by Megg Jensen
"These people won't know anything about Rell," Torsten said to Denestra. "It's a waste of our time. Or did you come here to capture them so you can kill them, too?"
The tark halted in midair, turning to Torsten, its eyes yellow. "There are humans here? I thought they were gone. Gwendal said there were none left underground."
"Then why are we here, if not for the buried?" Malia asked. Torsten watched her shoulders tighten and her lips pinch. She was quickly losing patience.
"Buried? You call your own kind buried?" Denestra turned to Leila. "Isn't that what you said you do with your dead? Bury them? Are these people living undead?"
"No," Leila said, contempt lacing her words. "These are fools who live underground, worshipping gods that don't exist."
The tark laughed, its voice tinkling with malice. "The gods. The dragzhi. The Menelewen Dored, as your ancestors named them when they discovered our tablets."
"Excuse me?" Torsten asked. He looked at Leila, who glared at the tark. "What are you talking about?"
Leila spun to face him, angry. "It's talking about the Hamdal tablets, Tor. The tark wrote them. They planted them as a warning to anyone who might land on Phoenix.”
"Your species made the tablets?" Torsten asked. "Do you know where the tablets are?" He couldn't hold back his excitement. He'd wanted to view the tablets again, try to understand Rell's role as the Key. The tablets foretold her coming. He'd never believed in the gods, but the tark clearly knew more than they were willing to say.
"Yes. We have the tablets. They are with us, where they belong." The tark turned its back on Torsten, making its way toward the entrance to the church.
Torsten had to jog to keep up with it. "But we had the tablets locked away deep in the library’s vaults. How did you take them?"
The tark continued on its way, without answering.
"Tell me, please!" Torsten begged. He had an insatiable desire to have all the answers. Archer had taken him into the vaults to show him the Hamdal tablets, but after they had bypassed considerable security measures, they'd discovered the tablets were missing.
Denestra held up a hand, and the church doors swung open without a whisper. The last time Torsten passed through the doors, they had groaned with age. Yet another mystery. This tark was becoming more fascinating to him every second.
Without a backward glance, Torsten entered the dark church behind Denestra. "I'm telling you, none of the buried will know Rell's fate. They will be surprised to learn of her death, too."
The tark spun around. "You think you know everything, human boy. You do not. We are not here to see these so-called buried humans. I will speak with the fire dragzhi hidden underground. They will give me the answers I seek."
15
Rell awoke from a nightmare, her heart pounding, as klaxons blared in her ears. She sat up straight, sweat pouring down her face. The klaxons had stopped as quickly as they'd started.
"Maybe it was only part of my dream?" Rell asked herself as she glanced around her dimly-lit room. She wasn't comfortable enough yet to leave the lights off at night. The bathroom light provided just enough so she could see the outline of everything in the room, but not enough so that it kept her up. Though she had considered leaving all the lights on to ward off sleep.
Every time she lost consciousness, she dreamed about Torsten. About his body torn apart by an explosion as Phoenix was destroyed. Each time, her fingertips almost touched his. She could almost get close enough to transport him out of danger.
Almost.
But never quite enough.
A quiet knock interrupted her thoughts.
Rell pushed the button to open the door, her heart pounding again, but for a different reason.
The man in the library had said to meet him. He said Cordan would take her to him. She'd doubted his story. His demeanor had seemed off, as if he had had a break with reality. Occasionally that happened underground to the buried. Someone would lose touch with reality. Their eyes were wild, their thoughts paranoid. Rell never knew what became of them. Her mother once told her they were cared for, and she needed to know no more. She never asked again.
Cordan strode into her room, his head high, and a smile on his face. "I have come to escort you to Wade. Are you prepared? Do you need a moment to change?"
Rell looked down at her nightclothes. A soft top and fuzzy pants covered her body. "No, I'm fine in this." She slipped out of bed, settling her feet into a comfy pair of loafers. If anyone found her, she could claim she was sleepwalking.
And perhaps she was. It all seemed too strange to be real.
Rell followed Cordan out of her room and into the hall. Like her room, it was only lit with the dimmest of light. Admiral Lee had explained to her that they ran the ship on a twenty-four hour day to keep the human circadian rhythms running smoothly. They had observed something similar on Phoenix, where there was a twenty-seven-hour cycle. An extra hour of work and two extra hours of sleep.
She was already feeling the effects of a shorter day. Her body craved more rest. Or perhaps it was the stress of the situation. Either way, her muscles ached to the core, her head pounded at strange intervals, and she felt continuously exhausted.
Cordan kept quiet on the walk, and Rell followed suit. She wasn't sure what to say to him. A cyborg. Sort of human, but not. He seemed aware of himself, just like a human, but, still, he was different. Wade admitted he would program Cordan to take her to him. Did Cordan have a say in it, or was he being forced?
Rell hoped he had a choice. She wanted to consider him a friend. She had so few now. Just Joshua. Perhaps Dr. Anderson. Cordan made a nice companion, and Rell hoped he reciprocated the feelings. If he could even feel.
She padded along behind him at a comfortable pace as he took her through many turns. Rell tried at first to recall how many turns they made, but she gave up after a while. It would be too many to memorize, and the halls all looked the same. It was a wonder anyone knew their way through the ship.
"It's not much farther," Cordan said. "Do not be alarmed by the place we are about to enter. I assure you, it is safe."
Rell followed Cordan through a doorway into a completely different area. She'd seen a lot of tech since joining Torsten in the tower, but her jaw dropped at what was spread out before her. Thousands of clear pipes with brilliant blue, bubbling liquid crisscrossed a room so large Rell couldn't even see the opposite end. It might go on forever.
"What is this place?" Rell asked in awe.
"This is the life of the ship." Cordan stopped, waiting for Rell to stand next to him. "Do you see the sapphire liquid running through the pipes?"
Rell nodded.
"That is the energy source we use to power the ship. If anything were to happen to it, we would spiral out of control in space." Cordan pointed to a large tank, three times her size, filled with green goo. "That keeps the sapphire liquid from exploding. A coolant of a sort. Very clever scientists developed it back on Earth. Luckily for us it is self-renewing. We will never run out of it, and therefore, the ship will always be safe. Come now. I will take you to Wade."
Rell trailed Cordan around more tanks and pipes. "Am I safe?" She worried this would be a terrible place to die. It seemed so far away from the other people.
"From Wade?" Cordan's voice twinkled with mirth. "You are very safe with Wade."
"Did he program you to say that, or is that how you feel?" Rell asked as she ducked under a tube of blue liquid.
Cordan stopped and turned to face her. "Wade is a good man." He cocked his head to the side. "Though if you truly wonder if I can form an opinion, then nothing I say will be relevant. You will believe me, or you won't." Cordan's lips set in a grimace. Without another word, he turned and continued his trek through the vast room.
Rell followed. Her curiosity was too great to stop.
"Over here," Rell heard a voice call from behind another tank.
She could almost make out the form of a man behind it. The mysterious Wade. Rell hoped s
he was about to get answers, instead of more questions.
Cordan rounded the tank, Rell hot on his heels. In front of them stood the man she'd seen in the cafeteria and spoken to in the library. He was tall and lanky, around her mother’s age, with a crooked smile. He appeared to have dark hair, though she could only tell from the stubble on his shaved head and the faint hair showing at his wrists.
"Thank you for coming, Rell. I hoped you would, though I knew it was just as likely you'd tell Cordan to bugger off and ignore my invitation. I'm glad to see that you were willing to take a chance. I'm Wade." He offered a hand, his palm up.
Rell stared at it, unsure what he wanted.
Wade chuckled. "I'm sorry. You probably didn't shake hands on Phoenix, did you?" He reached out, gently taking her hand and resting their palms together. He wrapped his fingers around her hand, then pumped once. He released her hand, and she quickly tucked it behind her back.
It was strange, touching him. Something about him seemed... familiar.
"I won't take up too much of your time, Rell. I needed to speak to you away from the others. If anyone overheard what I'm about to tell you, I would be silenced before I had a chance to explain myself." Wade wrung his hands. "It will be hard to believe, but I need you to give me a chance. Please?"
"I don't know you," Rell said quietly. "I will listen to what you have to say, but I can't make any guarantees. Dr. Anderson said—”
Wade grimaced. "Don't listen to anything Dr. Anderson says. It's all lies." He took a deep breath, then continued. "Phoenix didn't explode. Your friends aren't dead. The people on this ship want something from you, and they think isolating you from the ones who love you will help them get it faster."
Rell bit the inside of her lip. It seemed someone always wanted something from her, and half the time she had no idea what it was. But if what he said was true... if Torsten was still alive and her planet still intact...
Her heart ached at the thought of seeing Torsten again. Of laughing with Rutger and exchanging glances with Malia as she rolled her eyes. It was those things she'd missed the most. The companionship. Knowing someone cared about her.
"I want to believe you." Wade was as much a stranger as anyone else on the ship. Why would she believe him above anyone else?
"I can see I need to prove myself to you. That's fine." Wade reached into his pocket.
Rell flinched, ready to duck behind a tank if Wade was planning on shooting her. She didn't want to go through that pain again.
Cordan rested a cool hand on Rell's shoulder. "You can trust Wade. He would never hurt you."
Wade pulled his hand out of his pocket and handed Rell a sheet of paper.
"Look at it," he said.
Rell unfolded the paper, her fingers trembling. What could be written on it that would convince her he was telling the truth?
She gasped as she stared at the drawing. "Who drew this?" Her lips trembled as tears threatened to spill from her eyes.
"I did," Wade said. "You know the person in that picture, don't you?"
Rell's hands shook as she stared at a detailed drawing of a young boy, one she recognized immediately. Torsten, as a child.
16
"How?" It was all Rell could say. The image was unmistakably Torsten as a young boy. The unruly hair. The lanky body. The half smile.
A smile spread over Wade's face. A half smile. Just like Torsten's.
Rell's hand flew to her mouth. "You can't be."
"I'm Torsten's father.”
Rell couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Torsten’s parents had supposedly been murdered, though Rell and Torsten had found Torsten’s mother alive. For a short time.
“I hear the two of you were close. He was onboard for a brief time, but I didn't know until after he'd left again." Wade's smile faded, and his eyes narrowed. "Someone could have told me, but no one did."
Rell debated whether or not to tell him she'd met his wife, Yasmin. The dragzhi that inhabited Torsten's mother was the same dragzhi that ended up inhabiting Rell. She'd seen the dragzhi leave Yasmin. She'd watched her collapse into the river on Phoenix and die.
Also, his daughter, Leila, had tried to kill Rell—twice.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Rell said, finally settling on the right response. After all, Phoenix was gone. He'd lost both of his children at once.
Wade grimaced. "That's why I wanted to talk to you. Phoenix wasn't attacked. It hasn't exploded. It's still out there."
Rell stepped backward into Cordan. She startled all over again. She'd forgotten he was with them.
"It is true, Rell." Cordan rested his hands on her shoulders. "Phoenix was not recently attacked. This EU ship scattered the dragzhi."
"I don't know what to believe," Rell said. "The admiral and the doctor explained it all to me. Why would they lie?"
"Why would we lie?" Wade asked. "Why would I pretend my children are alive if they aren't?"
Rell's jaw tightened. "Maybe because you met the same fate as your wife. Maybe you aren't who you seem."
"What do you mean?" Wade frowned.
"Your wife was taken over by a dragzhi. She spent the last six years serving them. She left Torsten and me to die on a dragzhi ship. Then the same dragzhi that inhabited her took me over. How do I know you're not one of them, too?" Rell's heart raced. Her mouth felt dry. Not again. She wouldn't play unwilling host to another liquid dragzhi. She'd kill herself first.
Wade held his arms up in the air. "How can I prove myself to you?"
Rell thought carefully. The dragzhi were smart. When she'd first been in communion with her fire dragzhi father, she learned about the dragzhi and how they operate. Most of it was a jumble in her head, making little sense once she paused to think about it. However, one tidbit stood out.
She'd seen a vision in his mind of the dragzhi joining. While she hadn't seen the end product, the huge scaly and taloned beast she'd met on the dragzhi research ship, she realized the dragzhi could feel each other’s presence with a sense humans didn’t possess. Perhaps it was something she could do, too, since she was part dragzhi.
Rell took one of Wade's hands in hers, clasping tightly. He held steady without even the smallest flinch. So far, so good. She remembered the dragzhi inside her had fought against any physical contact.
Closing her eyes, Rell attempted to empty her mind of all human feelings. She reached out toward Wade with the fire buried deep within her chest. Her breath came in rapid bursts as she concentrated.
Wade held her hand as tightly as she gripped him. She began to sense a dragzhi presence, but it felt far away. Too far to be right next to her, surely. Too far to worry about now. Rell's eyes snapped open. "You're clean. I think."
Wade patted her hand with his free hand, then let go. "Perhaps we should attempt to trust each other. If you say my wife was held captive by a dragzhi for many years, I will believe you though it breaks my heart to hear it. In the same vein, I hope you will believe what I've told you. Phoenix still stands. My children are likely still alive. The people on this ship are using you, Rell. They want something, and together we can find out what it is."
"I want to believe you." If Torsten was still alive, then there was a chance Rell would be reunited with her friends, and the nightmare would end. She could go home.
"Wade is honest and true." Cordan stepped closer to them again. His eyes shone in the light bouncing off the vats of liquid.
"Now that I have this knowledge, what can I do with it?" Rell asked Wade and Cordan. "The two of you have been on this ship for how long?"
"Six years," Wade said. "They saved me from the dragzhi, too, just as they did you. I was content here, thinking my wife dead. My children likely believed we were both dead due to the way we staged our disappearance. I felt I could learn more up here from EU technology than I could on Phoenix. It was selfish of me. I know that now. I spent my time learning as much about engineering as I could." Wade patted Cordan on the shoulder. "The two of us matured together."
<
br /> Rell's eyes were wide as she looked at the two of them. "You created Cordan?"
"I was here before Wade was," Cordan said. "But you could say Wade became my adoptive father. He helped me evolve and become what I am today. Not all cyborgs are fortunate enough to have a teacher like Wade." Cordan's eyes narrowed. "However, not long ago, all of that changed. The admiral felt Wade had too much influence over me. She ordered us to stay apart. She claimed it was so I could think on my own. We both know she fears our partnership. Especially now that you are here."
"Me?" Rell asked. "What do I have to do with anything? Until now, I thought Cordan was a guide and Wade was a slightly crazy shipmate. Sorry, Wade."
Wade laughed. "It's okay. I act like that to keep them off my back. Most people think I lost it when Cordan and I were split up. If they don't suspect me, then they leave me alone. I have thoroughly convinced them I'm not a threat."
"So when you said you would program Cordan to bring me to you, you didn't actually mean it?" Rell asked.
"He asked me," Cordan said, "and I complied because I trust Wade. I have evolved beyond basic programming. Others need not know that."
"You spend your days doing as you're told, though you are capable of making your own decisions?" Rell asked, feeling sorry for Cordan. Cordan nodded. "You must feel like a slave."
"The humans believe themselves to be my masters, but with a friend like Wade, and hopefully you, I can break free from their control." Cordan stood straight and proud.
If Rell had been an affectionate person, she might have hugged the tall cyborg. Instead, she offered him a smile. Maybe one day she would be that woman, unafraid to show her feelings to other so easily, but until then small gestures would have to do.
"I'm willing to work with the two of you. What’s your plan? Are we stealing a shuttle and escaping to Phoenix in the middle of the night?" Rell was eager to leave as soon as possible.
