The human looked up and into the vent. “Anne?” he called, in loud whisper.
Shit, she thought to herself. Detected. But on the plus side, at least it was probably a friend.
“Yes?” she responded timidly.
“Pieter, Oz. I’ve got her,” he announced to the unheard team on the other end of his communicator.
Brock craned his neck, trying to see into the vent. “Can you get the grid open?” he asked quietly, the anxiety still evident in his tone.
“I think so,” Anne replied. “It hurts my fingers. I’ve had a few of these to do along the way, else I’d have been here sooner.”
Brock stepped back, thinking. “It’s okay. I’m right here. We’ve got a ship waiting. Just as soon as you get it open, you can drop down and I’ll catch you.”
Anne struggled some more with the grating and soon it dropped down, hanging by its hinges. Her two feet appeared, dangling down as if on a swing in a park.
“Ready?” she asked.
Brock got underneath her. “Yeah, ready. Drop,” he instructed her.
She wriggled forward and then dropped. Brock caught her, staggered back a few paces, then found his balance and put her down. “Wow, that went a lot better than I thought it would,” he remarked.
Anne giggled to herself. “Thank you,” she said shyly. She regarded the human carefully. She wasn’t one to trust anyone, but this person was different. He had an easy air about him, and putting aside the fact that she didn’t know who he worked for or why he was helping her, she felt there was a kindness in his eyes.
“My pleasure,” he responded. “I’m Brock, I’ll be your escape buddy today.” He held out his hand not to shake, but for her to take. She put her hand in his and allowed him to lead her off through the double doors to the hangar deck.
“Okay, now stay close,” he told her quietly. “There are some engineer types around. We just need to act casual and if anyone asks, you’re an intern doing some work experience with me, right?” He squeezed her hand reassuringly before letting it go to walk ahead of her at a professional distance to sell his plan.
Anne absorbed the information as fast as she could. She nodded her understanding and then continued to follow him.
They got nearly all the way round to where they needed to be and Brock started leading her off the walkway and onto the deck.
“Hey. You there!” A voice called out across the deck.
Anne felt a pulse of adrenaline shoot through her chest.
They’d been found.
She spun round to see one of the engineers that Brock had warned her about.
“Don’t suppose you saw a tool kit on the railings out here, have you?”
Brock looked around where he was pointing. “Uh, no. Not just now, but there was one there earlier,” he relayed.
Anne stayed close, bracing herself, ready to run. She glanced furtively around trying to figure out which direction was going to give them the best shot.
The engineer nodded casually though. “Yeah. Just left it there while I took a break and some bugger has nicked it.”
Brock frowned. “Some people just need a good beating,” he said, matching the guys tone of annoyance. His accent twanged though. Anne could tell it was put on. She watched to see if it roused any suspicion in the engineer.
“Yeah,” the engineer agreed, oblivious to the tell. “You’re telling me!” He scratched his head and continued looking around.
Brock pushed Anne on in the direction they had been heading and they hurried onto the ship as soon as they were out of sight. Brock went straight to the cockpit and started running the final checks. The tailgate closed and Anne came up to the cockpit to join him.
“Grab a seat,” he told her. “And strap in, this may be a bit bumpy.”
Anne did as she was told.
Brock hit the bead in his arm. “Okay Oz, an exit would be great right about now.”
Anne watched as he communicated with yet another person on this team. She wondered idly how many people they were. They weren’t in any kind of uniform, so they weren’t military or police enforcers. And this human, Brock, didn’t seem at all stiff and disciplined. Anne watched him, puzzled, as he flicked switches and powered up the ship.
Within moments they were up and out and then away through the hangar opening.
Brock grinned. “Okay Oz, we’re clear,” he announced, glancing down at Anne. “Heading in the direction back towards Estaria to rendezvous with the Empress.”
He turned to Anne. “Okay. Looks like we’re out of harm’s way. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Anne looked back up at him, tears welling in her eyes and emotion swelling in her chest.
For the first time since she could remember, she actually thought that she could believe him. She settled back into the console chair, feeling the tilting motion of the ship as it cradled her through the maneuvers away from the prison. She had no idea where she was, or who she was with now. But she did know that now she felt safe.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Force field boundary of the Guard’s dome, Aibek Moon, Orn System
Several kilometers away the freeze began to thaw. The six watched from the other side of their terraformed dome. Noses almost pressed up against the atmospheric shield, they observed the strange alien ship rise up out of the dust and rock, straight into the air above them. A second later it whipped out into the empty sky beyond and disappeared into nothing but a speck.
Gagai pulled himself up tall. “This is it,” he announced. “We need to get down there and find out how far those intruders have gone.”
Jendyg stood a few paces back. “My guess is they’ll be stuck in the first chamber, frozen,” he muttered, loud enough for Ammo and Mennynad to hear.
Gagai turned and headed back in the direction of the encampment. “We leave straight away. Get to your vehicles,” he ordered.
The five Zhyn guardians lingered, each with their own thoughts about what lay ahead for them with the arrival of the strangers. With the freeze locking them down there was little point in contemplating any interaction with them.
Koryss was the first to move. He turned quickly and jogged to catch up with Gagai. Naldrir followed next.
“Come on,” Mennynad said, peeling his eyes from the spot where the ship had disappeared into the distance.
Ammo gruffed and started walking after the others.
“But what if they’re the chosen?” Jendyg protested. “We all saw what they did on that bridge.”
Ammo stopped in his tracks and turned to him. “The chosen? They weren’t even Zhyn! They’re intruders. Magicians from other worlds that have come to steal our power and our ancestry! This is exactly what we were warned about. What Gagai keeps telling us.” Ammo’s tone was determined, but sounded almost as if he were trying to convince himself.
Ammo and Mennynad gestured for Jendyg to start walking, ushering him onward. “But what if it’s not true?” Jendyg insisted. “Why hasn’t a Zhyn chosen one come forward? And where was it ever written that the chosen ones would be from our own race?” he protested earnestly.
Gagai and Koryss had already mounted their antigrav bikes and passed them, roaring through the dome towards the gateway.
“Come on, we need to hurry,” Ammo insisted. “They won’t want to open the gate twice.”
He cajoled Jendyg on more quickly, willing him to stop talking and just get to his bike.
Naldrir passed them on his bike heading in the opposite direction. He had his visor down, avoiding any kind of interaction with what he regarded to be the hoi polloi. Ammo felt the contempt as he rode past them. There was no doubt that facing the enemy had driven a wedge between them. Even if there had been a fracture from the beginning, the difference was that all of a sudden, all the points that were moot were now very relevant and real.
The three remaining warriors arrived at the bike shed and quickly strapped on their protective gear and weapons before mounting up. Seconds later they
too rolled out of the wooden hut and rode towards the gate.
Gagai and the others were already there, waiting. As the remaining three pulled up, Gagai turned to confirm what he had heard and then hit the command on his wrist comm. The shield lowered, granting them passage out into the rocky desert beyond. No sooner had the last of them passed through when the shield door re-established itself, sealing off their home and keeping their atmosphere contained.
The six of them moved effortlessly and obediently into formation. Gagai led the charge, with Naldrir and Koryss on either side, slightly behind him. They would watch his movements carefully for signaled instructions, reading how he was shifting his weight for clues about direction.
The other three followed in a similar fashion but in a row behind. Jendyg fell in line on the right, slightly behind Ammo, who led the second row by a few bike lengths.
The rocky terrain sped away beneath them, their vehicles unencumbered by the pits and rocks. None of them could guess how long they had before the ship returned.
If it returned.
They all suspected that what Jendyg had said was true though. The two people they had seen were probably already dead, but, there was also the unspoken fear that they hadn’t been neutralized, and the magic they displayed had indeed allowed them to venture further, beyond what even they could find in the cave.
Though their comm system would have allowed for some level of conversation, it was as if they each took the opportunity to be with their own thoughts. Thoughts of what lay ahead of them, and how their conscience would guide them to act.
The ground raced away as they headed towards what they knew to be the other exit of the chamber that must be guarded. It was indiscoverable but for those who had made it through the labyrinth alive - which no one ever had.
That exit was the point where they had been trained to wait. Wait for signs of life to appear. And the ship appearing back there to collect the two magicians would be a sure sign that they were still alive.
Jendyg prayed to their moon gods that they were indeed alive, and that they might stay that way long enough to get him off this rock.
Aboard the Little Empress
Anne had watched wide-eyed as he deftly flew the ship into the belly of a much larger ship and touched down with barely a bump on the cargo deck floor.
“Okay,” Brock said letting go of the controls and glancing down at her in the next console chair. “We’re here.”
Anne looked out into the cargo deck, trying to make sense of the dim lights and doors. She had so many questions she didn’t know where to start.
“You okay?” Brock asked her. His tone was gentle and almost as if he understood what she was feeling.
She nodded.
He smiled. “Look. I know this can be a bit much, and I don’t know what happened to you back there, but this is what I do know. You’re safe now. Molly… our boss… she’ll protect you. It’s what we do. We’re all here for you. We’re friends.”
He looked out at the cargo deck to see people approaching the door ahead of them. “You’re going to meet the whole crew in just a few minutes, but you don’t need to be worried. They’re all good people and we’re going to get you checked out in the med bay, okay?”
Anne nodded. She opened her mouth to speak but her voice didn’t come out. Brock put his hand on her shoulder and gave her the space to say what she wanted to.
It took her a second but she found her voice, and her words. “Thank you,” she told him. She smiled as much as she could, but right then she felt like she could sleep for a week.
Brock got up and helped her unbuckle out of her console chair. She put her feet on the floor and allowed herself to be led out and off the ship.
“Remember,” Brock told her as the others approached with a clatter and a chorus of excited voices, “it’s all okay now…”
Aibek Moon, Orn System, Temple
“Okay, great. Thanks Scamp. Giles out.”
Giles turned to make eye contact with Arlene. “So, it looks like we can’t be nearby when it happens and we have no idea how long this overload will take the force field off line for.”
Arlene pursed her lips. “We’ll just have to be ready then.” She looked around, surveying the site. “I reckon we hang behind that pillar, and then when we see the ion trail stop, we can run in and grab it. Closest point of safety.”
Giles nodded, then smiled with just one side of his face. “Who wants to do the running then?”
Arlene’s eyes burned brightly. “I’m the fastest,” she responded without hesitation.
Giles looked taken aback. He took off his glasses and started cleaning them. “I don’t know why you’d say that,” he told her.
Arlene smiled and patted him on his upper arm. “Come on, you know I am. Despite your unfair nanocyte advantage.” She winked at him.
Giles narrowed one eye at her. “Speaking of unfair advantages, did you ever admit to the Federation instructors that you were using your special capabilities in the assessments?”
She smiled nonchalantly. “You want to bring that up now?” But she looked incredulous for a moment before answering the question. “I did. And they said it didn’t matter, because it wasn’t something that anyone would be able to take away from me.”
Giles grunted, unimpressed. “Well then, I guess you should be the one to run in and grab it then. Since you’re so kindly offering your services,” he added, his eyes showing that he was playing with her.
She smiled and headed over to the column. “Good. That’s settled then,” she agreed. “Though, you might want to get your ass out of the way. Scamp is going to be firing in exactly that line of fire from that opening any minute now.” She squinted to see the tiny bright spot in the ceiling that was heavily disguised in amongst the carvings. Had Beno’or not pinpointed it on a map with an overlay of the insides that Giles and she had painstakingly photographed, they wouldn’t have a clue about the trajectory.
Giles ambled out of the way. “Two minutes,” he confirmed, checking his holo.
They waited behind the column. Giles noticed his heart was racing. This was the thrill. The all-or-nothing situations he would seek out. The adventure, the mystery, the resolution. And he’d been waiting soooooo long to resolve this one. Although, even with this second talisman, he knew they still had many more to go. And some of the others might not be so easy to locate.
He remained lost in thought until Arlene nudged his arm. “Forty seconds,” she told him, watching the count down on her holo.
They readied themselves, not daring to watch the opening in the ceiling now.
Scamp’s voice came over their implants. “I’m on approach. Ready to deploy the beam. Are you out of harm’s way?”
Giles nodded to Arlene. “Affirmative Scamp, you are clear to fire,” he reported.
“Acknowledged. I’ll pulse for two seconds, then you’ll need to let me know if it needs longer. It will take me at least another five to reposition.”
“Understood,” Giles responded. “Good luck,” he added.
Their audio implants went quiet.
Arlene positioned herself ready to move from behind the column as soon as the firing stopped. She kept her eyes on the target, waiting.
Giles could feel the tension as they waited. He leaned against the column on the other side of her out of the way. He could feel his heart beating in his chest. He tried to breathe to release the tension but nothing worked.
It’ll all be over in a few seconds, he told himself.
Before he knew it he was jolted by the realization that there was indeed a beam coming through the cavern and piercing the box with the force field inside it. Then it disappeared, and Arlene sprinted out to the location, her arms pumping, propelling her forward.
She plunged her arm into the casket. Giles watched, emerging from behind the column, moving over to her.
She rested her hands on its edge, then stepped back, dropping her head as if recovering from the run.
“Did you get it?” he asked, hardly daring to speak in anything but a whisper.
She turned her head and peered at him. Then she straightened up and nodded, the tension flooding from her face, and leaving her with an expression of utter relief.
“Yes,” she said simply, holding out her hand, revealing the talisman, which looked very much like the one they already had in their possession.
Giles exhaled. “Scamp,” he called over his holo, “mission accomplished. Stand down.”
“Acknowledged. Standing down,” Scamp replied.
Beno’or’s voice came over the audio channel. “Congratulations you two. Well done. Great job!”
Arlene smiled at Giles, still processing the relief. Spontaneously, Giles lunged forward and wrapped his arms around her. “We did it!” he whispered excitedly. “Or rather, you did it!”
Arlene nodded, barely able to move from within his embrace. “We damn-well did,” she agreed. “Now let’s see about getting the hell out of here!”
Giles released her, suddenly composing himself. “Yes. Of course.” He took his glasses off and cleaned them, a little embarrassed by his outburst of affection. “Right,” he grunted, looking around without his glasses on his face. “I think I saw something passage-like over that way earlier.”
He started walking in that direction, replacing his glasses on his face, with Arlene trotting after him, smiling to herself.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Aibek Moon, Orn System, Temple Caverns
Arlene had gone ahead through the passageway.
Giles followed, stepping into the darkness behind her. He paused briefly, waiting for his eyes to adjust. Hearing Arlene continue on ahead of him he added one more data point to his theory that she did in fact have eyesight that was far superior to even his own nanocytes-enhanced capabilities. Either that, or she was perhaps using her realm abilities to feel her way through.
He was about to turn on the light in his helmet he was carrying when he noticed a faint glow coming from up ahead.
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