Forgotten Relics

by Cianien Bloodstone

  Chia wandered to examine some of the surrounding treasures while Rei took a closer look at the pedestal. Some of the glyphs she recognized from above covered the surface and she vaguely remembered history lessons about ancient cultures leaving instructions, often warnings, on artifacts like this.

  “Chia, come here.” The engineer wandered over. “I know you’ve been looking up what you can on the Riate, can you read this?”

  “I can manage a few words. Why?”

  “Humor me.”

  Chia coughed and eyed the writing. “Knowledge. Let only those who...” Her eyes narrowed in concentration. “Clear mind and heart... worthy.” Chia looked up at her. “Sorry, there wasn’t too much of their writing left for me to study

  “That’s fine. It told me more than enough.”

  “Which was?”

  Rei glanced over at the engineer, “That this is what our client was interested in. Just do me a favor.”

  “What do you need?” Chia asked.

  Rei smiled. “Whatever happens, let it.”

  “Rei! What are you doing?”

  Rei took a deep breath and stepped through the barrier. For a moment, her body stood frozen in the midst of it, every muscle tensed as she fought not to struggle and break free. The spell pushed open her mental protections and she knew, if she weren’t already frozen, she’d be shaking under the invasion. Memories and emotions swirled through her mind so quickly that it made her head spin.

  Then, it was over and she felt solid ground beneath her hands and feet. She rose to find herself at the base of the pedestal, now lowered as though she had passed a test. Rei groaned.

  “Rei! Get out of there!” Chia bellowed.

  Rei ignored her. She wasn’t going to turn back now that she was so close to their target. All she had to do was release the information the gem held and Gen would lose a bit of his power over them. Her hands wrapped around the diamond tightly. It felt heavy in her grip.

  “Ikal-cul!” she cried. Light exploded around her as the power within the stone released the information held. Images of facts and figures, dates, and recordings of battles long gone filled the cavern. Rei watched the display in spite of herself until she noticed light creeping up her arm from within the depths of the gem. She attempted to drop it, but her fingers remained locked, frozen within the light’s thrall. Farther and farther the light climbed, using her body like a vine might use a building. Essence permeated the cavern thanks to the data, but the amount in the light made her nervous. Rei’s mouth opened to call to Chia for assistance, only to find her voice wouldn’t cooperate. Her vision began to grey as the light reached around her neck. Her body pitched, though she felt as though she was floating. Her last sight before it all faded was the images above her and the faint sound of someone calling her name.

  CHAPTER NINE

  Rei could faintly hear machines around her, the noise driving into her awareness like screws into a bulkhead. She tried to open her eyes, but she felt so tired and the dark was so comforting.

  She could hear them. They circled her immobilized form like vultures circling their next meal. More needles plunged into her arms and legs. The liquid burned as it flooded into her veins.

  “How long until we know if it takes?” a man asked quietly, as though he didn’t want anyone else to hear.

  “The physical changes are promising, but I would give it another few weeks before we give her more of the serum. That will give us the highest chances of success,” another responded, just as quiet.

  Rei wanted to tell them off, to yell and scream against what was happening to her, but her mouth was obstructed by a breathing apparatus that was supposed to be assisting her during her torment. So, she offered the only bit of resistance left to her and thrashed against the bonds with all her might.

  “Calm down,” the first man told her. “It’ll be easier if you would just cooperate.”

  Instead of following his command, his words just made her throw herself around in earnest; she wouldn’t let them continue this without some fight.

  But wait... this wasn’t right. This had happened to her years ago. She had managed to escape. Why was she back here? She should have been light-years away... below the ancient city... with the others...

  Gas flooded the apparatus before she could ponder more, filling her nose and mouth. It was sweet like fruit but made her tongue feel like it was coated in wool. The apparatus shifted as her struggles continued, but the gas managed to maintain its assault unimpeded. She could feel someone reach over and position it so nothing could escape.

  “That’s a good girl,” the first man cooed. “Go back to sleep... maybe in a few days your tantrum will have died down...”

  Rei’s struggles slowed. If her eyes were open, she was certain her vision would be greying as the gas dulled her senses. Her limbs gave one final protest before they flopped back against the metal table beneath her.

  ~*~

  She could hear the machines working at the edge of her awareness once more, not driving like they had been, but subtle. Bit by bit, she felt herself coming back. Her hand twitched, testing to see if the bonds were indeed there, relief flooded through her when she met no resistance. Her mind drifted between the images she had seen in her memory-filled dreams and what she remembered from the city until it arrived at the thing that had triggered it all...

  The gem! Rei bolted upright, the medical blanket that had been covering her tumbling to the ground. Breathing hard, Rei looked around. She was in the Kathya’s infirmary. Fiara sat on a bed across the room, legs crossed and tense. Bandages still graced her wrists and faint bruises were still visible against her pale skin. The blue shirt she wore fit better than her rags had when they first found her but was still loose on her body. She leapt from her bed and walked over to Rei’s side.

  “You had them worried,” she told her quietly. “Especially when you tried to fight everyone off. It was like you were in a bad dream.”

  “How long?” Brown eyes met hazel.

  “Seven complete shift rotations—” Fiara winced. “Sorry, I’ve spent so long just on ships with no clocks so it’s how I measure the days out of habit now.”

  Rei swung her legs over the side and looked herself over. Someone had dressed her in a new shirt, but her pants were still the same leather ones she had worn into the city. The only thing completely missing was her boots.

  “Oh! You just woke up so I should...” Fiara looked around frantically, but, as she saw none of the medical staff was in sight, she paled.

  “I’ll be fine. If you would be so kind as to point me in the direction of my boots—” No sooner did she speak, the requested items, coated in blue, floated to an easy height for her to grab. Rei ignored the unsettled feeling in her stomach. “Well, there’s one way to get them,” she joked.

  Fiara looked around, dancing from one foot to another.

  “Captain, you’re awake!” A medic finally put Fiara out of her misery as he appeared at her elbow. “What do you think you’re doing?”

  “I’m off to see Yeke and the others.”

  “I don’t advise that.” He chuckled. “You just woke up. If you want them, I will call them to come back here, but I just managed to get them to leave and get some rest.”

  “I appreciate your concern, Isam, but I feel fine. And no offense to either of you, but this is something urgent that should be private. If it makes you feel better, scan me first, but I am leaving.”

  Isam sighed. Fiara’s gaze shifted back and forth between the two of them.

  “Fine,” he reluctantly agreed. “Let me scan you and if we don’t find anything, you’re free to go so long as you promise to come back here at the first signs of trouble.”

  Rei nodded and waved him away. While she waited, she turned to Fiara, offering the nervous woman a small smile. “Settling in well? Sorry, I haven’t had much of a chance to check in on you.”

  “Well, you’ve been a bit busy.” Fiara shifted her weight from one foot to ano
ther. “But, yes, I am. The staff here is nice and everyone who has been here while you slept has kept me company for a while. But, I admit I am confused about something.”

  “About what?” Rei could see Isam returning out of the corner of her eye, but as Fiara’s mouth just twisted in silence, she subtly waved him back off. Rei waited for her to speak, pulling on her boots and running the brush from the stand beside her bed through her hair.

  “About why you let me come with you so easily,” Fiara said at last, her voice soft. “I’m not even sure why I asked in the first place. I watched you come aboard and, since everyone was busy with the damage your ship inflicted, I took a chance.”

  “You were smart,” Rei approved. “You saw the opportunity and didn’t let it go to waste. Let me ask you—what made you trust us?”

  “You didn’t destroy the ship and, from what I heard, you gave the other a chance to stand down before destroying them. That group sometimes didn’t even give their friends that much.” Panic flooded her face, she wrung her hands as she looked around expectantly.

  “I guessed as much during our brief meeting.” Rei took her hands in an attempt to calm her. “Now, what confuses you about your coming with us?”

  Fiara looked down. “I wasn’t kidding when I told you I was no one. I was only there—it’s complicated.” She paused, but Rei didn’t pry further about it. “There was no reason for you to take the slave girl with you just because she asked. You had finished what you were there to do and didn’t have anything to gain by letting me join you. Then, when I was talking to Miss Aede and your helmsmen while you slept... the helmsmen joked about you taking in strays. Miss Aede said that they both had been some of those strays, but the helmsmen said I was different.” She looked up at Rei. “She said something about you having more of a connection with me. Kindred spirits, she said. I asked what she meant, but Miss Aede said that was for you to tell. What did they mean?”

  Damn you, Foniac, Rei thought and she released Fiara’s hands. Fiara stood there expectantly, her hands twisting again as she clasped them together in front of her. Rei sighed and tried to figure out what she could say to get out of telling her the entire painful truth.

  “I shouldn’t have said anything.” Fiara backpedaled. “Never mind.”

  Rei held up a hand. “No, it was a valid question.” She noticed the scars on her arms weren’t visible and a quick scan told her Yeke had been kind enough to lay an illusion of his own to maintain the appearance of normal fingers and skin. She sized up the woman in front of her once more. It had taken her ages to show what had been done to anyone else other than Yeke. Yet here was someone who was inadvertently demanding it so soon after just meeting her. Even if she didn’t grasp the scope of what she was asking Rei to reveal. Rei sighed and quickly unraveled Yeke’s handiwork on her body before she lost her nerve. Fiara stepped back at the claws glinting on her fingertips.

  “I did see a bit of myself in you, more than most that have come onto this ship. These didn’t come by my own doing, some freak accident, or some weird marriage of races.” She indicated to the scars and claws.

  “Then how?” Fiara breathed.

  “The details are a story for another time, but let’s just say we were both guests of people who regarded us in the same way. That we were something they could do whatever they wanted with no consequences.” Rei fought to keep her rage from her voice. “And I, like you, saw my chance to escape and took it.”

  “Captain.” Isam finally returned and Rei replaced the illusion. “Are you ready for me to examine you now?”

  “Go ahead.”

  He rolled over a cart and took some wires, attaching attached them over her heart and by her temples. While that ran, he took another scanning device and started to wave it along her body, taking notes as he went. Rei forced herself to look away but still winced when he took a sample of blood. This was quickly rushed over to another machine across the room. She rolled her eyes at Fiara as it was clear that he was going to take this opportunity to test everything he could. He returned and resumed his scan; on the third go through, she shot him an irritated look. He quickly withdrew to check on the blood sample.

  “Well, Captain,” he said, “all the scans back up what you’ve said so far. I can’t find anything that might suggest something will come up. That said, I insist that if you feel anything new or just off—”

  “I’ll come back to get it checked out.”

  “Good.” He gave a curt nod before unhooking her and dismissing himself.

  Rei hopped down from the table and landed in front of Fiara. She offered a reassuring smile before heading for the door.

  “Captain?” Fiara called. “I’m sorry.”

  Rei stopped and looked over her shoulder. “For what?”

  “For making you tell me that about yourself. But I’m curious—how’d you get over it?”

  Rei considered her reply. “Time. This ship. And deciding not to give them the satisfaction of ruining more of my life. Truth is, everyone deals with things in different ways. You’ll figure out yours in time.” Rei gave a half salute before she vanished through the door.

  ~*~

  Rei wandered the hallways, trying to resist the urge to summon everyone to her office and figure out what had happened. The boots in the infirmary had terrified her—just a thought and her Essence had acted without her consciously directing it to do so. It made no sense, she felt no different. It seemed to her she had simply taken a long nap. Rei skidded to a halt in the middle of a junction and considered her options: there were only a few places they would be on the ship, and she doubted they would be enjoying the Drunken Inventor yet. No, chances were they would have sought out a more private place to gather and digest what was going on.

  An engineer came out around the corner, laden with machine parts. Rei leapt toward him, thankful for the chance to avoid the ship-wide game of hide and seek she was certainly facing. “Have you seen Chia?”

  He jumped and about dropped everything. “Captain! Yeah, I did, not too long ago,” he recovered. “She was on Aede’s floor with her and the others.”

  “Thanks.” Rei took off down the corridor.

  “Captain, it’s good to see you about again!” he called after her.

  Rei gave a half-wave in acknowledgment as she rounded the corner. I wonder what the official story is about what happened to me. At the lift, she pushed the button and waited, tapping her foot. The closer she got to the others, the more the need for answers rose within her. A civilization’s knowledge of Essence and history—that’s all that was supposed to be contained within those gems and yet, something had gone into her, that much she was sure of.

  The lift doors opened and invited her to step inside. As she reached to press the controls for her desired floor the doors shut and the lift started moving of its own accord. She flung herself against the wall and debated getting off completely. Her hand reached for the emergency control, but she paused when she noticed the readout. The floor Aede’s work area was located on was selected, despite not receiving the input from her. Rei groaned and let her head fall back.

  First the boots and now this... What the hell is going on with me? She moved until she was next to the door, opposite the controls. She counted the seconds that remained until she could leave, all the while vowing to not take another lift until they figured out what was happening. Once the doors slid open, she flew into the hallway, casting a glare at it as she did so. The corridor was quiet, but she could hear agitated voices drift toward her. Her lips curved into a small smile despite her nerves. She followed the sound, coming to a stop in Aede’s doorway.

  “Unfortunately, we won’t know more until she wakes up,” Chia concluded.

  “Are you sure we can’t do more now,” Yeke said. “I hate waiting.”

  “Good,” Rei replied as she stepped just inside the room, “so do I.”

  Five heads whipped toward her and she couldn’t stop her smile from becoming a full-fledged grin. The gro
up was gathered around Aede’s man workbench. The gem sat in the center of space, circled by wires and computers.

  “When did you get up, Boss?” Foniac asked.

  Rei took a seat at the bench opposite the others. “So, what have you uncovered here?” she asked, ignoring Foniac’s question, though their sidelong glances told her the avoidance hadn’t gone unnoticed.

  “Not much. Yet,” Aede began. “Whatever this gem once contained, it’s gone now. These scans indicate that it’s just a normal diamond now.”

  “That part went according to plan at least.”

  “Then this is what the client was after,” Yeke concluded.

  Rei nodded. “Though nowhere in his instructions was anything about a light show.”

  “The images!” Chia’s ears twitched. “It was amazing! Pieces of history and discoveries... Even some battles.”

  “Chia,” Kuv’s calm voice interjected.

  “Sorry. Anyway, everything looked normal, but then you and the gem started to glow like nothing I’d ever seen before. The odd part is the images and everything else were unaffected.”

  “What happened next?” Rei asked.

  “When everything cleared, you were on the ground still glowing, and the safeguards were gone. Yeke and Aede arrived just as I reached you,” Chia said.

  “And we swooped in to transport you back up here,” Foniac added. “We’re still planetside until you give the okay.”

  “So we can’t get anything else from all of this?” Kuv asked gesturing to the gem in the center.

  Aede and Chia shook their heads. “Regrettably, no,” Aede answered.

  “We still have more to find, maybe they have answers,” Chia quickly added.

  “What if they all do this? I’m not sure I feel comfortable risking anyone’s health like that,” Foniac said.

  “For what it’s worth, I feel fine,” Rei broke in. “And the medics can confirm there were no ill effects.”

  “You could have gotten lucky,” Yeke said.