The Mirage on the Brink of Oblivion (The Epic of Aravinda Book 3)

by Andrew M. Crusoe

  Jyana felt all of the warmth drain out of her face as a feeling of hopelessness washed over her. “You’ve never taken me seriously, have you? But you will.”

  She turned and skipped away, no longer like a flash of lightning across the sky, but instead appearing as a grey flicker among the clouds.

  CHAPTER 29

  A BIT EARLY FOR BREAKFAST

  When Darshana finally arrived home, she found Vivek asleep on the couch, a turtle-patterned blanket partially covering him up. Apparently, he had tried to stay awake for her return, to no avail.

  She walked up to him and stroked his ash-blond hair.

  “My dear, I’m back,” she whispered. “We must get ready.”

  He coughed and groaned quietly.

  “Nirupak is coming, my darling, and we have work to do.”

  He yawned and blinked his eyes. “The observatory director? Why is he here?”

  Her face hardened. “Because our worst suspicions were true, and the council needs my help, whether they realize I’m still alive or not.”

  Vivek pushed himself up, a look of dread crossing over his face. “Please tell me it’s not true, my love. Tell me that what we saw in Yantrik’s ship was a mistake. Please, my dear, tell me anything that’s hopeful.”

  Darshana closed her eyes, pressing a few small tears from them. “Vivek, I cannot lie to you. I love you too much to do that.” Her eyes opened gradually, and she sat down beside him on the couch. “The council confirmed what we saw. The object is a small wormhole, and they calculate that it’s on an intercept course with Avani.” She took his hand. “But we must have faith. After all, we aren’t alone in this.”

  Vivek’s expression grew cold. “How can you say that? These are world-consumers! What good is faith against them?”

  Darshana inhaled slowly. “We have one chance. The observatory discovered the ancient gate device that Zahn and Oonak used to leave Avani, and Nirupak believes that we can use it to evacuate most of the population in time.”

  He furrowed his eyebrows. “The one in the southern wasteland he told us about?”

  “They haven’t reactivated it yet, but now that he knows how, Nirupak will activate it soon. Then we can leave this world before the Vakragha even arrive.”

  His expression twisted. “They haven’t even reactivated it yet?”

  “I only just met with Nirupak and told him! There was a minor collapse of the cave that leads to the gate, but a new team is on their way down now. Once the new team arrives, they’ll activate it with their genetic code, and we can begin.”

  “Right. Zahn activated it with his blood,” Vivek said. “And you’re sure it’ll work for them?”

  Darshana nodded. “Yes. Zahn said that Oonak told him it was specifically keyed to Avanian genetic code. It’ll work.”

  Vivek shook his head as if he were trying to scare away an insect. “Forgive me, my dear, but this is crazy. There’s no way we can evacuate everyone in time, even if we had weeks!” He pressed his eyes shut, and a tear trickled down his face.

  She did her best to comfort him, holding him in her arms. “We can use the airboats to shuttle people through. We’ve got to try, my dear. We cannot give in to fear.”

  KNOCK. KNOCK.

  Darshana raised her head to look up to the curved door.

  “Come!”

  The door swung open. Beyond it was a tall man with dark hair wearing a jet black uniform that had a small, stylized insignia of an eye on his collar.

  She waved him in, and without a word, he stepped inside.

  “Thank you for coming, my old friend,” she said, standing up.

  Vivek blinked his tears away and sat up, inhaling deeply. “Good to see you, Nirupak.”

  The man nodded to Vivek in acknowledgment.

  “Come. Let’s speak at the table. I’ve prepared tea.” Darshana led him under the archway that led into the kitchen, and he followed close behind her.

  “Thank you,” Nirupak said, and sat down at the head of the table. “I wasn’t sure if I should come, but in light of the delays, I decided to stop by briefly.”

  Vivek walked over, and set a large cup of tea down in front of Nirupak. “Here,” he said, his voice cracking. “Darshana thought she remembered you enjoying amber tea.”

  He took the cup. “Thank you.”

  “How is it?” Darshana said. “We have some rakta fruit, too, if you’re hungry.”

  “No, that’s quite all right,” Nirupak said, waving the suggestion away. “It’s a bit early for breakfast, anyway. The tea is more than adequate.”

  Darshana sat down beside him, and Vivek sat on the far end.

  “There’s still something I don’t understand,” Vivek said. “Even if you get this gate to work, where do you expect us to go? Have you even found a suitable world yet?”

  Nirupak turned to him, his eye-like insignia glinting in the light. “We believe that the gate will have preset destinations, that whatever civilization that built it would have a library of habitable worlds. If it wasn’t for the cave collapse, I would be activating the gate as we speak.” He sighed, turning to Darshana. “And you’re sure of the method you told me earlier?”

  “Yes,” Darshana said. “I trust my son’s story; he was down there, and that’s how he activated it. I’m just not sure how much help I can be without actually examining the gate firsthand.”

  Nirupak nodded. “That is being arranged. I’ll have to pull in some favors, but I can get you a temporary identity card for the trip down. We’ll have to have a private briefing so the scientists know what’s going on, but I trust them to keep your presence hushed, especially in these extenuating circumstances.”

  “Whatever it takes for me to help, Niru. I’m glad you’re serious about this.”

  Nirupak’s gaze narrowed on her. “I am serious, Darshana. But I also have my own questions. For instance, how did you get free from these creatures? Anything you know might be helpful against them.”

  She ran her fingers through her long brown hair and inhaled slowly. “Well, I was unconscious for most of it.”

  “Start at the beginning. Start twelve years ago when you vanished. We nearly tore this archipelago apart looking for you.”

  Her gaze drifted over to Vivek. “I know.”

  “So,” Nirupak leaned in closer, “can you remember anything?”

  “Well, one moment I was working on the gravity lens, and then a rushing sound filled my ears. I was pulled into a tunnel, and I woke up on a metallic bed. My memory gets fuzzy after that. Vague images of bright lights and the feeling of cold metal on my naked skin. Honestly, it’s painful to recall.”

  “Please, Darshana,” Nirupak said. “The more you can remember, the more we know about these creatures.”

  Darshana’s gaze grew cold. “The Confederation calls them the Vakragha, but I could never completely describe them in words. All they want is to consume every living world in this galaxy. They enslave entire worlds, Niru.”

  “I see,” Nirupak’s expression darkened. “Well, they won’t enslave us. We are Avanians, Darshana. We will survive this. What do you remember next?”

  “Well, the next clear memory I have is of the eruption.”

  “Eruption?” Nirupak’s face twisted in confusion.

  “Yes. I couldn’t move, and I realized I was embedded into a stone wall. Some figures were in front of me, but my vision was so blurry that I couldn’t see what they were. One put a mask over my face and cut me out of the rock. Later, I learned that it was Zahn and his friends. Somehow, they found me.”

  “Do you remember anything about why you were taken?”

  “She shook her head. “Wait!” Her eyes lit up. “There were others. Hundreds of other people were in the wall too. Oh!” Her voice grew hushed. “We were like food.”

  “What?!” Vivek said. “Zahn never mentioned this to me.”

  “I remember now,” she said. “I remember dreaming about someone putting a straw into my flesh, and later Zahn to
ld me he’d seen a man embedded into that same wall who had a narrow tube coming out of him, dripping blood. Vark,” she whispered, “the dreams must have been real.”

  Nirupak said nothing, gesturing for her to continue.

  “When they freed me, I wanted to weep, but somehow I couldn’t. I don’t know why, but I had no control over my body.”

  “Perhaps a neural blocker of some type. Please, go on.”

  “And Zahn and his friends cut me out, and when I fell—” A wave of sadness washed over her, and she felt tears well up in her eyes. “I’m sorry.” She pressed her eyes shut and inhaled deeply.

  Vivek held her hands in his. “It’s okay, my dear. Take as much time as you need.”

  She slowed her breathing. “The next thing I remember is waking up on the ship. Later, Zahn showed me images of the planet he’d found me on, a tortured world with an atmosphere rendered toxic by the Vakragha’s transformation of it. From the images, I could only guess that the tectonic plates themselves had been ruptured by what they had done, covering the surface in deadly volcanos. That’s what I’d been inside, actually. We almost didn’t escape before it erupted.” She looked up to him. “Niru, I fear that will be Avani’s fate if we can’t stop them.”

  Nirupak’s expression hardened. “Darshana, even if we can’t save Avani, at least we have a chance at saving our species. Please, tell me more about the volcano. Did you say you were being held inside of it?”

  Darshana nodded. “The Vakragha had tunneled through it, although I have no idea why, and we eventually made our way to another planet. Zahn and Asha worked together brilliantly and recovered an artifact they’d been searching for. That’s how they were able to stop the Vakragha last time. This artifact, they call it the Tulari, can destroy the Vakragha gravity fissures. It seems to nullify their gravity technology.”

  “Where is it?” Nirupak’s eyes flashed with excitement. “Can we use it against them? Where is this artifact now?”

  “It’s with Zahn,” Vivek said, “and he and Asha disappeared a while ago.”

  BZZT.

  Nirupak’s gaze shot down to his pocket, and he pulled out a small comm and studied it for a few moments.

  “At last,” he said, “the new team has arrived, and they’ve successfully activated the gate.” His dark brown eyes locked with hers. “Thank you so much for your help, Darshana. I’ll send a transport for you both as soon as I can. Right now, I must go.”

  Darshana was about to speak, but before she could say anything, he rushed out of the kitchen and into the front room.

  “Oh,” Nirupak said breathlessly, “and try to contact your son. That artifact you mentioned may be our only other option.”

  They rushed into the front room after Nirupak, and he shot back a hard glance. “Be on that transport when it arrives.”

  “Okay,” Darshana nodded.

  And in a whirlwind, Nirupak disappeared behind the door.

  CHAPTER 30

  THE BIRDLIKE CREATURE

  With a cold stare, Asha watched from the balcony as countless tiny lights darted around the bizarre city that hung over the sea in the far distance. Now that the sun had at last dipped below the snowcapped mountains, the city seemed to take on a new glow. She studied it once more, trying to acquire some new piece of information, some insight that she could have missed. They’d come halfway across the galaxy and broken into the Empress Monument itself, all to hit a dead end.

  Behind, she felt Zahn’s presence grow nearer.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to send a nugget to Manu?” Zahn leaned over on the balcony railing, looking over to her. “I’m sure he has a backup plan or something.”

  She looked over to him, feeling her muscles stiffen at the thought. “I wish it were that easy, Zahn, but you heard what he said. If Manu can intercept thought-nuggets intended for other people, then that means other guards could, too. We can’t take that risk.”

  “Come on, Asha! He said he wanted us to meet with him after Torin’s meeting, so we have to contact him somehow.”

  Asha shook her head. “And what do you propose we tell him? We know that the third stone is buried underground, but that’s it! It could be anywhere, and honestly, I don’t think Manu could help us right now if he wanted to. He hasn’t sent me a nugget this entire time, which means he’s probably assisting the Empress, so there isn’t much we can do about it.”

  Zahn’s expression twisted. “Huh. So you’ve got this all figured out haven’t you?”

  “Nothing has changed, Zahn! Our top priority is finding the third stone. There must be something we’ve overlooked.”

  “Which is why we should find Manu. He knows more about this place than we do.”

  She burned her gaze into him. “Zahn, I don’t mean to be rude, but the Confederation asked me to command this mission. That means, technically, you take orders from me. So unless you have something useful to say, some insight on the stone’s location, I’ll ask that you keep your thoughts to yourself. Please.”

  He blinked, shock washing over his face. “Sure, Asha.” His gaze drifted down to the shimmering city below. “I’m sorry.”

  Asha inhaled slowly, calming her stirred up energy. Below, Mirage City bloomed with light, and she studied the bizarre architecture again.

  “Do you think we did the right thing?” Zahn said. “About telling Jyana everything, I mean.”

  “Yes, I do.” Below, Asha thought she saw some people forming a new dome on the outer edge of the city. “If we expect people to trust us, I think we should start by trusting them.”

  “Yeah.”

  “So,” Asha said, “feel any of your signature strokes of insight coming on? We could certainly use one.”

  Zahn shook his head. “I don’t know, Asha. At this point, I’m more inclined to trust your intuition than my own fleeting flashes of insight.”

  Asha sighed. “Well, something the Empress said during the meeting struck me as odd. I just can’t remember exactly what she said that made me feel that way. I’m sure it’ll come to me, though. All of these ideas are connected.”

  “Wait a second!” Zahn’s eyes flashed with excitement. “What about the jagrul? After all, we brought it with us on the ship, and it helped us find my mom in that nebula. Maybe it can sense the third stone, too.”

  She turned to him, a tightness crossing her face. “I wish it were that easy, Zahn, but you’re forgetting one thing. The jagrul could only hone in on your mother because we had something she owned, that lens she gave you. We don’t have anything the third stone has touched. We have nothing for it to tune into.”

  Zahn winced. “Vark. I guess we’re back to the beginning then.” His eyes darted back in forth in contemplation. “But, think about it. The third stone must be similar to the other Chintamani stones. I wonder if the jagrul could find the third stone if we gave it the first one we found. After all, there can’t be that many objects in the galaxy like the Chintamani stones.”

  “Hmm. I suppose it’s worth a try. There’s still a problem, though. Do you really want to go back into your body and lose more time? The Vakragha are getting closer to Avani all the time, Zahn.”

  “There’s got to be a better way.” He massaged his chin for a moment. “Hey, what if we just visited the jagrul while out-of-body? Maybe the jagrul has an energy body, too. And this way, we won’t waste time in the physical. We’ll be at least 64 times faster this way.”

  She nodded. “I suppose it’s worth a try.”

  “Okay, lock onto my ident. And cross your fingers.”

  Asha closed her eyes and locked on, feeling Zahn’s awareness stretch out. Just as the first time, she felt as if she were being stretched a great distance. Color and light blurred around her, until they came to an abrupt halt.

  Once again, Asha found herself in Navika’s central node, where his nucleus sparked with orange and purple light.

  “Come on.” Zahn waved her ahead toward one of the triangular doors. “I think I left it in t
he command bay.”

  Before she could respond, he flew through one of the walls into the next room.

  “Hey, hold up!

  Just as she was about to dart out of the room, something caught her eye.

  She looked up to the braided cables that led down from the corners of the ceiling into the nucleus. The Tulari, the first Chintamani stone they’d recovered, was still nestled securely within the cables, but to her surprise, it appeared quite different than she had ever seen it before.

  Back in her physical body, the Tulari resembled a huge pearl that radiated a soft white light. But from her current out-of-body perspective, the stone revealed new facets of its structure. Beneath its surface, she could see a rosy gem buried within.

  Asha zoomed over and examined it from different angles. Oddly enough, the rosy-colored gem buried within it was a three-sided pyramid, a tetrahedron just like Navika.

  “I wonder.” Asha reached out through the braided cables to grab it.

  Below, Zahn bolted back into the room, startling her. “Hey, what’s up? I thought you were right behind me. You’ve got to see the jagrul! It looks totally different.”

  “Sorry, Zahn. The Tulari caught my eye. It looks pretty different when out-of-body. Come up here and look. It’s odd, actually. I have the strangest feeling that I should touch it.”

  Zahn flew up, studied it for a moment, and then turned to her. “Just don’t blow anything up, okay?”

  Asha smirked. “Sure thing.”

  Gradually, she reached out, cupped the Tulari with both hands, and gently pulled. The feeling of the stone tickled her fingers, and to her surprise it moved without much difficulty. Its surface felt perfectly smooth, yet something about it made both of her hands tingle strangely.

  Asha glanced back down to where the Tulari had been wedged between the braided cables and noticed that the physical counterpart of the stone was still there, only it was dim and lifeless without any internal detail.

  “I guess even these Chintamani have etheric bodies.” Asha released the glowing orb and watched it drift back to its physical body, soon illuminating it once more. “Astounding.”