A Voyage of Founders

by Bella Forrest

  Rose nodded, then handed over the metallic ball. I swiped my fingers over the black screen, which lit up in reaction to my touch. I pulled up the video from the cave and watched it again, from beginning to end, then went back to the moment when Claudia accidentally tugged the cable.

  I raised the volume, prompting everyone to go still and look at me, as they all heard the on-camera hiss. Ben raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, we heard that, too,” he said. “Right after Claudia pulled the cable, right?”

  Elonora moved closer on the sofa, so she could get a better look. I angled Bowie so she could see the screen as well, then replayed the hissing scene.

  “The sound came from either the pod or the cable,” Elonora observed. “When Grandma Claudia pulled it out, it must’ve stopped the flow of air or something into the pod. If those are bio-stasis pods like we assumed, and they’re tied to that computer thing on the wall, wouldn’t it be reasonable to conclude that pulling a cable out like that might’ve triggered some preservation protocol, or something?”

  “You mean, like waking everybody up and opening all the pods, if one of them is compromised?” I replied, following her reasoning.

  “Yes. What if Grandma pulling the plug on one of those things woke everybody up, just not right there, on the spot?” Elonora suggested.

  Ben and Rose looked at each other for a moment, then back at us.

  “That might be exactly what happened,” Ben mused. “Each pod might have its own solar battery, I’m thinking. Once it’s depleted and the cable is out, some security protocol automatically kicks in and wakes everybody up to alert them that the system’s been compromised.”

  “Sounds reasonable. I mean, that’s how I’d design a stasis chamber, anyway,” Rose added. “In order to preserve a lifeform inside it, one needs to have contingency plans and procedures for whatever possible scenario.”

  “And my dear grandmother must’ve been one of those scenarios.” Elonora sighed.

  I could hear the tremor in her voice. We were all probably thinking the same thing—that something must’ve happened to them, but none of us had the courage to say it out loud. I gently squeezed her shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile.

  “Lenny, we’ll find them,” I said, my voice low. “You’ve got two of The Shade’s top sniffers on your team. It’ll be okay.”

  She gave me a weak smirk in return.

  Nevis shot to his feet and headed for the patio.

  “I’m getting bored here. Nothing left for me to see. I’d rather go outside and check the surroundings,” the Dhaxanian prince said, then narrowed his eyes at Elonora, who suddenly stiffened next to me. “You should really tell him how you feel. Bottling up your emotions is unhealthy. Downright toxic.”

  Elonora scoffed. “Just go outside, get some fresh air, mind your own beeswax.”

  As soon as Nevis was out, we all stared at her, genuinely befuddled. She shook her head.

  “There’s nothing for me to tell you. It’s just a misunderstanding,” she said, then focused on the video footage on Bowie, brushing that entire moment away with the wave of her hand. “So, assuming Grandma Claudia’s blunder caused the pods to open and wake whatever creatures were in there—and if our wolves here are smelling the same lemony trace you caught in the cave,” she added, looking at Ben and Rose, “wouldn’t it be fair to assume that those pod creatures came here?”

  Silence fell over the lounge area, as a possible and troubling truth settled. Ben rubbed his face with his hands, while Rose leaned back into the sofa, staring at the screen.

  “I was hoping that wasn’t the case,” Rose muttered.

  “I’m sorry, but it’s possible,” I replied. “If this is the same scent, of course. I’ll need to see the cave for that.”

  There wasn’t much left for us to look at inside the resort. Hunter, Nevis, and Kailani were already checking the surroundings. It was only a matter of time before we all joined them. The phones and cameras weren’t offering any viable leads, either, and I had very little faith that we would find something of use in them.

  From what I could tell, things had suddenly gone wrong in the resort.

  Up until Derek and the group found the cave, everything seemed fine and oozed of tropical vacation spirit. There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. Then, as soon as they all set foot in that cave, and Claudia accidentally unplugged one of the pods, something must’ve happened.

  The last footage we had of the group was right after they came back to the resort, after exploring the cave. After that, nothing. Looking around, I was positive that there wasn’t a struggle, and that not a single drop of blood had been spilled. So, whatever was going on here, it definitely had something to do with those damn pods.

  Elonora

  (Daughter of Ash and Ruby)

  My cheeks were burning. I had a feeling that lava was bursting through my veins at that point, and it took a mountain of patience not to go out and hurl something blunt and heavy at Nevis’s head. Then again, I shouldn’t have brought Dmitri into my little white lie to begin with. That would’ve prevented two of the most embarrassing minutes in my life from ever happening.

  Also, what was Nevis’s deal with my love life? Seriously!

  Ridan grumbled as he scoured the photos and videos on Cameron’s phone. “I think I might have something here,” he said.

  That was enough to break me from my mute moment of rage. I moved over to the other side of the lounge area, where he was seated, so I could get a better look. Ridan was the only one still looking at camera or phone contents. The rest of us had given up because there was nothing related to the cave or my grandparents’ disappearance. Just vacation pictures. Beaches, the jungle, weird but cute animals, and plenty of the ocean at night.

  But Ridan zoomed in on one of the evening photos—close enough to make me want to smack myself for not having checked the images on the other phones more carefully. There was a photo of Cameron and Liana at dusk, shortly after the sun came down, and the sky was still blazing orange and red. They’d taken the selfie on a beach somewhere, but it wasn’t on Noagh.

  “Is… Is that a pier?” I asked, my voice barely audible.

  He nodded, then enlarged the image with his fingers to zoom even closer. It was a pier, indeed. It wasn’t massive, though. At first glance, it was about fifty yards in length, extending out into the ocean. There was a small lighthouse by the shore, while the wooden platform went out over the water for a significant distance. To my surprise, there was also a ship anchored to it, at the very end.

  It was half sunken, from what I could tell.

  “It’s abandoned,” Ridan confirmed. “But it’s a pier somewhere nearby.”

  “Not on this island,” Rose cut in, as Ridan handed her the phone so she and Ben could look, too. “It must be on one of the neighboring patches of land. Or a neighboring atoll, maybe.”

  I nodded. “We scanned the area, and there wasn’t anything,” I said, then pulled up a printed map on my tablet. I’d packed hard copies in my bag, just in case. I zoomed in and used a marker tool to flag the area we’d scanned around Noagh, then showed it to Ben and Rose. “We covered what’s in yellow. The pier is somewhere outside that radius, for sure.”

  “Look at the sky,” Ben said. “It’s brighter toward the left edge of the photo.”

  Rose gasped, her eyes widening as she realized what he was trying to say. “You’re right. That’s where the sun had just set,” she murmured. “And judging by the pier’s position in the photo, it’s somewhere to the northwest, isn’t it?”

  I got up and went outside. The others followed, as I motioned for them to join me.

  “I can use my True Sight to have a look,” I said. “I’ve got a three-to-four-mile radius. It might not be in it, but I could still catch a glimpse of it if I focus on the northwestern quadrant.”

  The ocean breeze brushed against me, both warm and cool, like the perfect midsummer night’s dream. The not-so-salty air filled my nostrils
as I took deep breaths and welcomed the natural splendor of Strava into my very being. Then, after my five seconds of personal enjoyment passed, I focused my True Sight on the northwestern part of the horizon.

  “Ugh, nothing.” My fists clenched. “I can’t see it anywhere.”

  “It must be farther,” Ben replied. “It’s okay, Lenny. At least we know it’s to the northwest, so we don’t have to fan out and scatter like crazy.”

  “It’ll probably be in the next atoll,” I said. “It’s closer to a clear swath of ocean waters, perfect for navigating, come to think about it.”

  Just then, a light flashed across the night sky, somewhere to our left.

  “Whoa… What was that?” Kailani asked, as she and Hunter came around.

  They’d all seen it.

  A second flash followed, then a third. Soon afterward, we lost track. There were dozens of them, like comets obliterated by Strava’s atmosphere—or so it seemed. Long streaks of light continued to appear and disappear at five-second intervals.

  Seconds later, we heard bangs echoing in the distance, like thunderclaps.

  “Whatever those things are, they’re fast.” Dmitri stared at the sky. “Those are sonic booms. They’re breaking the sound barrier.”

  “What do you think? Comets? Meteor shower?” Ben asked.

  It was too far for me to see with my True Sight, so I had no response to give in return.

  “Could be,” I said, then shrugged. “But they’re going in very different directions. Look at that!”

  I pointed at one flash, which shot from right to left, then vanished with a sonic boom. Another followed, this time headed upward across the sky. The third cut down through the middle. And on and on they went for about five minutes—chaotic flashes of light that left thunder behind.

  “This is fifty kinds of weird,” Dmitri muttered. “Natural phenomena?”

  “Maybe?” I replied, equally baffled. “We haven’t experienced all the seasons here, if you think about it.”

  “There are only two seasons,” Kailani reminded us.

  “Well, yeah, but we’ve only been coming here for what, six months?” I said. “We’ve only got six months of data, and that includes climate and atmosphere. Maybe it’s an electrical storm.”

  Kailani’s expression led me to believe that she didn’t agree. However, she chose to stay silent on the matter. Knowing her, it was most likely because she had no viable alternative scenario to offer.

  “I could fly out and have a closer look,” Ridan offered, his fingers already working the zipper on his slim, fabric combat suit. We’d opted for lighter materials in this expedition, given the regular Stravian temperatures. None of us had been aching to bake inside leather suits. The new line that Arwen and Corrine had made for us was fantastic—light and airy, it felt like a second skin.

  The flashes stopped. Once more, silence fell over that little slice of Strava.

  “Too late,” I muttered. “Stand by for the next round, I guess?”

  Ridan gave me a friendly wink and pulled his zipper back up. He frowned, looking up at the sky once more. “Did anyone notice how some of those flashes changed their trajectory?”

  “From what I could tell, they were all either straight-shooters or arched,” Ben replied.

  Ridan shook his head slowly. “Most of them, yes. But there were a couple, maybe five, that broke from a straight line and arched to the left or right, then vanished.”

  “So, what, not a natural phenomenon?” I asked, somewhat confused.

  His shrug didn’t clarify anything, either.

  “All right, everybody, get ready,” Rose announced, checking her wrist watch. “We’ve got nine hours of nighttime here. Let’s make the most of it and check out the cave.”

  Chills tumbled down my spine—partially because of the pod footage I’d seen, but also because of the way Nevis was looking at me. It wasn’t a scowl, per se, but something was definitely bothering him where I was concerned, and I couldn’t, for the life of me, understand what I’d done to irk him. I deliberately ignored him, though, and shifted my focus onto the mission at hand.

  We had a two-mile trek through the jungle ahead of us, followed by the weirdest and creepiest cave I’d ever heard of. Because, let’s face it, if there are stasis pods that were opened overnight involved, it’s weird and sets the stage for a sci-fi horror flick.

  Whatever came next, though, I was more than ready to handle. After all, my grandparents and our closest family friends were out there. We looked after our own. We never left anyone behind. We went to great lengths to protect our people. And this was no exception.

  All I had to give me comfort was the thought that our elders were well-versed in combat, with decades of experience, during which they’d survived some truly life-changing events. Strava certainly wasn’t going to be the end of them. We were going to make sure of that, too.

  Rose

  We led our search team through the jungle and to the cave. We showed them the “monkey” nests on top, along with the black glass screens. Dmitri, who was most familiar with the technology, confirmed that they were, indeed, solar panels.

  He used a metallic tool from his backpack to pry one out and inspect it.

  “Yup, you were right,” he said. “It’s a similar circuitry to the panels they use back on Earth. I mean, it’s the same concept, anyway. It functions on the same basic principle. Sunlight goes in, it gets processed through the glass cells, and then it gets transferred through these wires.”

  There were hundreds of slim metal wires connected to the back of the glass plate. They led somewhere inside the cave, most likely through the glowing blue cables.

  “I’ll pop one of the glowing ones open in a bit,” Dmitri added.

  He climbed off the top of the cave’s stony mound and joined us inside. As soon as the glowing blue cables came out of the black stone wall, Dmitri got down on his knees and put on a pair of rubber gloves, giving me a childish smirk.

  “I’ve gotten myself zapped one too many times before.” He chuckled. “Live circuits and all that.”

  “Oh, well, that explains a lot,” Kailani shot back with a grin.

  Dmitri chose to ignore her, but let a low growl out, enough to let her know that he’d definitely heard her. I stifled a chuckle and quietly watched as he cut through a cable section. Sparks flew, but once the live connection was severed, they were gone. He brought the metal tool up and touched the open end of the cable. The current zapped through, releasing another round of sparks.

  “Yup, definitely a live circuit here!” Dmitri said, slightly amused. “But there’s more to it,” he added. “The glow isn’t electric. It only covers the membrane, the cable coating. Which isn’t metallic. It’s…” He sniffed it, wrinkling his nose. “Dude… It’s organic! I don’t know what, exactly, but it’s not electric, see?”

  He showed us the cable section. The interior was made up of three one-inch-thick metallic cables, neatly wrapped inside the glowing membrane. Each cable had a slightly different color, too, in three shades of green.

  “Why don’t you cut off a section and take it back to the resort, after we’re done here?” Ben asked. “You could do an in-depth survey there.”

  Dmitri nodded. “It’s not like they need it anymore, right?” he replied, shrugging. “I mean, the pods are empty, so I’m not compromising anybody’s life.”

  “At this point, we don’t even know what type of creatures were in there, so…” Kailani crossed her arms. “It doesn’t really matter.”

  “If the circumstances were different, I’d probably advise more caution,” Ben said. “But since this might be connected to our people’s disappearance, consideration for a bunch of cables is really not high up on my priority list.”

  I agreed. Mom and Dad and their group were our priority. Dmitri grinned, then sliced a foot-long section of glowing cable. Unsurprisingly, the piece he removed lost its shine almost instantly.

  “Hah,” Dmitri muttered. “So,
it’s not electric in nature, but still connected to the whole circuit,” he concluded. “Okay…”

  “Does it tell you anything about the stasis system?” I asked.

  “Absolutely nothing. I just wanted to sound really smart by saying it out loud,” Dmitri replied. “I think Corrine would be more capable of telling us what all this does. Or,” he added, giving Kailani a sideways glance, “Kale here might want to help me study this thing once we’re back at the resort.”

  Kailani bent down to have a look at the piece of cable, then nodded as she straightened her back. “I could definitely poke and prod at it with everything in my arsenal until we figure out what the membrane does. It’s definitely not for décor.”

  I took a deep breath, once again catching that whiff of the lemon and ammonia I’d smelled during my first visit.

  “Hunter, Dmitri, I’m guessing you can both smell it?” I asked, looking at them both.

  They nodded, as did the rest of the group.

  “We can all smell it,” Elonora replied. “This has to be ground zero.”

  “It’s the same as what we identified at the resort,” Hunter said, his brows pulled into a dark frown. “Whatever came out of here was definitely at the beach.”

  My stomach churned. I’d been floating that suspicion around in my head and desperately avoiding it at the same time, understanding its implications. The creatures that had come out of the pods had definitely been at the resort. In larger numbers and in an enclosed space, like the cave, their scent was stronger. But scattered and miles away from here, their trail wasn’t as easy to catch. That told me something about what kind of creatures they could be—specifically, the kind that had been naturally designed to leave as little trace as possible.

  But the next question popping into my head was whether they were peaceful experts at concealing their tracks, or predatorial experts at keeping themselves hidden from their prey. The latter idea burned holes in my chest.