Eden paused, thinking. “You think that's Admiral Diana McCoy?”
“I would be surprised, Eden, just as you would be. Whoever it is has held a high position for a long time. I can tell.”
A hatch on Sirona opened and the woman strode confidently toward it. A man came out from the hatch and held her hand as she put her foot on the first rung of a ladder. She climbed down, disappearing down the hatch. The man followed her, closing the hatch door.
Eden put the glasses into her pocket, making sure she had one of these for similar situations. “The two that went into the starship were both human, Thomas.”
“Yes, I know. And, yes, you can keep those.”
Eden looked down at her pocket, then patted it. “Oh, sorry. These are handy.”
He gave her a wink and a nod. “We have plenty and are happy to share.”
Eden eyed the starship again. “That woman obviously had council with the enemy and now she is inside Sirona. And someone from Sirona let her in.” Eden gritted her teeth. “We have to warn Sirona's crew.”
“We can't, Eden,” said Thomas. “Doing so would give away our position. Obviously, there are some inside who are working for the Nankuani—”
“The who?” interrupted Eden.
“The Nankuani are the tall humanoids that attacked your fleet and home. And as we have just seen, there are some humans on Sirona who are allied with them. We will arrive there tomorrow, but we warn the inhabitants of that ship of nothing. We will investigate and find who the traitors are with the least amount of suspicion.”
“Tomorrow?” Eden shrugged. “Why not now?”
“We camp and rest.”
“The Nankuani will surely find us if we stay here.”
Thomas gave his usual calming smile, which always melted Eden’s defenses. “They already know we're here. But, I understand your concern. We won't be camping in the open and we won't be camping near Starship Swift, as Swift has already left surface-side and is safe near the exosphere of the planet.” Thomas saw Eden's surprised expression, but was glad she held her tongue, allowing him to explain. “Swift has the ability to fix himself. He is more biological than mechanical and heals like you would, but much more quickly.”
“Then where do we camp?” asked Eden.
“Over here!”
Eden looked where the voice came from, seeing Nyx tap on the Oberum.
Eden shook her head. “We can't all fit in there, can we?”
Thomas inched away from the cliff, then stood up. “We will park the Oberum near one of the boulders. It will mirror the boulder, and under the Oberum is where we will sleep. It will camouflage us. It will create a hologram of the boulder as well, so we won't be visible. We will all sleep or meditate under the Oberum until the morning. You can sleep next to one of the landing gears if you would like, shielding you from any surprise attack that may come our way. Is that acceptable?”
Eden looked around, noticing that all but her were standing several yards away from the edge of the cliff, almost leaning in for her approval. She thought that was strange. It seemed Thomas or Nyx were the ones in charge, but sometimes they looked to her for confirmation.
“Yes, it's acceptable,” said Eden, moving her eyes around the crew, hoping that what she said was right.
“And so it shall be,” said one of the male Fae. He crawled over to her, putting out his hand and with a twinkle in his eye—or was that sparkles? She grabbed his hand and he helped her up.
Can this get any weirder? wondered Eden.
∞
“Who shot and killed him?” asked Captain Louise Stripe, rage in her eyes.
Manning's lips quivered with sadness. He couldn't talk and rested in a chair, head down with his elbows on his knees. He wouldn't look up.
“I just got off the com link with Chase Byrd and I couldn't bring myself to tell him about his Uncle James.” She wiped a tear from her cheek.
The doctor closed Admiral Byrd's eyes and placed a blanket over his body, covering his head. “I'm sorry for your loss. I truly am. I've heard wonderful things about Admiral Byrd,” the doctor said solemnly, and prepared to leave.
Louise marched right up to the doctor until she was nose to nose with her. “You don't know a damn thing about Admiral Byrd, doctor. You and the rest of Starbase Matrona turned your back on him, calling him a murderer, while he did everything in his power to help you all. You, along with everyone else out there, don't deserve...” Louise suddenly stopped and backed away, sobbing.
The doctor lowered her head, only nodding. Brigger stepped in and gently touched the doctor’s arm. “It's probably best you leave. You did your best, and for that I know the admiral was thankful.”
The doctor wiped her face from the sweat of stress and panic, whispering, “I'm sorry.” She turned and left the room.
Manning finally looked up. “What do we tell everyone? And who's going to lead us now?”
“My guess is Payson has escaped?” asked Louise, with a strained voice.
“Yes,” Manning replied.
“We hunt that asshole down,” exclaimed Louise. “He is probably heading for Zim. And we should let him kill Zim, but if we do, he may take over the starbase somehow.” She thought for a moment. “I hope Zim got rid of that poison like he said he did.”
“How could Payson take over the starbase? We have the Matrona, Brigantia, and the Taranis Guard. It would be thousands of Guards against his little gang,” said Brigger.
“I think he has the support of the enemy—the ones who attacked us. That's who sent him and that's who's probably telling him where to...” she stopped, glancing at Admiral Byrd and choking up again. Sitting down she put her face in her hands, doing her best to steady herself.
Brigger walked over and softly touched her back. “Let's tell the Guard about Admiral Byrd. We will then tell everyone that we are coming up with a plan of action to take down Payson's group.”
Manning took a deep breath. “What if the poison wasn't thrown out and Payson finds it? He'll release it on the population.”
“I'm pretty sure Zim dumped it out of an air lock,” responded Brigger.
Manning bit his cheek and pulled at his pants. “I don't know. He said he would. But who knows if he did or didn’t?”
“Brigger,” said Louise, her head still in her hands, “get everyone ready and organized out in the main lobby. As soon as I calm down, we'll talk with everyone.” She was only an arm- length away from Admiral Byrd and reached her hand out to touch the top of his head. “We'll make this right, James.”
“I need a ten-day nap after this. This can't be happening,” blurted Manning.
“We will get no such thing until we are clear and safe from this threat,” replied Louise. “Do you understand, Sergeant?”
Manning bowed his head. “Understood, Captain.”
“Brigger?” questioned Louise.
“Yes, Captain.”
“Why are you still in this room? I gave you an order and I expect you to follow it immediately.”
“Yes, Sir. I'm on it.” He hurried out of the room and down the hall toward the lobby.
“And Manning,” she said, “I'm just going to wing it. I can't think of anything to say and if we made a speech, I wouldn't remember it anyway.”
“They'll have a thousand questions,” he speculated.
“That's why I need you there to help.” She stood. “Can you do that for me, Sergeant?”
“For the love of the admiral and our people, I'll do anything for Star Guild. Count me in for whatever you need.”
“Then follow me.”
∞
The hovertrain whizzed by dozens of skyscrapers, which littered Sphere 8—a Sphere made up entirely of Matrona's commerce sector, the main governance, and the large bulva banks holding all the digital money of every commerce transaction, every governance dealing, and every deposit and withdrawal of each citizen. This was not a homey place and anyone sleeping in this Sphere was either an over-worked white
collar in their office or transients on the streets.
Devon couldn’t get over how empty the train was. Only a few people rode today, but since Sphere 1 was the military sector, there probably weren't many civilians that ever traveled there, so maybe it was always like this when traveling to Sphere 1.
Next to Devon sat Chase, in deep thought with his eyes closed, or perhaps he was asleep. They had been awake for who knows how long—probably over 24 hours. If Chase was thinking, he was probably conducting detective work in his head.
Devon yawned and closed his eyes, wanting to get some sleep since this ride was going to be a long one—two or three hours, maybe more. He couldn't remember.
He leaned his head against the window, then his eyes suddenly shot wide open. He began rubbing his hand over his heart as an uneasy flutter settled in his belly. “Oh no.” A painting—one of the worst predictive paintings that he had ever had the stomach to finish—hovered in his memory. The citizens were indeed going to be next. Most of them wouldn't survive what was about to come.
Chase put his hand on Devon's knee and gave it a friendly squeeze. “I think we can do this.”
Devon posture stiffened. “Good.”
Sensing Devon's sudden awkward tone, Chase asked, “Something on your mind?”
Devon leaned forward, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I should have realized. I'm sorry, Chase. We should get off the train at Sphere 9.”
Chase folded his hands, a little dismayed. “And why would we do that?”
“Payson is probably heading to Sphere 1 right now.”
“We just need to get there before him.”
Devon shook his head. “I don't think we can stop them.”
“If you need to get off at Sphere 9, I understand.”
Devon thought for a moment. “Your uncle should have tied Payson and his team up while they were in their cells.”
“Look Devon, there is a lot we could have done to prevent their escape. If they could somehow break out of cells made out of ebb, then they would have easily gotten out of rope or whatever else they could have tied them with.”
“It would have slowed them down!” shouted Devon, eliciting looks from the few passengers in the hovertrain car.
Chase put his arm around Devon, calming his friend. He'd never seen Devon like this. “We are fine. I think we can get to the poison, throw it out an airlock or something, and get out of there fast.”
Devon sat tall. “I painted it,” he softly announced.
Chase blankly gazed at Devon, wondering what drug had slipped into his drink. Only Devon wasn't drinking anything.
Devon continued, “Sometimes I paint things that come true and I painted the poison being unleashed on all of us. Many dead, more dying, and it felt like all of Matrona was ill.”
“I'm not quite following you, Devon.”
“That's my skill. You asked me what I'm good at, my specialty, and that's it.”
Chase puffed out his lower lip. “Okay. What's your skill? And why are you talking this way?”
Devon sighed. “In Zim's office we talked about my skills regarding hacking into HDC's. I told you that it wasn't a skill and that I had another specialty, or something along those lines.” He paused for a second, gathering himself. “I'm Robert Rose.”
Chase hesitated for a moment, almost believing him, then chuckled. “You ought to be a politician. You're good at keeping a straight face.”
“I'm not lying. I'm serious. Well, actually, I'm Robert and another person is Rose. Rose taught me how to find my talent and how to follow my intuition. When I combine the two—talent and intuition—I become really good. I predicted things in my paintings and I also somehow knew our true history, and it was vastly different than what our history books tell us. I put those in my paintings as well.”
Chase put his hands up for Devon to stop. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. Slow down. You're talking nonsense—”
“No I'm not. I'm Robert and Rose is...well, I can't tell you who she is. I can prove I'm the painter, though.”
“Yeah, I'd like to see that,” said Chase sarcastically. “Can we change the subject?”
Devon looked around for pen and paper. “There,” he pointed. “Grab that small pad of paper and that pen.”
Hanging against a wall next to the hovertrain door was a pad of paper with a pen attached to it. Chase stood, then walked over, took the pen and paper, then sat back down. He handed them to Chase. “Here you go, Mr. Rose.” He wanted to argue, but decided to allow Devon to continue his delusions of grandeur.
“What do you want me to draw?” Devon asked, holding the tip of the pen just over the paper.
“I don't know,” replied Chase. He didn't care. He wanted this nonsense to stop.
“What's your favorite Robert Rose?”
Without hesitation, Chase responded. “Star Fire.”
“Star Fire? That's my most blazed with color. I don't have actual paints with me, just this pen.” He held up the pen, showing Chase.
“Yeah, I know. I handed you that thing. Just draw everything without the color.”
Devon proceeded to draw a Torus-shaped nebula. “This is butterfly nebula. Don't ask me how I know, 'cause I wouldn't be able to answer that.” His strokes were fast and perfect. “I see it like I'm staring right at it in space. To me, it looks like two nebula's crashing into each other, but apparently that's not what it is. It's just one nebula that looks like that.” He started drawing faster. “I see it on the page before I complete it.”
After the nebula, he drew a starship flying toward it. Then another starship and another. When he had finished, he had drawn three starships in all. “Those are Knights Templar starships. They are more cylindrical in shape and aren't as big as ours. They are coming to save us.” He started shading in the nebula, doing his best to make it seem colorful.
“Okay, stop.” Chase bared his teeth, looking as if he was going to kill Devon. “What the Guild?”
Devon lifted the pen slightly off the paper, worry in his eyes. “I can't make it fiery, like it is in the original.”
“Put that away.” Chase looked around, making sure no one saw what Devon just drew. “You're him? I can't believe it. Who...how…?” Chase was speechless for a moment. “You've got to be kidding me. You're only a kid. I'm in shock. What the...”
“I'm not that much younger than you. I'm not a kid.”
“You're like ten years younger than me and you're a kid in my book. You shouldn't be Robert Rose. It's just not possible. How can I be sitting next to the most talked about artist in all of Matrona? You're Matrona's biggest mystery.”
“I know and I keep it that way. Rose said I would be hunted and killed for what I put in my art. It's all about truth and many people resonate with my paintings, but Zim would have me killed for it.”
“Who is Rose?” questioned Chase.
“I can't say.”
“Why?”
“I don't know. She won't let me. I'm not even supposed to say who I am,” responded Devon.
Chase waved his arms about, trying to grab hold of this newly found information. “Okay, you're that famous guy and your paintings talk about the future. How is that possible?”
Devon gave a wavering smile. “I don't know. It's true. I've been painting things that come true for years. It's been talked about before and—”
Chase nodded and interrupted Devon. “I know. A couple of years ago, somehow you painted the next line of Overseers, including me. I thought that was a hoax.”
“It wasn't a hoax, but I figured that's what people would say. I did my best. I had someone put that painting in the Sphere 6 museum, cover it up in a white tarp, and unveil it the day after the elections. People thought I had painted it after I knew who won and switched the paintings, but how could I paint something so quickly like that?”
Chase's chin dropped and he frowned. “I'm beginning to suspect that the elections are all rigged.”
“Probably,” replied Devon.
&
nbsp; “Still, I'm in your painting. What else did you predict?”
“Well, Comet Vega coming so close to Matrona and everyone panicking. My painting was to tell people that we weren't going to get hit, but it was ignored. The media made it seem like we were all going to die.”
“Yeah, I remember that one,” said Chase. “There's the kidnapped woman one, as well. You painted exactly where she was and that's where we found her, alive.”
“Yep. That was Captain Louise Stripe. She disappeared for several weeks. She was with the Prime Director.”
Chase's head flinched backward, “Zim?”
“Yes. I saw it in my mind’s eye, as if I was right there. He didn't kidnap her. They had a thing, but he was very unkind to her near the end. He left her for dead after he did what he did to her.”
“What did he do?”
“I'm not saying. I can't speak for someone who went through something so personal. She'll have to come forward. It's killing her inside to keep it all in.”Chase let the conversation drop, but figured he knew what it was that Zim did to Captain Stripe. No wonder she had a hate streak in her about Zim, and about many other things. He returned to their original conversation. “Alright, so you painted that there would be many deaths from unleashing the poison. Is there any way we can change that prophecy?”
Devon shrugged, then yawned. “I don't know.”
Chase yawned in return. “Maybe we should nap on this.”
Devon nodded, then put his head back against the window, falling fast asleep.
Chase leaned his chair back a few centimeters and closed his eyes, hoping the million thoughts flitting about his mind would stop for a minute and allow him some much needed shut-eye.
“Good night, Mr. Rose.”
He smiled, thinking how crazy that sounded.
∞
The spiral path went on for what seemed to be an entire day, and for the first time Crystal actually wished she were the one being carried by the Dwarves, instead of Daf. They were all quiet as they walked behind her, and Shan Ru strolled by Crystal's side.
When she had been at the top of this path and looking at its circular, winding route down into what seemed to be an abyss, she never imagined it would take this long to travel to Dirn Garum—the city inside the mountain.
Star Guild Episodes 10 - 18 (Star Guild Saga) Page 6
