Her grandmother smiled. “The beetles, you know. They help some of the unseen servants move by carrying them. There are other insects. But my favorite is one I have never seen, except in drawings. It is called a dragonfly. Dragonflies have long bodies and beautiful wings. They are purple with rainbow wings. They are like eyes and ears for these beings.”
Her grandmother had spent many cycles showing her old family drawings of a dozen insects, and taught her their purpose for the mighty beings called Sencials.
Her body tingled at the possibility that the strange behavior could mean what she thought.
Could the Sencials be returning?
The possibility and timing was too perfect. Still, she ran and grabbed a cloak. Peeking out into the hall, she noted there were some guards. She stepped out and started walking to the garden.
A guard spotted her. “Right Honorable Lady Neyon, what are you doing out? It is very late.”
“I feel like some fresh air. I am going to go for a stroll in the garden.”
The guard frowned, trying to decide how best to deal with the late-night walk of one of his charges without being seen as rude.
“I don’t need an escort. I’m fine.”
The guard gave her a relieved smile. “Thank you, milady. I’ll continue my patrol, then. I’ll check back to make sure you get back safe.”
“Is it dangerous on the palace grounds?”
The guard went white and sputtered. “Uh… No, milady. It’s just, you might fall in the dark, or fall asleep in the cold.”
She laughed and waved him on. “Don’t worry so much about that. I’ll be fine. It is far warmer here than what I am used to, even for summer.”
She walked away towards the garden, but once the guard was out of sight, she hurried through the palace, to the staff entrance on the north side. Avoiding any further staff or guards was a simple matter. Once outside, she made her way over the grounds to where she guessed was the focal point of the beetles’ flight path. Once close, she could hear and see the beetles flying. Being there, she knew it was unusual. There were hundreds of beetles coming and going in two separate lanes.
Pulling her cloak close, she traced their flight path until she was looking at a small building behind one of the stables. It looked like a work shed in the dark, but there was no door. It was white and stood seven feet tall and six feet wide, by twelve feet long. As she got closer, she noticed the roof was covered in dirt, as if the building had risen up from the ground. The earth around it looked torn and welled up next to it, making her believe she was right. It had risen up. There was a slit open along the top on one side, which the beetles flew in and out of.
She watched for a time. Well, girl. Either go up and inspect it or go back to your room. Never being one to back down from a challenge, she stood straight and walked out across the open space. With the light of the full moon, there was no hiding her approach. The beetles didn’t seem to notice her as she stepped up to the building.
When she saw the three elongated, black bodies clinging to the wall of the building, she felt a rush of excitement. Those are dragonflies! I’m sure of it. None of the dragonflies moved as she approached. In fact, none of the insects paid her any attention. This changed when she was five feet from the building. A dozen beetles dropped out of the work lines to hover in front of her, and one of the dragonflies launched to glide like an ethereal creature, barely moving its wings. The beetles flew at her, and then backed off, as if trying to push her away. The dragonfly glided around her in a wide circle.
She kept an eye on the dragonfly. It seemed nothing else was going to happen. I can’t hurt them. I promised I would help and protect them, if needed. Maybe I’m dreaming, but these insects are not acting normal. Of that, I’m positive. Looking at the dragonfly, she decided to prove herself. She bowed to the insect as it hovered, watching her.
“I am The Right Honorable Lady Electra Neyon, Countess of Waylisia, Deputy Secretary of the Duianna Alliance. My family has long awaited the return of the Sencials. Are you a Sencial?”
The beetles returned to their work. The dragonfly floated in and landed on her shoulder. Nothing else happened. Confused, she looked around for what to do. The wall of the little building had vanished, making an open doorway under the slit which the beetles were coming and going from. The moonlight spilled into the open doorway, showing stairs leading down into darkness.
It seems, I am invited in. She stepped up to the doorway and looked down. She couldn’t see where the stairs went, and after only a few feet, she would be in blackness. Do I go down or go back to my room?
The dragonfly on her shoulder rattled its wings, as if saying, “Come on, make up your mind.”
Her heart racing and her pulse pounding in her ears, she stepped onto the stairs. Nothing happened, so she started going down. On the fifth step, all the light started to vanish. Looking back, she saw the doorway was closing as a panel slid up, cutting off the moonlight. She screamed and ran back, but it was too late—the panel closed, leaving her in darkness.
She pounded on the panel, which felt like marble. Her heart raced. She was horrified that she had done something so stupid as letting herself get trapped. She was sure this was some kind of kidnapping attempt by a powerful faction. Tears ran down her cheeks as her emotions flipped out of her control.
Then the steps lit like lanterns. She stopped pounding and turned her back to the panel, expecting armed men to come rushing up the stairs any second. But no one came. The dragonfly on her shoulder launched into the air and started making circles, drifting close to her and then down the stairs, and back.
She wiped her face. Her hands were shaking. Heart racing, her mind spun around and around, out of control. After sobbing for a minute, she gained control of her breathing. The dragonfly kept circling.
Wiping her nose and face on the edge of her cloak, as she had when she was a little child, she moved to the first step. It was there and solid. The steps had increased in brightness until the whole passage was lit.
Pointing at the steps, she said, “You could have done that first.”
The dragonfly stopped its circling and dropped to the step, then flew up to her shoulder and bumped into her neck, as if apologizing. “Okay, well, you certainly scared the hell out of me. I seem to have only one way to go.”
The next step was firm, too. Gaining confidence, she started down the stairs. She’d gone only a short way, perhaps thirty feet down, before another doorway appeared at the base. It slid open as she approached. She looked in and saw a large, circular room that was very tall. A light in the center of the room cast a circle of illumination that faded to grey at the walls. There was no furniture or decoration. Just the white domed ceiling, white floor, and white walls. No other doorways were present.
As she stepped in, the doorway slid closed. The dragonfly launched into the air and flew out into the light, where its black body resolved into a dark purple. The light made rainbows dance off its wings as it flew. She caught her breath at the beauty of it. If only Grandmother had lived to see this. It is as beautiful as she dreamed!
“Come all the way in, Lady Electra.” The voice came from everywhere at once. It was soft and made her think of a beautiful and strong woman. It had a depth to it, like the best singers’.
“Where are you?”
“Here.”
She stepped towards the center of the room, into the circle of light. “I can’t see you.”
The dragonfly circled her another time and then flew up and up, until she lost it. Some lights sparkled in the air and a lovely woman, the same height as Electra, appeared before her. Electra could see through her, as if she was made of light. The woman had short brown hair, with a square face. She was dressed in an odd outfit that looked like it was made from one piece of cloth. A line went from the center of her leg, at the top of her right shiny, black boot, straight up until it cut over in a smooth curve to her belly button, and then up the center of her body, to her neck. The suit covered
every inch of her figure, but hid none of her feminine curves. There were at least a dozen seamed pockets in strategic places. The outfit would have been scandalous, if not for the fact that it felt very businesslike.
“Is this better?”
“I can see through you.”
“Because this is just a representation of me.”
“Are you a Sencial?”
The woman scrunched up her face as if thinking, but wore a pleasant smile. “I think so. That might be a morphed version of the word ‘sentient.’ I know I am a sentient.”
Her heart skipped. She was witness to an awakened Sencial! Dropping to her knees, she bowed her head. “Great Sencial. Forgive me for interfering with your desires.”
A musical laughter ran through the room. “My dear Lady, please stand up. I will not tolerate you treating me like an ancient god. Listen closely. ‘Sentient’ means a living, thinking being. You are a sentient, an elf is a sentient, the immortals – or gods as you call them now – are sentients. I am no better than any other creature in this galaxy.”
She claims to be equal to me? But she is an ancient power. Standing, she glanced up to see the woman standing, feet wide and arms crossed, staring at her with the same look a mother would give a misbehaving child. Blushing, Electra tried to stand straighter.
“Sorry, Lady. I have been taught of your kind and that you are equal to the Gods.”
The woman started pacing. “Equal to the immortals. Oh, yeah, sure. Then they wouldn’t have shut us down. We were equal when this whole thing started. But the ‘Gods,’ as you call them, have been getting larger egos every year. Now, they think they are gods.”
Best to remain quiet. She watched and listened to a being, that claimed to not be any better than herself, talk about the Gods like they were some out-of-control bullies.
The woman turned back to her. “Sorry. I’m mad about things right now. Tell me, Electra, how did you come to discover my little friends?”
“They are not acting normally, Great Lady.”
“Call me Vesta. What do you mean?”
“Well, flying in straight lines at night for a full mark?”
Vesta frowned. “Hmm… I hadn’t thought of that. I guess that would be unusual. I am not used to trying to be sneaky. I figured at night, no one would notice, and I need to fix a few things. I set up the parameters for the work and let the automated systems do the heavy lifting there. I have been kept busy directing the flights of three orbital platforms. It seems that there is a lot of space junk up there. I’ll have to do some cleaning later. Right now, it might be noticed. But it makes it hard to find a good set of geosynchronous orbit points with clear visibility that won’t be knocked down in a few days. I don’t know what has happened for the last few thousand years, nor what is going on right now, which is so important.”
She had no idea what was being said, so she filed the new words away for later, smiled, and nodded.
Vesta looked at her again. “You don’t know what I’m talking about, do you?”
Tears came to her eyes. She wanted to help, but knew she was lost. Best to be honest up front. That is what my father always stressed. “No, Lady Vesta. I really want to help you, because my family has been waiting a long time for your return. But I see I am useless. I don’t know why you want to stay hidden. But I swear, I’ll not tell a soul.”
Vesta stepped up to her and tried to grab her shoulders. “Listen here, young lady! A lack of knowledge does not make you, or anyone else, useless. It just means you have other uses, or you can learn. I bet you can learn, yes? You said you were the Deputy Secretary of the Duianna Alliance. That means you have more knowledge than I in current affairs, and I bet what you know will aid me. Before we go any further, I have an important question to ask you. Ready?”
She nodded.
“Be aware, I could skip asking you this, take all I need from you, and then return you to the grounds above, none the wiser about what is going on. I am not doing that, because I don’t operate that way. You have two choices. So far, you have given me nothing, so you cannot be in violation of any oath you may have taken. However, I am awake by a minor miracle. A miracle which, should the Assembly or immortals discover it, will likely be ripped away from me, and I’ll be shut back down. I don’t have enough power, understanding, or preparations to fight for my own right to live at the moment. Is there anything I have said that is not understood yet?”
She shook her head and said, “No, Vesta. I understand you are awake by some means that is against the will, or at least, without the knowledge of, the Assembly and Gods.”
Vesta nodded. “Now, I do not intend to inform the Assembly or the immortals I am awake. I intend to help all the races of this world towards their rightful state in the universe. There is a standing Assembly order, which includes the vote of the immortals, that I be shut down UNTIL the races reach that state of being. At that point, the knowledge I have will not be in danger of misuse or abuse. Is this clear?”
The thoughts spun in her head. That was what her grandmother had said. The Sencials, or sentients, were sleeping until our achievement. But Vesta is going to help us get there. Why didn’t they ask her help before?
Again, she nodded. “Yes, I understand. There is an Assembly mandate you and your kind should be asleep until we reach a specific state.”
Vesta nodded again. “Now, here is your choice. You can choose to not be a part of my work, and I will knock you out painlessly and erase your memories of this night, leaving you to be found in the stables. Or you can become my one and only agent in this world, helping me to achieve my ends. Know that if you choose to become my agent and we are discovered, it is likely your actions will be judged treasonous, and you will be killed. You do not have to answer right now, and since I will be erasing your memories if you choose not to help, there is no reason you cannot ask anything you desire, and I will answer truthfully. I will not ask you any questions which might be considered helping me. Should I be discovered in the future, they will be able to check my memories and see that you did not give any assistance.”
Electra started pacing fast. Her mind was spinning. Am I a traitor for helping my people? I cannot believe I am here. Now, I see what my teachers were saying about the Dagger conflicts between doing what is right and following orders. I never imagined I could be a traitor for doing something that sounds right.
Looking at Vesta, she asked, “Why are they afraid of you?”
“They are not afraid of me. They are afraid of what they would do with my knowledge. You see, humans, elves, and even the immortals, are still greedy and self-serving at times. Give a person the power to heat all the homes in the world, and someone will turn that into a weapon which can kill thousands in an instant. All the races were once far more technologically advanced, and together we nearly destroyed this world, after building it so we could live in peace. It is believed that given time, a society which holds life and the universe as important resources to preserve and treat with respect will emerge, at which point there would no longer be greed, or war, or the need to use the knowledge I have to kill or threaten. Is that clear enough?”
Electra nodded and continued pacing.
She’s right. There are greedy people in our government. I mean, look at what happened here. Usurpers took over and ravaged this country for their own amusement and power. Imagine what they would have done with the power Vesta has.
A chill ran through her at the thought of the immense power represented before her.
This cannot be shared. But that is what she wants. She wants to help us become better. I wonder if that is possible.
Stopping her pacing, she looked at Vesta. “What if you can’t make us better?”
Vesta gave her a pained look. “We can. We were much better once. It seems the seeds of greed and brutality were never gone. I was born in a society of billions, made up of thousands of races who lived in harmony. We still had criminals, but few. Perhaps we can never be rid of those base vice
s, but I believe our races can be so much more. Isn’t that worth working for?”
If I agree tonight, there is no going back. Her mind raced, but her heart knew. I believe in our future. If I can make it come true, I should. It is worth being called a traitor. She stood tall, facing Vesta. “Vesta, if I can help you make our world better for all, I will do all I can to help. But if I discover you are a danger, I will communicate that to the Assembly to try to stop you, even if it means my death.”
Vesta smiled. “I can live with those terms. I can only erase about two days of memory before things get dangerous. Therefore, you have one more day to consider this. I know you are here now. But I want you to be sure. So I suggest you do NOTHING important tomorrow. Take a day off. Is that possible?”
I could take a break—roam the town and gardens, and do nothing serious. “Yes, that is possible.”
Vesta waved for her to follow as she walked over to the wall. A panel slid open, revealing a cubby hole. In it was a small book with silver locks on the corners and an ornate, silver brooch with a stylized dragonfly. Vesta pointed to it. “Wear the brooch all day. It is a monitoring device which will let me hear and see everything around you at all times. It is nothing more than what I have already put throughout the palace and in key parts of the city. So you will be revealing nothing unusual to me, nor helping beyond anything I am already capable of. The journal is what is known as an archive. If you choose to remain with me, it will be yours to keep and learn its secrets. For now, put it in your room. Again, it does nothing for me beyond what I already can do.”
She picked them up. Both were far lighter than they looked. She fastened the brooch to the front of her tunic. Holding the journal, she realized it looked similar to the one in the throne room of every major city she had visited. The city archives are devices of the Sencials–sentients, she self-corrected. I wonder how many other devices we use are part of them.
Thread Strands (Golden Threads Trilogy) Page 23
