“Were any seeking you out, or were they random?” I imagined a colorful being finding the ancient portal long ago and ending up being grilled by the Karo-fueled version of themselves.
“Two such seekers have come with the intent of finding us. They were both rejected.”
“Why did you allow me in?”
“Because of the history of unbalance you brought with you.” Karo stood, moving to his kitchen. “Would you care for something to eat?”
I laughed, wondering where he would possibly get food. I had no idea if we were on the surface, underground, or stuck within projections in my mind. But my stomach growled at the thought of food, so I told him I’d like to eat.
“You’ve woven quite the tale, Dean Parker.”
“Just Dean is fine.”
“How is it you go on?” he asked, his glowing eyes swirling as he stared at me from his kitchen.
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Many through the ages have crumbled at the tasks you’ve accomplished. How do you go on?”
I thought about it, and it was easy. “I go on because people need me. If I knew someone else could step up to the plate and replace me, I’d happily go back home as long as Mary was beside me.”
“And there’s the truth of it all. You go on for her, don’t you? It’s always been about her, even before you knew it was.” Karo lifted a hand, pointed a long finger toward me, and I felt a tug at my head, like he’d plucked a thought from my mind.
“What was that?” I asked, rubbing my hair.
“Food. I wanted to know your favorite dish.” I looked over to him and saw him open a door similar to that of an oven. He pulled out a steaming hot pizza, the smell hit the air, and I found myself starting to drool as I saw the melted cheese, the basil topping, and the crispy pepperoni.
“How did you do that?” I got up, crossing the small distance between us. I opened the door and saw an empty opening behind it. I looked inside, then to the piping hot pizza on the countertop. “Are you a god?”
It was his turn to laugh; light crinkles aged his otherwise smooth skin. “Is that what they say? It’s been far too long. I’ve been out of touch for ages.”
“Well, are you?” I took an offered slice of pizza, passed to me on a flat, thin green crystal plate.
He shook his head. “No. We are not gods. Our advanced intellect allowed us to create miraculous technology. Many took these as signs of a higher power, but we are flesh and blood.”
I was going to call him on it. “Then how have you stayed here for so long without perishing?”
“It would be difficult to explain. It has everything to do with slowing cell disintegration, and some other biological adjustments I won’t bore you with.” Karo had a vague answer for everything. I suppose it wasn’t my place to extract the knowledge of an ancient race when their secret ways were what kept them safe for so long. Still, I couldn’t resist a little probing.
“What about that? You picked a thought from my head.” I gestured to the pizza. I blew on the slice and took a bite, my taste buds happily dancing at the intense flavors.
“You live long enough, you learn to utilize most of the hidden cognitive functions of the brain. And this” – he pointed at the square box the pizza had come out of – “is linked to my mind through a series of microchips. Saves me time from having to program my meals.”
So he could read minds. Regnig had been able to as well, and I wondered how old he was. But he also needed to eat, which meant he was just another being like me. Maybe a little more advanced, but he’d understand the plight I was in the middle of. He could be reasoned with.
“Will you help me?” I asked, knowing this was my last resort. Without his help, I’d have to go back home, see if Clare could pinpoint Mary’s location, or wait for word of the Unwinding’s destruction to hit the Gatekeepers’ network. Then I’d have to make it to her and try to find a way to pull her out of there before I used the Shifter in my pocket.
“You need to see something first. You need to understand.” He bit into his pizza and smiled. “This is good. I wish I’d known of it a long time ago. Before you go, do you mind letting me pick a few more from your mind?”
I couldn’t tell if he was kidding, but his wry smile made me think he wasn’t totally serious. “Show me what you must. I’ll do anything to get her back.”
“I know you will. But you still need to see.” He slid a gloved hand along his clear countertop and walked to the wall, where he hit a series of commands into an appearing keypad. The image of the wall disappeared, showing another room within. Large crystals, each a different color, sat in a circle, breaching from the floor. “Stand in the center.”
I set my food down; my plate clanked against the counter as I let it go prematurely. I walked to the crystals without hesitation. If Karo needed me to see this, I’d do it, to find out how they could help me stop the Iskios.
I was in the middle of the circle and looked back, wondering if anything was supposed to happen. “I’m ready, Karo.”
“Brace yourself,” he said quietly.
Visions from the Theos rushed into my mind without warning.
Twenty-Seven
Wind blew through my long hair as I watched the crowd gather below. I was at the top of a hill, the largest near the shuttle zone, and Zall sat beside me, talking nonstop about how excited she was to finally get off this rock.
Thrusters spewed hot red fire toward the ground, and the rocket shook before rising into the sky. Tears I didn’t know I had formed along my eyes as I viewed the first flight of exiles to the Iskios colony. We were too different, they claimed. My father told me never to be seen with my best friend. The Iskios were dangerous, too hideous a creature. I disagreed.
Zall held my hand and I leaned in. Her surprise quickly turned to understanding, and our lips met for the first time. They stayed together as the rocket raced into space. Soon only smoke remained, along with two more shuttles.
Zall pulled away. “I have to go. My parents are waiting for me.”
“I wish…” I didn’t know what to say. Nothing would convey my true feelings. “I wish you weren’t going.”
“You know there’s no other way.”
She was right. They’d been banished. My father said they couldn’t help it, that they had a compulsion to harm things. Mother was sad for them, but Father was angry we were even letting them go. His eyes spoke the violence he was speaking against.
“I know. Can I walk you down?”
“You’d better not. I’ll… miss you.” She stood and bent down, holding my face in her warm hands. She kissed me again and turned, walking away from me forever.
I wanted to yell, to tell her I couldn’t live without her, but she was already gone before I built up the nerve. It couldn’t be. She was Iskios, and I was Theos.
____________
“Captain, this was the work of the Iskios, and the bastards weren’t shy about anyone knowing it was them.” I looked at the images on the screen. I wanted to scream, to tear my gaze away, but I forced myself to watch them. The Malanzits were a young race, still at war with spears and rocks. They wouldn’t have been able to protect themselves from the monsters with bombs and energy beams.
The population of the world was destroyed, this time with a brutality unlike the others. The Iskios had killed on other planets, but not an entire race. They’d also dropped airborne viruses and chemical warfare on unsuspecting worlds, leaving millions of casualties in their wake.
“We have to end this. The Balance be praised,” a female officer said. I couldn’t recall her name.
“We’re picking up signs of an Iskios vessel four parsecs away, sir.”
I blinked and turned my head from the horrible images of death from the planet below.
“We’ve warned them countless times. Seek them out.”
“And then?” my first officer asked.
“Then we destroy them.”
____________
The chamber was the fullest I’d ever seen it. There wasn’t a single seat left empty, and countless Theos were standing on the balcony looking down. Today was the day. The day our fate would be sealed. And I was the one to give the news.
Balance. I imagined the universe on a scale, the disaster being created by the Iskios far outweighing the kindness and innovation of us, the Theos. We were only a part of the balance, but a large portion nonetheless.
“Quiet!” Hazal called from beside me, striking his gavel down on the table. “Silence for your leader!”
I stood as everyone else sat. A lone cough from the middle of the room echoed through the chamber, and I spoke. “They must perish.”
It was as if everyone spoke at the same moment. We knew the Theos’ feeling about this topic. It was a mix of reactions. Some wanted compassion, others prison, but more wanted death. A few even wanted us to not intervene at all, but that was blasphemy to a Theos, for we praised the Balance.
I raised a single gloved hand. My cloak opened, and I suddenly wished the evening could have been cooler. I continued to sweat under the clothing, hoping no one noticed my frailty. I wasn’t at peace with the decision. It had taken far too many sleepless nights, and even longer to perfect the stones’ preparation.
The room eventually fell silent once again, and I waited a moment longer than normal to speak. “We will track each of them down, using our new technology that allows us to identify each living Iskios. The energy output to make this work will be astronomical, but we will harness the stars.” Killing a star by sucking the energy out to power the Locator was the least of our concerns, but destroying something so wonderful still hurt me.
“And what will happen when we find them, Governor?” someone called from the balcony above.
“I cannot say. But you will never see another Iskios for as long as you shall live. Their reign of terror is over.” I couldn’t tell them we would fuse them into the crystals at Elam Four. It was the only way to keep the balance. By killing them all, their energy would cease to exist. We needed it to continue. We needed Balance.
____________
I watched the feeds from Elam Four. The crystals began to change colors. How had this happened? None of our scientists could tell us. It had taken centuries to track each and every Iskios down, but we had succeeded. I’d seen the videos of my ancestor making the decree before the crowded chamber but had never imagined I’d be the one to make this decision.
“We cannot continue. The Balance is off. Without the Iskios to offset us, we won’t exist.” It pained me to say it, but the four Theos around the table nodded in agreement.
Tagu pulled his beard. “Barl, we have anticipated this.”
I was flabbergasted. “You have?”
“Yes. We have a solution.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Thank the Balance. “What is it?”
“We fuse ourselves as we did the Iskios,” Tagu said, eyebrows lifted. His orange eyes shone brighter than normal.
“To what end? Death? What is the difference how we get there?” I asked.
“Come with me. Let me show you the Shandra stones.”
____________
I was tired. The tests had gone on for decades, and my patience was at an end. The Balance was deeply disturbed, and we could see it in the universe around us. Unsuspected black holes opened to swallow peaceful systems. A star went supernova in the middle of a highly populated region, with only one hundred years to attempt a relocation. It was time.
“We will store ourselves in the portals, giving the inhabitants the ability to travel. This is innovation we can pass on. Our energy harnessed. Do you agree, Barl?” Tagu asked. He was wearing down; even though we could live a long life, he’d bypassed the cellular mutation, as had many of our kind.
“What if a greater imbalance arises in the future? Who will there be to save the universe from destruction?” I asked, not expecting an answer.
A young man stepped from behind Tagu and raised his hand. “I will.”
“Ah, yes. Karo here has volunteered to stay behind. He’ll act as a guard. We’ve hidden all traces of ourselves, and we’ve made it so we’ll be all but forgotten. A name whispered on the wind, with nothing solid to remember us by.”
“Then how will they know to search us out?” I asked, wondering if we should call the whole thing off. I saw the portal stone, dull and lifeless, and even though I knew my consciousness wouldn’t be active inside it, the idea of living out eternity inside a stone caused my stomach to spin inside me.
“They’ll seek us out. It is written in the Balance.” Tagu always seemed so sure of himself. He had me buying into his rhetoric even when I didn’t want to believe him.
“Start the process,” I said, feeling the weight of our millions on my shoulders. In the end, we got full support. It was all or nothing, and I cried the night before at the loss. The Theos, my people, were so full of intelligence and life. What kind of universe would allow our existence to be hinged on that of someone as vile as the Iskios? In the end, that was what allowed me to go with peace. I wouldn’t have the Balance of the Iskios to concern myself with any longer.
“Very well. Karo, follow the instructions I’ve left with you. Do not fail our kind,” Tagu said firmly.
“I won’t, Father,” the young man said.
I followed Tagu and touched the Shandra stone.
“We are ready to beam,” Tagu said into a mic. We had vessels full of Theos over each world with a portal. From there, they would be lashed into the stone, powering the portals for eternity. Our vessels were hidden to all sensors and were cloaked from any of the planet’s inhabitants’ eyes.
A tear slipped down my cheek and fell onto the stone, rolling off and onto the ground. I watched it hit the dust, drying up as it did so. Would anyone remember the Theos? Would they find the hidden portals and use them, and speak the praises of the creators?
My thoughts were cut short as light enveloped the room, and I entered the stone.
Twenty-Eight
I fell down and curled into a ball. The images had come quickly, and I could still taste the lips of the young Iskios girl. I could smell the sweat inside the chamber room, and the fear of Barl as he entered the portal stone.
A shadow crossed over me, and I saw a hand appear beside me. “Dean Parker, I have shown you something no one else has ever witnessed. Do you now understand why we did what we did?”
It was much as Sarlun had told me, but the visceral projection unsettled me more than I could have imagined. The Theos had literally sacrificed themselves to the portals in order to obtain Balance. It was awe-inspiring and overwhelmingly sad at the same time: a balance of its own.
I took his hand and let him help me to my feet. “I understand. How do I get Mary back? And how do we stop them?”
“Some thought we would be able to take our physical form once again, but we cannot. Like the Iskios, we need a vessel.”
I cringed, thinking of what he hinted at. “Is that the only way?”
“It would seem so. We will counter their hold on her, and hopefully, their hold on the Unwinding.”
“Come with me. You can be the vessel.”
He shook his head. “I will come with you, but I cannot be the vessel. I am not of sound mind. I’ve been here for too long. Though I don’t look old, my body would not be able to withstand the energy.”
I pictured myself being ripped apart by a force of Theos rushing into me. “And mine would?”
“I’m not sure.”
Great answer. “What choice do I have? Show me how.” I was resigned to letting it happen. Mary had the Iskios controlling her. I could handle this. I’d save her. I scratched at my beard for a moment and waited for Karo to direct me.
“It won’t be easy,” he said.
I asked the rhetorical question: “What’s ever easy?”
He tapped the top of the red crystal with a finger. “You have two choices.”
“What are they?”
I asked.
“You can merge with those inside the portal stone here and find Mary, freeing her from the confines of the evil Iskios possessing her.” That sounded good. “Or you travel to each stone and gather every Theos to battle the Unwinding.”
“That will take too long.” I watched my tongue. I knew I had to stop the Unwinding, but selfishly, Mary came first.
“It may. You may be too late to save your Mary and to stop the Unwinding if you delay.”
He made my mind up. “Take me to the Shandra.”
“I warn you. It will not be easy to control them. The Theos are a strong people. They may try to take you over, much like Mary was.” Karo watched me closely, likely trying to gauge my reaction.
“It’s a risk I’ll have to take. But since you said time doesn’t move the same as normal in here, how about another piece of pizza first? I’ll need the energy.”
Karo laughed and clapped me on the back. “I’ll miss having someone around.”
“How does that work? If you aren’t gods, how do you stop time?”
“We don’t. The room just has a field around it that reverses time every millisecond.” This seemed like no big deal to Karo.
“You mean we’re time traveling?” As if I hadn’t been creeped out enough today.
“In a sense, yes.”
Suddenly, the pizza wasn’t so appetizing.
____________
“In order to access the Theos inside, you must use the table, but not like you have been.” Karo showed me how to access another hidden component to it. He explained the order of symbols to enter, ending with the newly found Theos image, which I could now recall, instead of promptly forgetting it like before.
“Show me again, please.” I couldn’t risk screwing this up. I needed to know the process so I could go gather the rest of the Theos after I had Mary back.
Once I was confident I could do it again, on another world’s portal table, he showed me what to do next.
The Survivors: Books 1-6 Page 103
