explained though that the fields produced around their faces were only capable of holding in gases and would not hold up against matter. He trusted Telarrek but refused to rule them out.

  The shimmering air couldn’t hide his features. Everything looked too close to Kalian with the yellow eyes and mouth scrunched into the middle. Its mouth was covered in vertical strands of green skin making Kalian wonder how they fit food into their mouths.

  The Shay occupied the furthest chair. Its skin was pale white though a shade darker than the Raalak. Its head curved back to a blunt point that rested on a thin neck. Its frame appeared skeletal with little muscle. Two large eyes sat evenly where Kalian’s did on his own face, though these eyes were very different. Every time it blinked there seemed to be another set of transparent lids in front of them. Its facial features weren’t that different from his own, with a similar mouth and nose. It looked to Kalian like a human face stretched back into an elongated skull. As it moved in its seat he could clearly see the artificial arm on its left side.

  This wasn’t the only augmentation it possessed. The bottom half of the jaw was entirely robotic with small pistons in the place of tendons. Between the large eyes sat a metallic device that linked both together and curved up to rest on the forehead. Small wires and tubes were visibly connecting the device into the eyes, Kalian couldn’t imagine their use. He was sure there would be other such augments that he couldn’t see behind the podium.

  The central Novaarian sat forward taking in the sight of the two humans. Kalian suddenly felt very conscious of his charred clothing and regretted not asking Telarrek for some sort of replacements. He had visions of himself wearing the same style loin cloth and armour and thought perhaps he was better the way he was.

  The Novaarian’s upper arms spread out before her, “Shall we begin...?”

  Chapter Ten

  Following the crowds had been easy. The masses led him to the strangest transportation device he had ever seen. In front of him had been row upon row of large rectangular holes in the floor spread out in one section of the ring. He hesitated at first thinking everyone mad for walking straight into the holes without even looking. After a few minutes observation he realised everyone was tapping a hologram that floated above different devices in their possession. After interacting with the hologram they appeared to be shown a designated hole to walk over. Roland couldn’t wrap his head around the way in which they flew up to the ring above. There was no mechanism or platform to support them.

  No one appeared bothered by this as though it was the most regular of occurrences. Either way he had reasoned that he must continue to follow the crowds. Without his own hologram to manipulate, he had worried about simply falling through the gap. That was when he spotted two different species wearing the same uniform in red and black with a rifle each. One of them was the same as the race that attacked Alpha, the other looked somewhere between an alien and a robot.

  Seeing them gave him cause for action. Moving with the crowd again he stepped off the edge and made the mistake of looking down. The drop was incalculably far; he could see the corresponding gap on the ring below, between the people passing through them. Instead of dropping through he had immediately began to rise into the air. He moved his arms about as if testing the surrounding air.

  He wasn’t sure if the people around him could hear him through his helmet but he didn’t let that stop him from swearing the whole way. He quickly passed through the gap above and then another six gaps after that. He knew when it was coming to a stop as the momentum slowed when he reached the designated level. He followed suit and simply stepped off. It was this peculiar mode of transport that brought him before the spiralling tower of glass.

  There was nothing else on this level except for the colossal stadium and the glass tower that sat on top of it. He had seen super structures built on a variety of planets and moons, but he couldn’t help but wonder at the engineering required to keep such an immense building suspended in the air, with only one bridge attaching it to the exterior wall.

  He followed the masses across the beautifully decorated bridge lin
ed with ornate water fountains and small red trees. He had no idea what was going on but he needed information and he needed to blend in. The crowd moved as one, jostling Roland towards the left hand side of the bridge. He followed their gaze to a distant yellow vehicle floating down to their level and heading around the stadium. He continued to watch as it approached, curious himself as to the intrigue everyone else had.

  Without his helmet it would have been easy to see his jaw dropping at the sight of two humans sitting in the back of the vehicle. He didn’t recognise either of them but that didn’t mean anything; on Alpha he had seen a new person everyday for six months.

  What were they up to? Why had two humans been taken from the ship and brought here? If they were here to represent them, shouldn’t it be Captain Fey? Or perhaps it was something more sinister. What if they were being brought out to bait him?

  More encouraged to find answers, he started to push his way through to the entrance taking advantage of everyone’s gawping. By his internal clock he knew it had been thirty-two minutes before he finally sat down inside the stadium. Much to his annoyance he had been unarmed on his way through the entrance by a floating robot, coated in scanning equipment. Dozens of them had been scanning people as they passed with green lasers running up and down multiple individuals at once. Upon detection, the laser turned red and several armaments shot out from within the robots carapace. Guessing its problem with him he moved his coat aside revealing the stolen weapon. The gun was removed and placed inside a container on the wall. He had no idea what instructions it gave him but he decided to just nod and move on.

  Now in his seat, he counted only eight rows of seats in front of him before a triangular arena was visible. What was this place? He thought the proportions wrong for such a small arena and such expansive seating. It took a moment before he realised that despite the increasing number of people, nobody was making a sound. This would never happen on Earth, humans were just too noisy.