by Isaac Hooke
“Well sure, but if I open the portal while we’re aboard, you’ll end up in deep space,” Tane said. “Well, assuming manmade structures don’t exist in orbit while inside the Khaeota, like the Umbra.”
“In orbit?” Lyra said. “You seem to have misunderstood… while we’re aboard the Mosaic, we’re on the surface of Aegean Tetragon at this very moment.”
“But you mentioned we traveled into orbit,” Tane told her. “And were forced to retreat when the dweller ships fired at us from the surface…”
“Yes,” Lyra said. “We retreated to the far hemisphere, and landed to make repairs.”
“Ah,” Tane said.
Jed chimed in: “The AIs of the Mosaic and Red Grizzly are observing all approaches to their respective vessels, but seeing as we’re on the opposite side of the planet, it’s doubtful the dwellers will attack. Assuming they ever return from the Khaeota.”
“So you see,” Lyra continued. “All we have to do is walk outside into the planet-wide jungle, and you can open the gateway to the archaeoceti realm.”
“I don’t think so,” Tane said.
She studied him with those piercing brown eyes of hers. “Either open the portal, or do not. It doesn’t matter: I’ve already made up my mind. I’ll find a way to reach the archaeoceti without your help, if I have to. Either way, our paths diverge now.”
Tane stared at her, feeling a sudden fear. “But you can’t—”
“You have proven that death can be conquered,” Lyra interrupted. “And now that I’ve seen the proof, I’ll do whatever it takes to bring my sister back. I can’t let her go. I’m sorry. She supersedes everything, even my duty to you. To fulfill my dying sister’s last wish I swore I would protect you. But some things are even more important than vows to the dead. If there is a way I can save her, I have to try. Maybe it’s selfish… in fact, I know it is. But I believe, truly believe in my core, that you’re more than ready to face whatever comes your way. You no longer need us.”
Tane glanced at Jed. “I take it you’re going with her?”
Jed met his eyes unblinkingly. “I am, Engineer.”
Tane lay back, closed his eyes. “Damn Volurs.” He sighed deeply. “All right. Guess I’ll go, too.”
“We only need you to open the gate,” Lyra said. “You don’t—”
“I’m coming with you,” Tane said more firmly, looking at them.
“After everything you’ve already been through, I can’t ask—” Lyra began.
“You don’t even have to ask,” Tane interrupted. “You’ve been there for me, throughout all my trials. Of course I’m coming. We’ll save your sister, and then I can finally retire the World Bender’s hat.”
Lyra frowned. “I can’t allow it on principal. You already agreed to stop putting yourself needlessly in danger. This counts as one of those needless moments. You will open the gate for us, and nothing more.”
“That’s all well and good,” Tane said. “And yet the only way I’m going to open up the gateway to the archaeoceti universe is if I come with you. Sure, Tepethalean won’t be very happy to see me, but hey, she’ll just have to deal with it.”
“We’ll give you some time to rest and think it over,” Lyra said.
“I don’t need time to think it over,” Tane said. “I’ve already made up my mind. Inform the crew of my decision. Tell them they don’t have to come.”
“Somehow, I have a feeling they all will,” Jed said. The Volur bowed his head, and then he and Lyra left Tane to his thoughts.
When they were gone, he folded one arm over his chest to grip the opposite bicep, and then brought his forearm up to his face to support his chin on a fist.
I can’t believe I agreed.
18
As he lay there in sickbay, contemplating what he had agreed to, Tane felt something calling out to him. Something… sensual.
He lowered his arms, turning toward the bedside table and the crown it held. Yes, that was the source of the siren’s call. That crown sung to him, promising unbound joy. It was all he could do to resist putting it on right then.
That crown will be the end of me…
His eyes drifted to the storage pouch that sat beside it.
Tane quickly opened the pouch, grabbed the crown, and unceremoniously dumped it into a random slot inside. He sealed the device and sat back.
That was better. Nothing was calling to him anymore.
He wasn’t sure he’d ever touch the crown again, nor part the veil into the Emerald Essence it contained. It was too dangerous.
But I might need that grazer to fight at my side at some point. And I might need to Revive someone.
Unfortunately, the cost seemed a little high at the moment. The temptation to continue Siphoning the Emerald was too great. He’d already nearly died doing just that. Besides, there was a chance he’d lose himself to the grazer, and allow its personality to take hold. Such a fate seemed little better than letting the TSN or the dwellers implant a control chip in his head.
Tane focused his attention on the flashing icon in the lower right of his HUD. He had some leveling notifications, it seemed. He pulled up the appropriate window.
Level up. Your overall level is now 14! Neural pathways have been enhanced and reinforced! You now have an attribute point to allocate.
Level up. Emerald Siphoning is now Level 2. You may now master more complex Essenceworks. Works are 20% less wearying.
New Emerald Essenceworks have been unlocked.
Level two already? That was nice. He supposed that the imprint for Emerald Siphoning that the archaeoceti had given him had already been close to level two. Then again, he had been Siphoning the Emerald Essence through his body for a relatively long time, throughout the entirety of the previous battle, in fact. It made some sense that he would have leveled it already.
He navigated immediately to the Emerald Essence Specific tab in his HUD to see what he had unlocked.
Emerald Siphoning Level 2 Essenceworks.
Illusion. With this ability, you can make an object as large as an entire starship appear to be something else entirely. You can also change your appearance, and that of your friends. The effect lasts for one hour. Higher levels increase the duration.
Lightning Storm. Attack a group of foes with green lightning rained down from the sky. Higher levels increase the damage and area of effect.
Interesting. The White Essence Forked Lightning work was probably the closest to Lightning Storm, but the White version required the wielder to attain a high level before multiple targets could be struck simultaneously. It seemed that Lightning Storm attacked groups from the get-go. He could only imagine how powerful it would get when he leveled it.
Assuming I dare use it.
Illusion also sounded very interesting. He wouldn’t have to worry about masking his features for the facial recognition algorithms if his face was completely different. Also, he knew thanks to the memories that came along with the work that it would function up close, even if he was confronted by human security forces, for example.
Still, he could only imagine how draining those two works would be on his stamina. Plus he wasn’t looking forward to the fight for control with the grazer. He could see himself using those works only sparingly, especially considering he had already decided the cost was too high.
With the immense stamina drain of those new Essenceworks in mind, Tane put his bonus attribute point into Endurance, bringing his total to twenty-four, or forty-five with the Beam Hilt I, Chrysalium Star Rings, and Endurance Necklace I equipped.
A call from Sinive came in. Voice only. He accepted.
“Is this true?” Sinive said before he could get in a word. “You just finished visiting the archaeoceti to save me, and now you want to go back?”
“Yes,” Tane said. “I…”
“You can’t,” Sinive said. “You didn’t see what you looked like, lying in that swamp, covered in your own blood. You have no idea.”
“Yeah well,
I have to go,” Tane said.
“You don’t,” Sinive pleaded. “Lyra explained the situation to me. She told me she wants to go alone, but you insisted, despite her protests.”
“Yeah, I did,” Tane said. “And let me guess, she told you to try to talk me out of it.”
Sinive’s silence told him that was precisely what had happened.
“Look, I can’t explain it to you,” Tane said. “I can’t hope for you to understand. But I owe them. And if she wants her sister saved, then I have to help.”
“Are you sure that’s the real reason?” Sinive said. “Are you sure you’re not just trying to avoid losing them?”
“I—” Tane paused. “I guess I’ve grown fond of them, that’s true.”
“And what about me?” Sinive said.
“You know I’m fond of you,” Tane said. He couldn’t help the gentleness that crept into his voice. “You know I’d do anything for you.”
“Oh really?” Sinive said. “Then stay. Do it for me.”
“I’d do anything… except that,” Tane said.
“Ah,” Sinive said. “What if I stayed behind?”
“I actually wouldn’t mind that,” Tane said. “Because you’d be safe, here. But I know you won’t.”
“And how can you be so sure?” Sinive pressed.
“Because I know you,” Tane said.
“So you’re going to let me come and risk my life?” Sinive said. “Apparently if I die, there’s no coming back again.”
“I know that,” Tane said. “But I won’t stop you if you want to come. I believe we have to follow our own paths. Besides, I doubt I could stop you if I tried.”
“Damn it,” Sinive said. “Sometimes I hate you.” Her voice seemed pained, as if she were holding back tears, or perhaps was crying already. “We just got back. We haven’t even had a chance to spend any time together.”
“I know,” Tane said. “Visit me now.”
“No,” Sinive said. “You need to save your strength. We all do, for what’s coming. And besides, I want to punish you.”
He could tell from her flat, defeated tone that she wanted to visit him more than anything in that moment. “But you’re only punishing yourself.”
“Oh I know,” Sinive said. “But it’ll hurt you more, I think.”
“I’m really sorry,” Tane said. “For everything. I wish I didn’t have these powers inside me. But I do. And I have to use them to help my friends.”
“Don’t wish that… never wish something like that,” Sinive said. “Because if you didn’t have those powers we would’ve never met. You’d be stuck on that backwater world in the Outrim.”
“That’s actually almost preferable at the moment,” Tane said.
“Do you really mean that?” Sinive said.
“No,” Tane admitted. “But being stuck on a backwater world with you is something I’d definitely like, yes. A world where there wasn’t much time to do anything but… well, you get my drift.”
“There you go, thinking with your pants again,” Sinive said. “Comments like that aren’t even attractive, you know that right? In fact, they’re a turn off.”
“Yeah, I’m not very good at this,” Tane said. “Relationships I mean.”
“Is that what we have?” Sinive said.
“I don’t know,” Tane said. “It’s what I would like, at least.”
“Interesting,” Sinive said.
Tane half chuckled. She was still playing games, after all they’d been through. It made him sad. But then again maybe he deserved it for intending to bring her into danger so soon after reviving her.
“By the way, do you really consider Lyra your friend?” Sinive said.
“What do you mean?” Tane asked.
“You said, and I quote, ‘I have to use my powers to help my friends.’”
“Ah,” Tane said. “Yes, I believe I do. She saved me from myself on Xalantas. If that’s not a friend, I don’t know what is.”
“Have you ever paused to consider that her actions might have been self-serving?” Sinive said. “That she merely wanted to preserve her precious World Bender? Maybe so that you could save her sister one day?”
“At the time, she didn’t know I could revive the dead,” Tane said.
“Are you so certain?” Sinive said. “She claims to have studied all the ancient treatises written by Tiberius. And all the prophecies. She’s also probably studied the other Essence races. Archaeoceti. Creodenti. Maybe she knew quite well that you’d attain the ability one day. And that by fulfilling her promise to her sister, she was in fact ensuring she had a way to restore her to life.”
“I doubt it,” Tane said. “There’s no way Lyra could have known I’d one day meet the archaeoceti. Especially considering that prophecies aren’t real in the first place.”
“Yes, but she knew there were paths you could follow,” Sinive said. “Those prophecies and treatises would have hinted at them. She also knew it wouldn’t take much to guide you down one of them. The path of the archaeoceti, and their knowledge of Revive, for example. She could have been planning to eventually bring you to Aegean Tetragon from the very beginning.”
“Well I guess anything is possible,” Tane said. “But it was actually G’allanthamas who told me the archaeoceti could help you, and not her.”
“Maybe she put the dweller up to it,” Sinive said.
“Somehow I have a hard time imagining Lyra as the master puppeteer,” Tane said. “But look, I’ve already made up my mind: I’m going to take her to the Khaeota. If there’s any possible way to save her sister, I plan to attempt it.”
“Fine,” Sinive said. She paused, then: “Let me know when it’s time to go.”
“I will, but first come down to sickbay so we can—” But before Tane could finish, the comm band disconnected.
Well, that was rude.
Then again, what did he expect? He had only just restored Sinive, and forced her to witness his own near death, and now he was going to be risking his life all over again only a few hours later.
He considered sending her a text, begging for forgiveness, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He was too proud.
She should be the one begging for my forgiveness. Groveling on her knees…
Tane snorted at the thought. Somehow, he couldn’t see Sinive ever doing something like that.
He wished this star system had a connection to the Galnet. He wanted to check his mail, see if Mom and Dad had sent him a message. Oh well. That was the downside of visiting space that was unexplored by humans.
Two hours passed, and by then he felt well enough to use the two Essences he’d need to unlock the pyramid. There was no point in delaying further, so he told Muse to inform those who were coming to meet him near the airlock. The medical robot gave him a clean bill of health, and cleared him for duty. He still showed no signs of any microcrillia equivalent infections.
He was a bit surprised to see everyone at the airlock, queued up in a long line outside it in their spacesuits. The only one not wearing a spacesuit was Jed, but his power armor was capable of pressurization on its own. He’d already activated his faceplate.
Jed and Nebb helped Tane suit up, and he finished in no time. Positron had 3D printed a replacement faceplate for Tane’s helmet, so he was able to achieve full pressurization immediately.
When he exited the Mosaic, Tane found himself standing in a makeshift clearing in the jungle, mostly formed by the searing heat produced by the vessel’s landing. The ashes of blackened trees and undergrowth surrounded him.
G’allanthamas was waiting amid the razed rainforest. “Do we really have to do this?”
“You don’t,” Tane transmitted.
G’allanthamas fell in beside him. “Actually, I do.”
Tane couldn’t help but smile. “My loyal friend.”
Tane walked fifty meters from the ship, leaving behind the burned clearing. When he arrived at the intact jungle that surrounded it, he reached into his
storage pouch and retrieved the pyramid.
“Get into position,” Tane said.
Jed and Chase moved forward, taking up guard positions on either side where Tane planned to create the gate. Jed drew his sword, while others in the party had pistols and rifles at the ready. Lyra held her staff in one hand, and her beam hilt the other. Even though the team was on the opposite side of the planet, they were still worried that the Amaranth might somehow use the resultant gate to return.
Tane Siphoned Dark and White into the pyramid, and felt the hint of Emerald stored inside and the pleasure it promised. He wondered if the pyramid contained a grazer bone at its core.
The item promptly disintegrated, leaving dust in his open palm, and the pleasure faded with it.
The gateway opened amid the foliage, ahead of Jed and Chase, more than big enough to fit Tane’s party, including G’allanthamas. Tane shielded his eyes against the incredible brightness, which even the automatically resizing aperture of his helmet couldn’t diminish.
Before Tane could give the order to enter, several shapes emerged from within that brightness. Squinting, Tane saw that they were glowing vines, creeping across the surrounding foliage.
Jed raised his sword defensively, obviously prepared to strike at the closest, while others on the team pointed pistols and rifles at the advancing creepers.
“Don’t fire!” Tane cried.
The vines approached him. At the opening, they continued to pass by Jed and Chase, ignoring the pair, at least for now.
“Tane…” Lyra said uncertainly.
“Don’t fire,” Tane insisted.
Those vines came right up to him and the other party members, and then began to intertwine, folding upwards, forming a humanoid shape. In moments a glowing woman made of those vines stood before him, clothed in illusory flesh. Her features were different this time, so Tane thought it wasn’t Tepethalean.
“Why have you returned already?” the woman said. The voice definitely wasn’t Tepethalean’s. Well, they were on the planet’s opposite hemisphere, after all.
