“Should have risen like an iron rainbow above the Frozen North,” Sky Listener stated with a bright smile.
He reached forward, handing a sheet of paper across the table to Hawke. He took the paper and immediately gasped when he saw what it was. Depicted before him in black and white was a photograph of a giant metal rainbow arching across a snowy landscape. Sky Listener chuckled as he watched Hawke’s awestricken response.
“It really could be a ship built like the Pioneer,” Hawke muttered, “That rainbow has such a wide arc that it could definitely be the gravitational-reflex ring of a ship far beneath the ice.”
“Based on your model?” Night Rain asked.
“Yes, based on the engine I created,” he said, “That ship would have to be large enough to carry thousands… no, millions of people. How would they supply such a venture? How could they have made such a thing in such a…”
He paused, gazing upon the floor.
“Such a what?” Sky Listener asked.
He shook his head, still questioning all that he had seen and heard. Kashuba reached over and patted his arm. He turned to her and rested his own hand on hers.
“The Pioneer should have had enough power to keep me and Casey frozen for maybe a hundred years. I guess it could have managed for a hundred and fifty but never for the amount of time I’m guessing would have been necessary for all this,” he said, gesturing around the room.
Sky Listener nodded, then raised his hand, “Your friend was dead and decayed beyond recognition. I’m sorry about this. But you should know that the unusual energy source you used was left on minimal power and it was set to charge the battery units even as it powered your cryo-pods. Just from what I’ve heard regarding your ship’s technology, I’d say that it was wired ingeniously to keep you two alive for millennia. And even when the power systems were much too low, it cut off power to one of the cryo-pods and focused on at least maintaining one survivor. Since you were already frozen and the temperature inside your ship was freezing anyway, very little was required of the batteries.”
It made sense, but it still didn’t answer his question regarding how long he’d been frozen. He refused to even ask considering the evidence he already had before him. The answer, no matter what it was, would bring him no amount of consolation for a lost friend and a lost world.
“It seems that it might have been a very long time that you’ve been floating around in space,” Night Rain stated, “But as you can see, you offer us an answer to many questions, not the least of which is how the systems work on your ship. Would you be able to help us?”
“It sounds like the very question the Shomani had for me,” he stated in reply, “And like I warned them, the technology is much more than mixing natural ingredients or igniting combustibles. On Earth, we had to create some of the heavier elements in gas centrifuges and…”
He shook his head. He had the convenience in his limited understanding of engineering and physics to have the product readily available to him. He had a very limited understanding on how some of the product was made. How could he even begin to describe the process needed just to make a nuclear reactor, not to mention a gravitational-reflex engine?
“I understand that your engine contains some significantly advanced technology. Let’s say that it would take us a century to even be able to create such things. This is understandable,” Sky Listener stated, “We ask that you’d simply be willing to teach us how it works and the process involved in creating such things. Most of all, we’d like it if you would enter the Hidden Earth with us and see if it’s possible to bring the systems back online.”
“You’ve already accessed the buried ship?” he asked.
“No, not at least by the time we left home. But we had made significant progress and were maybe a hundred meters away from reaching it,” he replied.
“I need to ask something,” Kashuba interjected, “May I?”
“Yes, please,” Night Rain offered.
“Is this all for real?” she said, grabbing the photograph and holding it up, “Are the myths about an underground advanced society correct? Is this really an interstellar ship? Is Hawke really from another planet?”
Night Rain chuckled, but Kashuba didn’t crack a smile in response. Hawke scooted down the side of the chair arm and slid in next to her slender frame on the cushion. He drew his arm around her as she stared sadly at the photo.
“I’m really from a planet that has a yellow star, just like I told you before. There are no Shomani on my planet and our moon has no rings,” he said, “Did you think I was making it up?”
She shook her head, setting the photo down on her lap.
“I just thought it was something you believed to be true. I thought you were a little messed up from being frozen,” she muttered, “I didn’t want to accept that you were truly an alien from another world.”
“Between you and me, I don’t think I’m actually an alien,” he replied, drawing her closer under his arm, “If that is really a buried ship called Hidden Earth, then I’m beginning to think that maybe you and I are the same species. Maybe this planet doesn’t even belong to us and instead, it belongs to the Shomani.”
“Let’s not go that far,” Night Rain said.
“Take it from me, Night Rain. Sometimes you’ve got to accept the evidence even if you don’t want to believe it,” Hawke said.
Eight
“What do you think of all this?” Kashuba asked, staring out across the glistening whitecaps.
Rain had two moons. Hawke had only seen the ringed one last night. Tonight, the red one was peeking over the horizon while a cratered white orb lit the night sky from above. It looked very similar to Earth’s moon, only a little smaller in size.
“By ‘this,’ are you referring to this ship, your planet, the beautiful red moon over there, or the shimmering ocean?” he asked.
“This,” she said, patting his arms that were wrapped around her.
They were standing near the bow by the railing. She was holding onto the railing while he held onto her from behind. The chill in the nighttime air was enough to cause both of them to take comfort in each other’s warmth.
“This?” he asked, squeezing her gently, “I think this is a woman who gives me comfort and solace in a world where I’m completely lost. This is a woman who makes me wish I was back on Earth and she was willing to go out on a date with me. Maybe bowling… a movie… perhaps miniature golf. If this woman who makes me smile didn’t run away after a date or two, I’d probably take her dancing.”
“I don’t know what bowling, movies, or miniature golf are, but I do know dancing,” she said, leaning back into him, “Why would you not dance on a first date?”
He chuckled, “For my own sanity. You are much too attractive for me to spend time dancing with on a first date. I’d probably be thinking about all the wrong things and this wouldn’t be good for a respectable man on a first date with a respectable woman.”
“Your society holds an unfair value on women, you know,” she said, “How are we supposed to hold up under such a high regard.”
“You already have,” he whispered.
She turned to him and wrapped him in her arms, kissing him tenderly. He accepted the kiss, returning it with interest.
. . . .
“Mr. Hawke,” the voice rose from the pitch dark, “Hawke.”
“Hmmm?” he groaned, peeking out at a ghost accented in the flickering candlelight.
“I’ve been asked to move you and the misses down below to the safety chamber,” he replied, “Three ships are bearing upon us and we are expecting to battle.”
Hawke sat up and got a clearer image of the small man beside the bed. The room was dark except for flickering images brought to light by the dancing flame in the oil lamp. The man held the lamp higher, perhaps to show that he was a man and not a wraith.
“Battle?” Hawke asked, feeling Kashuba stir beside him.
“Yes sir,” he replied, “You are free to ta
ke what you wish with you. I recommend you bring your blanket and pillows. It will be safer down below in the center of the ship. The rooms in the superstructure are prone to damage.”
“What’s going on?” Kashuba asked.
He patted her, then took the blanket, “We need to follow this gentleman below. There are ships on the horizon.”
An explosion suddenly rocked the ship, a flash bringing daylight to the room for a half second. Another explosion followed as Kashuba and Hawke grabbed their pillows and followed the man into the hallway. Someone was shouting in the corridor about a fire in the galley. Two men raced past them as they took to the stairs.
“Where are we going?” Kashuba asked, “Is the ship on fire?”
“We’ve been hit, but the men are trained very well in firefighting,” he replied, “If the ship was in any kind of trouble, we’d be heading for the life rafts, my dear.”
He led them to a room that indeed appeared to be in the very center of the ship and away from outer bulkheads. Inside the room, they found Night Rain, Sky Listener, another man, and two women huddled together near a lamp. They too had brought their bedding with them. Sky Listener was lying on the floor near the lamp reading the book he had earlier. The rest were just resting against each other quietly looking around.
“Welcome to the eternal war,” one of the women stated.
“Indeed,” Kashuba replied, following Hawke to a secluded corner away from the others.
“And some think that we are the aggressors,” Night Rain added for the benefit of Kashuba.
The ship shuddered, this time from the Savior’s own cannon fire. It was easier now for Hawke to tell the difference between their guns and the damaging hits from the enemy.
“I’ve always thought of kidnappers as aggressors,” Kashuba added, accepting the blanket from Hawke.
She sat against the wall, hugging her pillow in front of her as the ship shuddered again twice in a row. Hawke helped spread the blanket over both of them as they situated themselves in the dark corner.
“Unless of course those kidnappers are rescuers from a free nation. In that case, the rescuers are just trying to stay alive in the midst of a violent group of so-called gods,” a woman replied from the other side of the room.
“Demigods,” Kashuba corrected, “They realize that they are not gods as that would be blasphemy. Don’t speak of what you don’t understand.”
“You really are a sympathizer of the enemy,” the woman retorted, “Did they tell you that they rescued you after your parents died? They say that to all the Cheronook children they take as plunder.”
Kashuba leapt forward, but not before Hawke grabbed a hold of her ankle and caused her to stumble.
“How dare you, you brainwashed savage!” Kashuba spat, trying all the while to twist out of Hawke’s grasp, “You know nothing about the Shomani beyond the lies that are fed to you from your savage teachers.”
“I know that the Shomani burned down my cousin’s village and killed everyone above the age of two,” the unseen woman shouted back, “Did you notice that all their servants and slaves are Cheronook who were raised from infancy? Did you notice that they all serve willingly because they believe they owe the Shomani something? Owe them? The Shomani killed their families!”
“Let go of me!” Kashuba spat, kicking at Hawke as he pulled her back to him.
“You’ve no right to be on this ship, Shomani,” the woman added.
“Everyone, shut up!” Sky Listener shouted, tossing his book at the wall in frustration.
He rose up beside the lamp that apparently belonged to the man. Kashuba was still struggling against Hawke as he pulled her into his arms. An explosion rocked the ship, causing the lamp to slide across the deck and Sky Listener to stumble.
“That was a hit and a very violent one at that!” Sky Listener shouted, catching the lamp before it smashed into the wall, “We are under attack and may very well die tonight. I will not spend my last moments listening to hatred and hurtful words. We are all going to accept the same fate tonight and none of us have any control over that. We are all the same.”
Hawke felt Kashuba relax in his arms. The ship continued to rock back and forth from the previous hit. He could still hear Kashuba grinding her teeth in anger, but at least she wasn’t fighting to get out of his arms anymore.
“Not all of us are the same,” the unseen woman whispered.
Sky Listener groaned and lifted the lamp. He searched the room for his book and then returned to where his blanket remained.
“I’m sorry, Hawke,” Kashuba whispered.
The ship shuddered over and over again as the cannons continued to fire. Screams and shouts could be heard from beyond the room, but they tried their best to tune them out.
“Why don’t we talk about something to get our minds off all this,” he whispered to her, still holding her against him.
She retrieved her pillow and tucked it behind his lower back for support, accepting her place in his arms.
“I’m afraid of the water. I don’t know about your world, but on Rain, most of our sea creatures are carnivores,” she replied, “And most of them are large enough to swallow a person whole.”
“Here there be dragons,” he said.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Sorry,” he muttered, “Being on an old ship and what you just said… it made me recall something on old maps in my world. In uncharted areas, the map makers would draw a dragon and insert the words ‘here there be dragons’.”
“And were there dragons there?” she asked, “Did you have dragons in the oceans on Earth?”
“No, never,” he chuckled, running his hand across her back, “It was just a phrase to scare the weary traveler away from uncharted areas. Dragons were mythical creatures where I came from.”
“They’re not mythical here,” she replied, “In Coranka, you can pay to see a hundred and twenty meter dragon locked in a giant aquarium. There have been sightings at sea of dragons measuring more than two hundred meters.”
“What do they look like?” he asked, startled by this thought.
“Long serpentine creatures with scaly flesh so thick that swords are useless. A single fang of this beast is as big as your arm,” she said, “Actually, maybe we shouldn’t talk about this stuff while the ship is shaking like it is.”
“Yeah, maybe you’re right,” he said with a sigh, “When we reach port, how about we make a vow to never go to sea again?”
Nine
The ship continued to rock and tremble throughout the night under the attack of the enemy. Sleep came, but only in small bits and pieces. Eventually, Hawke awoke to find himself in silent darkness. Sky Listener’s lamp had apparently been snuffed at some point and without the benefit of windows; it was impossible to tell if morning had come. The ship was rocking steadily now, an effect of the rough seas most likely.
Kashuba was on the floor now and was using his thigh as a pillow. He slowly slid his leg out from beneath her and lowered her head to the pillow he placed on the floor. Using the wall as a guide in the darkness, he found his way to the door. He then opened the door, letting in a bright sliver of light.
Hawke slipped quickly into the corridor and closed the door behind him. He immediately discovered much to his shock that the ship had been torn open before him and now offered him a large view of the ocean. A salty spray of cool water found its way into the giant gash and across his lower legs. If anyone had been in that room last night, they would have certainly died from either the initial explosion or the flying shrapnel as the outside hull exploded inward.
A cool salty breeze stirred the scent of smoky charred wood, reminding him of just how real this world was and how real that raging sea was beyond the hull. He stared at the splintered beams, realizing just how close that blast had been to the room they were hiding in. It was a large enough blast to destroy not just the ship’s hull, but also a portion of the floor and the inner wall to the corridor. The fact that th
e charred wood didn’t extend further down the corridor was a testament to their firefighting skills.
Another mist of cool water chilled his bare feet. He walked down the hall, holding on to the walls as he attempted to move steadily across a swaying floor. He wasn’t accustomed to moving about in a ship at sea and that particular sea was proving to be very rough this morning. He navigated past two empty pails, then located the stairs.
He climbed the stairs and found himself in another corridor that had sustained some damage. This time however, there were two large beams blocking off any progress toward the aft end of the ship. Bright shafts of light near those splintered beams suggested that yet another explosion had torn open the side of the ship last night.
“Hello?” Hawke called out, “Is everyone okay?”
He got no response. He started down the corridor in the only direction available. The door at the end of the hall was open, leading to the main deck outside. He cautiously stepped out into the open, wondering if any enemy ships still lurked nearby.
The first thing he noticed was that the deck was littered in broken beams and crumpled white tarps. He wasn’t sure what the tarps were until he caught sight of two men working high up in the foremast. They appeared to be tying a new sail into place. This was evidenced by the fact that the sail on the other side of the boom had a grungy yellowish tint while the one they were installing was bright white.
He stepped further out into the open and noticed that the taller mast just behind him was also being repaired by several skilled sailors. Whatever damages the ship had sustained, it apparently wasn’t enough to worry the crew of this ship. They just went about their business as though it were an ordinary day at sea.
His wandering eyes stumbled upon a weary looking lady who was resting against a Gatling gun. She had been watching him and only when his eyes met hers did she offer him a tiny smile. He waved to her, then located the stairs that led to the deck she waited on.
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