Daniel Coldstar #1

by Stel Pavlou

  He stood, his sides aching, watching Orpheus Core’s lone, piercing blue sun, turning violet as it set, slipping behind the charred ruin to reveal a sea of unfamiliar stars in the twilight sky.

  It wasn’t enough. He needed more than just being able to breathe.

  In a bright burst of Aegis energy—

  Whompff!

  He bounded over the swirling waters, landing at the foot of the Seventh Summit. Where once an impressive Truth Seeker stronghold had been carved into the heart of the mountain now stood the remnants from its total destruction.

  The ruins were black with soot and damp from having been abandoned for so long. Bizarre creeping vines and other strange-looking plants had taken root along the walls. The flapping wings of a startled creature fluttered somewhere up near an open window.

  Something about this place seemed familiar somehow. Though he wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it just reminded him of the mines.

  The peak of the summit was long gone, exposing swathes of rooms to the elements. As Daniel made his way inside, negotiating the crumbling corpse of a staircase, he couldn’t shake the eerie feeling that the spirits of the dead were watching him. Everywhere he looked, charred beds sat tucked inside burnt-out rooms, reminders that children had slept here, before the evil came.

  And there it was, that rage in his belly that he thought he’d gotten a handle on.

  Here he’d been trying to make them understand that there were a thousand lost kids out there somewhere dying under Sinja rule—not hypothetically, but actually.

  Why were they being so slow to help? Were they afraid?

  Daniel pushed on through the ruins, trying to find a way out, but the farther he went, the worse it got, until finally he ran into a dead end.

  Why did it feel like he was back in the mines?

  In that moment, all the frustration he’d been dealing with came bubbling up from deep within, reaching directly into his Aegis.

  Wwwwwwhhhhooooommmmpfffffffff!

  The blast radiating from his Aegis was so powerful, it blew out the walls in every direction, the dead end opening up to the outside once more, revealing a massive blackened fissure running down the back side of the Seventh Summit, as though some powerful ancient force had torn the mountain open like an animal looking for bugs.

  “Feel better?”

  The voice was Ben’s.

  “How long have you been standing there?”

  “Long enough,” Ben said, joining him at the edge of the precipice to see the view for himself. “Skyrider’s Gorge. We use it for training. You should try racing Ionica down here sometime. She’ll kick your butt.”

  “The Sinja did this, didn’t they?” said Daniel.

  “A very long time ago. Way before I was born.”

  “Is this why you’re all so afraid of them?”

  “Afraid of the Sinja?” Ben sounded amused. “Bloody right we’re afraid of them. But not for the reasons you think.”

  “Enlighten me.”

  “We don’t care what they do to us,” Ben explained. “It’s what they do to others that frightens us. How they can twist minds, make brothers fight brothers, make sisters murder sisters. There are entire systems out there,” he added, “whole worlds controlled by the Sinja, where the people do exactly the opposite of what’s good for them, because they believe the lies so completely that they can’t see the truth, even when it’s presented to them. Slavery is freedom. Up is down. Black is white. Good is evil.”

  “Then why are the Verdicti giving up on them?”

  “Who said anything about giving up?” said Ben.

  33

  ALLEGIANCES

  The entrance to the Vault sat buried deep in the heart of the mountain, where the feet of the Seven Summits became one. Words could not adequately describe what lay before Daniel when he stepped through its gleaming tritanium arch. Truth Seekers, students and teachers alike, came and went lost in conversation. Behind them, a honeycomb of gigantic tritanium buttresses crisscrossed throughout the immense space, creating distinct areas of learning. One entire section held genuine ancient paper books on shelves; some of them had to be thousands of years old and were being treated with reverence by the Truth Seekers handling them. Another section seemed more like an arboretum of knowledge: data storage columns towered like trees, and holocule images of the digital documents they contained projected out like branches and blossoms for the Truth Seekers to leaf through.

  And at the center of it all, a collection of ancient artifacts was displayed upon a circle of gleaming pedestals, each one a reflection of the lost civilizations that had created it.

  Daniel’s pulse quickened as he read the inscriptions:

  The Anthydion Device. Discovered EE 8923 by Indigo

  Cort. Planet: Mandaradan. Civilization: Unknown.

  Starflake Extractor. Discovered EE 7790 by Suko Reen.

  Planet: Tantara. Civilization: Destronomer.

  The scorched relic looked a little like a crab that had been heat-blasted almost to the point of disintegration; deep cracks ran throughout its armor, a patchwork of discolored plating that bore the faint trace of rainbows. “What’s a starflake?” Daniel asked.

  “You’re wearing one right now,” Ionica replied, emerging from behind a line of silent data columns. “No two starflakes are alike, which is why every Aegis is different,” she said. “I didn’t think you’d come.”

  “I nearly didn’t,” Daniel admitted, glancing down at the geometric relic on his chest. “Where can you find starflakes?”

  “In the solid core of a dying star,” she said.

  No wonder the Extractor looked the way it did. Daniel looked her in the eye. “Ben said you had a plan.”

  “Not my plan. Our plan.”

  From behind another column, Ben stepped into the open alongside Astrid Always, the girl who had helped him rebuild Hex.

  “Ben tells me you want to take on the Sinja, all by yourself,” she said, “without any idea what you’re doing?”

  Daniel didn’t know what to be more surprised by: that they were here too, or that Ben seemed to have told just about everybody. “I was thinking about it,” he said.

  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Do you know how many Truth Seekers died trying to secure these relics to make sure they didn’t fall into the hands of the Sinja?”

  Daniel shook his head.

  “A hundred and three. A hundred and three of the bravest, most highly trained Truth Seekers ever to come out of the Fortress of Truth.” The sheer anger in her voice alarmed even Astrid. She clenched her teeth. “And you think you can do better than them?”

  Was that a tear in her eye? “I didn’t know,” he said quietly.

  “There’s a lot you don’t know, Daniel,” Ionica replied.

  Daniel refused to be made to feel guilty. “You know what I do know?” he replied. “If I had the most dangerous artifacts in the galaxy, I wouldn’t leave them lying around for just anyone to pick up.” To prove his point, he reached out to snatch up the scorched artifact, only to find his hand plowing through it. A hologram.

  “It’s not really there,” said Ben, rolling his eyes. “None of them are.”

  “The real artifacts,” Astrid explained, “are kept in vaults throughout the galaxy. These are security images.”

  Ionica shook her head. “You want to battle the Sinja, people who lie with every breath, and you can’t tell the difference between a hologram and a real relic?”

  “You tricked me.”

  “Nobody tricked you, you just didn’t look, because you don’t know how. You have to question everything. That’s the first rule. Don’t believe what you see. Don’t believe what you’re told. Question authority, which you seem to be good at already. Learn how to think, not what to think. That’s the way of the Truth Seeker!”

  “But I’m not a Truth Seeker!” he roared defiantly.

  “Or are you?” Ionica repl
ied, raising an eyebrow.

  “And maybe you need to realize you’re not going to stop me from finding my friends.”

  Surprise danced in Ionica’s eyes. “Don’t you think we know that?”

  The three of them gathered around. “We’re not trying to stop you,” said Ben. “Without guidance, without training, you’ll end up dead, or worse.”

  Daniel couldn’t imagine what might be worse than being dead.

  “This galaxy is riddled with Sinja influence,” he added. “Like a disease eating away at anything good. Heck, you lived under Sinja rule for how long and didn’t even know it—”

  “Well, he is twelve years old,” interrupted Hex.

  Daniel did a double take. “Where did you come from?”

  “From over there.”

  Daniel glowered.

  “I heard you ran away. Again. I went looking for you.”

  “What is he saying?” Ben chimed in.

  “Nothing important.”

  Hex snorted dismissively. “Charming,” he said.

  Ben continued, “My point is, it’s okay to admit a little defeat. It’s how we learn. And you have a lot of things to relearn.”

  “We’re your friends too,” Astrid said. “You’re not alone. We just want to do everything we can to help prepare you.”

  Daniel knew he had to accept their help.

  Over the course of days and weeks, they showed him how to put the Vault to good use, how to search for information, and how to follow clues. Together they mapped out the most important things he needed to learn, such as Mastery of the Aegis. Every day he practiced a whole set of moves to expand his abilities, taking classes with a number of Truth Seekers whose abilities ranged from beginner to expert.

  The History of Ancient Alien Cultures and Artifacts was probably the next most important class to take. The Sinja had been making Daniel mine for relics, after all. Daniel might be able to pick up clues as to what they were ultimately searching for. Philosophy of the Sinja struck them all as important too, as was Needle Drives and Star Lore.

  Everything else could wait.

  After a couple of weeks, Daniel started getting the hang of how to take classes, instead of just plugging in the data. He learned to ask questions of his teachers, participate with other students, and not be afraid that he didn’t always know the answers. Understanding that he didn’t know all the answers was the second rule, and following it had the most unexpected effect: he stopped being afraid. Before long he felt confident enough that he wanted to go further. Dig deeper. But his classes weren’t giving him what he needed. And why should they? Daniel was the only person at the Fortress of Truth who knew what a relic mine was like. He alone had the best shot at finding it.

  But how to find something that nobody knew how to find?

  And so for a few hours each night, while his new friends slept, Daniel took himself and Hex back down to the Vault to conduct his own investigation into where he had come from and how he was going to get back there. He had the star charts of the WaKeenee still stuck in his head, so that was a help. The evidence records from the trial of Darius Hun were still accessible, along with data showing who owned the ship, what it carried, and where it had traveled.

  Resolutely he examined every clue he could lay his hands on, even if at times it felt as though he was getting nowhere, but he refused to give up.

  And then one night, quite by chance, when Daniel had gathered his belongings, he passed by the sparkling glass chamber that held the mysterious Book of Planets.

  “What is this Book of Planets anyway?” Hex asked.

  Daniel chose not to look up from what he was reading as he walked. “Some kind of star chart, best I can figure out.”

  “I don’t get it. What’s so special about that?”

  “It’s live,” Daniel explained. “It updates in real time. You can hop from planet to planet like a god. Breathe their air.”

  Hex clicked excitedly. “Wow, I’m surprised you don’t check it out.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Why not? That sounds right up our alley!”

  Hex had seemed uninterested in the Vault at first, but after a while Daniel had coaxed the anatom to keep him company. Now it had reached the point where he was more eager to keep going back than Daniel was.

  “I don’t know,” Daniel said, with a sigh. He glanced up. “It could kill me.”

  “How so? And why all this me business? Don’t you mean we? We could get killed. . . . If anyone is hopping around planets like a god, it is going to be me.”

  “You don’t understand,” he said, still trying to decide if it was worth the risk. “They said it takes great concentration. Besides, I don’t want to betray their trust.”

  “Betray their trust? Here you have access to something better than any star chart, a device that can let you peer into any planet in the galaxy, in real time, and they won’t show you how to use it? Is there something they don’t want you to know?” asked Hex. “Seems to me they’re the ones betraying your trust.”

  “If I didn’t put you back together with my own two hands, I’d think you were a Sinja with all this talk. Now be quiet. I’m trying to think.”

  A little while later, Daniel reluctantly got up and peered through the glass at the massive Book of Planets sitting on its podium in the middle of the chamber, its cover worn and fragile. He could only imagine what secrets were held within its pages; if only he knew how to access them.

  “Kid,” Hex said, “I bet you’ve seen more of this galaxy than they have, and survived drote knows what, and you’re going to let them tell you what you can and can’t do?”

  “If you’re so eager, you go in there and kill yourself.”

  “I’m an anatom, the door won’t open for me.”

  “Come on,” said Daniel. “It’s late. Let’s get some rest.”

  Distinctly disappointed in Daniel, Hex shook his head and slowly started making his way toward the exit.

  Daniel pressed his nose against the cold glass. Maybe he could take just a quick peek?

  Without warning, the door rolled open.

  Stunned, Daniel glanced around. Someone had forgotten to lock the door. “Hello?” he called out.

  Hex glanced back over his shoulder. “There’s no one else here, kid. Just you and me. Go on. Step inside. It’s practically an invitation.”

  Daniel hesitated. “This doesn’t feel right, Hex. Every planet in the galaxy is supposed to be in here,” he said. “What if we . . . break something?”

  “Only one way to find out.”

  The Book of Planets was no ordinary book. It couldn’t be read; it had to be experienced. Daniel didn’t know what that meant, really, but he wanted to find out.

  Whenever he had seen Truth Seekers at work, tiny planets and stars literally jumped from its pages and swirled around them. It seemed simple enough.

  Hex was right—what could possibly be so dangerous about something as simple as a book?

  The answers were right there in front of him. If he had the courage, all he had to do was look. Besides, who would know?

  Daniel pushed the door open and stepped inside.

  34

  THE BOOK OF PLANETS

  Daniel felt it immediately, a presence watching him.

  There was great power here, as though the Book of Planets were alive.

  Daniel approached the hefty tome carefully. Now he understood why it was kept inside the chamber. Not to protect the book, but to protect everyone else from the book.

  Maybe he shouldn’t be doing this. He turned to leave, pushing on the glass door—

  It wouldn’t move.

  He thumbed the controls. Locked. Now how had that happened?

  Flick. Flick.

  Daniel started to panic. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end. And for the first time that Daniel could remember, Hex was speechless. Slowly, very slowly, he glanced over his shoulder.

  Flick. Flick.

  The Book of Plane
ts had creaked open, its pages flipping one by one by some unseen hand.

  “Very funny,” said Daniel.

  He quickly surveyed the room to see if he could spot anyone in the library. But deep down he already knew the answer. There was nobody else here.

  The Book of Planets was alive.

  Daniel marched back to the podium and grabbed the heavy book with both hands. He struggled to lift its covers. The pages refused to stop flipping back and forth, faster and faster, whipping the air into a storm, until a searing light blasted out from between them, knocking Daniel off his feet.

  Daniel clutched at his aching chest, trying to catch his breath. He snatched his hand away almost immediately. He glanced down.

  His Aegis stirred, doing something he’d never seen it do before—it glowed.

  Above his head, comets, stars, and entire worlds tumbled from the pages of the Book of Planets, gliding into orbits around the chamber, forming entire star systems with multiple planets, orbiting single and sometimes multiple suns.

  “All right . . .” said Daniel, getting to his feet. “If that’s how you want to play it.”

  Daniel closed his eyes and the star charts of the WaKeenee came spilling out of his memory into the air above him, with the force of the Aegis matching up the alignments until what he saw in his mind’s eye fit exactly with what he was being shown in this powerful book.

  Where the ship’s charts gave him names of systems, the Book of Planets gave him experiences—the sounds, the textures, the vibrations, the sense of being on those planets. All his memories, holes and all, fell into place and began to make some sense.

  With each passing orbit, Daniel caught metallic elements on his tongue, or felt the faintest whiff of exotic scents drift into his nostrils. As the planets crisscrossed, he quickly discovered that he could trace them just by picking up their trails. It revealed a pattern at work in the galaxy that he would never have seen just by looking. He could sense which planets belonged together just by their chemical composition. He could sense which planets were foreign, and which were familiar. . . .