The boulder clicked and then a door Crystal hadn't noticed before opened. She was now looking inside a dimly lit elevator. Her mouth gaped. “How the—”
“Come,” said Thun. “No questions.”
The three stepped inside. The elevator, however, wasn't built for Dwarves. It easily held Shan without the need for him to duck or squat.
“How can I not have questions?” snapped Crystal.
Shan-Ru glanced down at Thun. “Will you allow me to answer her questions the best I can?”
“Do your best,” replied Thun. “You won't be right.”
Shan stroked his chin, saying, “This elevator wasn't created by Dwarves. This elevator and the large opening inside this mountain was built eons ago by the Knights Templar. However, when the Dwarves happened upon this mountain, it was they who created the city within the Mountain. Lien-L, the fiend who runs the slave and ebb program for my race doesn't know about the ins and outs of Mount Gabriel. He only knows it is filled with tunnels, but couldn't care less about them.”
“That Lien-L guy isn't given access to the knowledge of what's inside here?” questioned Crystal.
Shan nodded. “It's not the Knights Templar's prerogative to give him any information about Mount Gabriel or what your race calls Forever Mountain. It's not the Knights Templar’s practice to give any information to a person or people who want to commit genocide upon another civilization.”
Crystal gave Shan a fixed stare. “Well, of course not. And the Knights Templar built this?”
The elevator door opened and Shan nodded, then walked into a brightly lit facility with several Dwarves moving about here and there. The area was immense and the ceiling was almost as high as the ceiling of Dirn Garum. She wondered if this place was still part of Dirn Garum.
Dwarves, both males and females, stood behind rock-like instruments that were about a foot lower than the Dwarves. They were pressing and giving orders to the rocks.
About fifty yards past the working Dwarves was a thick, beautifully cut slab of ebb, about the size of the side of a Mech Warehouse—the ones Crystal used to work in. The slab of ebb acted as a giant wall.
Crystal strained to hear what the Dwarves were murmuring about. “Why are they talking and pressing on rocks?”
Shan tilted his head back. “It's their work stations. They monitor the outside, keep Dirn Garum operating, operate the water canals, and many other things.”
“Here,” said Thun.
“They are talking to rocks though,” responded Crystal. “Isn't that a little...odd?”
“All is life,” said Shan. “All has consciousness and all life can be partnered with, but in this case those rocks are just consoles. What you don't see is the other side of each rock are working HDC's, much like the ones you're used to.”
Crystal felt a tap on her arm.
“Here!” said Thun.
Crystal pointed to the workers in front of her, then looked up and all around. “This place is huge.”
Suddenly, Crystal felt a large object weigh on her torso and neck. Instinctively she caught it from falling to the ground. It felt thick, course, and strong.
“Hey!” she shouted.
Thun glared at her, wiping his hands. “Pay attention. That's your baldric. Wear it well and often.”
Crystal suddenly noticed that Harak was standing next to his brother. Harak rolled his eyes, shaking his head. “You sun worshipers,” he grunted, and stalked off toward the large wall of ebb.
“You owe him your life,” said Thun to Crystal.
“I owe Harak my life? Why the hell would I give anything to that jerk?”
“He made you the baldric. It is fit for a king.”
Shan lightly touched Crystal's back. “Or, a queen.”
Thun put his hands around the baldric that Crystal now held. “I apologize for my intolerance and impatience. Sometimes I can't control myself. Plus, you're funny when surprised.”
“I'm glad you find me entertaining,” retorted Crystal.
“Good.” He grabbed her wrist and pulled her forward. “Then let's follow my brother. I would like to see you surprised some more.”
Crystal tried to hold her ground, but Thun was massively strong and pulled her along effortlessly.
“Where are we going?” asked Crystal.
“To our ships,” said Thun.
“You have ships?” questioned Crystal.
“Yes, some.”
Shan walked with them. “They are quite advanced engineers here, but as impatient as they are with each other, they are just as impatient with piloting.”
“And that's where you come in,” said Thun, as they reached the ebb wall, where Harak had been standing with his arms crossed.
“What is it brother?” inquired Thun.
“You needed to have the sun dweller bring Soul's Eye.”
“Yes. My apologies, brother.”
“It would have been a good training for us,” responded Harak. He then spoke to the ebb wall. “Awake!”
The ebb slab, smooth and shiny, split in two—one side opening to the right and the other side to the left. Light spilled through the opening and as the ebb slabs opened more, Crystal could see what was behind it and Thun was correct; her mouth gaped open.
“That,” said Shan, “is Starship Tranquil.”
Before them was a giant orb-like craft, much like a starship but a tad smaller. Behind it were a dozen orb crafts, about the size of starfighters.
“This is also why Soul's Eye is so important,” spoke Thun. “Placing Soul's Eye within the stone on Tranquil's bridge will bring Tranquil alive once again. This starship hasn't flown in thousands of years, we think.”
“And the other craft? The smaller orb-looking things?” asked Crystal.
“They work, but will you teach us how to pilot with patience?”
“Me? Oh, Guild.” She rolled her eyes. “You've got to be kidding me.”
Episode 12
Tranquil
Sphere 1 was the Military Sphere, a sphere where Starhawk Transports and Starfighters—top secret or not—came and went. What the citizens of Matrona knew of Sphere 1 transports were their trips back and forth to Lumus to pick up and drop off mining equipment, Mech pilots for work, and ebb rock that had been gathered the day before. What they didn't know were that some transports took clandestine trips to another star system many thousands of light years away.
Devon and Chase, following the data stream trail, had figured this out and now they were in Sphere 1 and watching a transport leave through the launch bay.
“Where do you think it's going?” asked Devon, crouching behind a bush. His back was snug against an ebb military contractor's building. This Sphere was quiet, just like all the other Spheres they visited on their way here.
They'd been in Sphere 1 for hours, snooping around, and the only people they saw were the workers at the hoverstation who seemed surprised to see anyone, especially them.
“That's my question, too. Where the Guild is it going?”
“Yeah, and who is piloting it?”
“I don't know. I didn't see anyone enter the transport,” responded Chase. “I wish we got here earlier. Let's keep looking around. If we're lucky, Payson hasn't made it this far yet and the poison is untouched.”
Moving across the street to the next building they leaned against the wall, then crouched next to some more shrubs. Chase pointed to the building's entrance. “Let's go inside.” Devon nodded and they moved slowly against the building until they reached the stairs where they ran up to the main door. Chase swiped his card on the doors control console. The door slid vertically open.
“Lights on,” said Chase, walking inside.
Instantly, the lobby lit up, revealing beautiful glossy ebb flooring, a main desk, and stairs on either side of the desk leading up to offices on the landings above. Hanging from the ceiling was a Star Guild emblem with Star Guild printed in the middle of it.
“I've never been here,” said Dev
on. “Star Guild Headquarters, right?”
“Yep, and it houses some Star Guild Academy classrooms.” He curled his fingers, a little irritated. “I guess we look for some potential poison in here? What would the poison be stored in? Barrels? What's the poison called again?”
“Batrachotoxin,” replied Devon.
“Okay.” Chase was impressed. “I guess you are the only one who would know that. What would it be stored in?”
“I just know the name. I don't know—” Devon cut himself off as he walked toward the main desk, his shoes squeaking on the ebb floor.
“Where you going?” asked Chase.
Devon held up his finger as he rounded the desk and sat in the chair. Turning on the HDC, he clicked on the com link. “Sally Gray in Chem Lab, Sphere 9, com link.”
On the screen appeared a young woman with glasses and her hair all in sorts. She didn't look up to see who it was, only saying, “Yes,” too busy to be bothered.
“Sally?” said Devon.
“I said, yes,” replied Sally, her head still down, staring at papers.
“I need your help.”
She looked up, finally curious about who was hailing her. Taking off her glasses, she peered into the screen. Then she smiled widely. “You're alive!”
“Yes, I am. I'm happy to see you, but we can meet later, okay? I have a very important question for you that I hope you can answer.”
“Mom and Dad will be intoxicated with joy, Devon. They think you're dead.”
“Tell them I'm okay. I need to ask you some things.”She nervously bit the top of her pen. “Yes?”
“If you were going to have mass amounts of batrachotoxin, where would it be stored and in what type of container?”
Sally was taken aback. “What? Why?”
“Just...Sally! Answer my question. We don't have much time.”
“Batrachotoxin must be stored in a cool, dry place. You don't want it to spill since it is a serious irritant, and contact with batrachotoxin quickly creates numbness in human tissue. When it enters the body it causes muscle and nerve depolarization, fibrillation, arrhythmias, and heart failure. So you don't want to breathe it in or swallow it. Especially you don't want to swallow it. That's the worst, as it interferes with the body's ability to transmit electrical signals by means of action potentials. The same can be said about inhaling it, but you would need to inhale a lot more than you would need to ingest in order to have the same terrible effects. All cells in the body have an electric potential difference of 70 to 80 millivolts, so—”
Tugging at his hair Devon forcefully interrupted his sister. “Sally, Sally! Okay. You're talking too much. What would it be stored in and where would it be in order to keep it safe and not seen?”
“Ebb containers.” She put her arms out, sizing up the containers, showing how immense they were. “You know, the big ones.”
Chase interrupted. “Where would they store such big containers?”
Sally jumped at the sight of Chase. “Who—that's Overseer Chase Byrd!”
Devon nodded. “Yeah, so he says.”
Collecting herself Sally continued. “The most likely and best place for them to be stored would be in the airlocks in Sphere 1. They are the biggest of any Sphere and if you wanted to hide them, all you need to do is decommission an air lock and claim it off limits. No military personnel would open the air lock, plus the usual codes would be changed and only told to the highest officers in Star Guild and ITS. We do that with our most hazardous chemicals. It’s protocol, so a temporarily decommissioned air lock wouldn’t be suspicious to anyone in the Military Sphere. Like I said, they would only see it as protocol.”
“How do we get the codes?” asked Chase.
“What the Guild do you want to do with this poison?” wondered Sally.
“We want to dispose of it and shoot it out of the air locks,” responded Devon.
“That would be the safest way to extract it,” she said. “Why do we have batrachotoxin anyway?”
“To kill us,” said Chase. “We found documents—”
Devon coughed, nudging Chase's shin with his foot.
“Excuse me, Sally. Let me correct myself. Devon found documents shortly after the attack. There is a plan B and C in effect right now and batrachotoxin is in one of those plans.”
Sally was aghast. “The attack is still going on?”
“Internally,” said Chase.
“If they are going to use batrachotoxin, then why didn't they hide it near the water lines in the biosphere? Sending it through the air channels through Sphere 1 won't kill as many as they would want.”
“How many would it kill?” asked Devon.
“It would kill those with open wounds, plus the elderly, sick, and babies, but in order to kill everyone, you'd need to have a steady dose flowing for days on end, almost like a dust.”
“Is it a dust?” asked Chase.
“Probably,” responded Sally.
“How many do you think it would kill?” questioned Chase.
“A lot, of course, but not everyone. I'd say about 100,000 people. A big dose would kill about 250,000 people, but it would have to be a lot and they would have to be in close proximity, plus they would have to blast it through all of the air channels, and you can't reach everyone very fast from Sphere 1. If it was released, then anyone who stayed in their homes would be mostly safe, but anyone outside would be in danger. It would also depend on the time they released the poison. If it is at the noon hour, that's when most people are out and about, running errands and getting lunch.”
Devon turned around to face Chase. “Even if only a thousand people die, that's too many.” He turned to Sally again. “Does Chem Lab have access to the codes to the decommissioned airlocks?”
“I have them.”
“You what?” piped Chase.
“All Chem employees in this lab have top access to the codes. We just can't reveal them.” She started typing on her HDC.
“We need to save a lot of people, Sally,” said Devon.
“I'm an Overseer,” Chase chimed in. “Can you give them to me?”
“I don't have permission,” she responded, as she continued to type. A blip on Devon and Chase's screen showed pass codes for all decommissioned airlocks. “Just press print on your HDC,” she continued.
Devon pressed print on his HDC and watched it spit out a piece of paper with the codes on it. “Thank you, Sally.” He switched the screen to show Sally again.
“Thank me for what? I didn't do anything.” She grinned. “When can we get together? I miss you. Mom and Dad will be so happy when I tell them—”
Chase turned off the HDC and Devon stiffened, asking, “Why did you do that?”
“She has a gift for gab. I apologize, but we have to get started. We'll be checking all decommissioned air locks. We start now.”
∞
Daf gave Crystal a blank stare. “You're pulling my leg, right?” She then looked at her own leg, seeing the wrap around her shin and ankle. “Actually, pulling my leg won't feel so good, so don't do it.”
Daf was lying on a teeny bed in a small earthen hut, her leg raised on top of a few pillows. Crystal was standing, although slightly slouched to keep her head from hitting the ceiling.
“I'm telling you the truth, Daf. They have a starship down there. They call it Starship Tranquil. We can get everyone off Starship Sirona and onto Tranquil all in one swoop.”
Daf pointed to the sword sheathed in Crystal's new baldric. The baldric was strapped to Crystal's back. “And, you're telling me you need that to start the starship?”
Crystal nodded. “Yes. Soul's Eye.” She changed the subject. “How is your leg?”
“It was gross, Crystal. They put a strange mixture of green plants and smeared it all over my leg. It smelled like chicken crap mixed with mint. Made me gag a few times.”
“Well, does it feel better?”
“Yeah, mostly.” Daf took a long breath. “So, when are we going to get t
hat ship running so we can get our people to safety?”
Crystal sat down on the rocky floor. “I don't know, but it has to be sooner not later.” She rubbed the ground, then tapped on it a couple times as if knocking on a door. “How stupid are we? There are plants on Lumus, not much, but some, and plants give off oxygen, and yet we still went with the story that there isn't an ounce of breathable air here. You've worked in the Matrona biosphere, along with other people, and you all know how all this ecosystem stuff works, not to mention we were all taught about photosynthesis in school.” She gestured vigorously with her hands as she spoke. “Are we that dumb?”
Daf rolled her eyes. “Next topic, please.”
“Why?”
“Because when you get on a subject you're angry about, you freak out. You go on a tirade and it’s hard to get you to stop. There's nothing we can do about it right now. Bring it up to the governance if we all survive this; until then, can we just figure out how to get everyone on Sirona to safety?”
Crystal gave Daf a stony expression. “Alright. Didn't mean to ruin your day. Anyway, I don't think we should spring our idea to the Dwarves about getting the people off of Sirona just yet. These Dwarves don't give two rats about Sirona or our people. They just want me to teach them how to fly starfighters so they can do as much damage to the Drags as possible. They want blood.”
“They said that?” Daf shifted in her bed.
“Well,” Crystal blinked a couple of times, “not in so many words. But that’s the gist of it.”
“Sounds just like humans, don't it?” Daf remarked.
“Whatever their agenda, it doesn’t matter to me much. Our first stop is Sirona. I plan on saving them and—”
“You plan on proving your mother wrong,” interrupted Daf.
Crystal gave her a stern look. “Is that what you think?”
“No.”
“That's what I thought.”
“It's what I know,” Daf shot back. “From what I have observed, you and your mother have been trying to prove each other wrong your whole lives, and even though I just met you a year ago, I can tell all of that by the brief interactions I've seen between you.”
Star Guild Episodes 10 - 18 (Star Guild Saga) Page 9
