Epic of Aravinda 1: The Truth Beyond the Sky (8 page)

CHAPTER
12

WELCOME TO NOWHERE

Once again, Navika and everyone within hurtled through a corridor of pure light. Zahn tried to make out more details of the thread-like strands of light in the distance. Yet time itself seemed to flow differently in the corridor, and they were back in the darkness of space before he could even begin to count them.

At first, they only saw darkness. After a few seconds, their eyes adjusted, and the darkness gradually revealed itself to be a field of stars around them once again.

Zahn looked around. The constellations around him were breathtaking, but they were also completely foreign to him.

“According to my star maps, we are now over 2,000 light-years from Avani,” Navika said.

“Are there any planets nearby?”

“None detected, and all of the nearest stars are well over ten light-years distant.”

“Indeed, we are deep within the Ocean of Space now, Zahn,” Oonak said. “It appears we are in an area between star clusters.”

Zahn looked above him and noticed that they were drifting from the center of a ring-shaped gate just as they had with the first gate, now over 2,000 light-years away. Had they really travelled that far? Zahn tried to digest this fact, but had trouble wrapping his mind around it, even though he had experienced it for himself.

“Oon, how is it possible we’ve gone so far so quickly? This violates all established rules of physics.”

“There is much your world has to learn, Zahn. These gates seem to work by tearing a hole into spacetime and allowing us to slip, if only temporarily, into timespace.”

“Timespace. Is that where those corridors of light are? The ones that we saw,” Zahn said.

“Yes. You can think of timespace as a realm parallel to spacetime, an inversion. Here in spacetime, we have three dimensions of space and one of time, correct?”

“Yes…”

“In timespace, the reverse is true, and the rules of physics that affect us here in spacetime do not apply. Different rules apply, though an explanation of those is beyond your understanding. Beyond the understanding of many.” For a moment Oonak seemed lost in thought.

After a few seconds, Navika broke the silence.

“What address would you like to broadcast next, Oonak?”

“First of all, please orient us about one klick in front of the gate as you did last time. From what we have seen, I’m nearly certain that these gates are arranged in a hierarchy, and I suspect a higher-level node serves this node. I suggest we request node 3.3.0. What do you think, Zahn?”

“I think that’s a good idea. Let’s do it.”

“Transmitting…” Navika said. “Interesting. It’s sending back a positive signal even though I didn’t transmit any genetic code.”

“Why would it need my DNA now? We’re so far from my world, I wouldn’t be surprised if this gate worked for anyone who knew how to use it.”

“Or anything,” Oonak added, and he winked at Zahn.

As before, they waited until the vortex stabilized, flew into the swirling mass, and were amazed at the shimmering corridors beyond. Yet soon after, Zahn questioned their choice when, upon reentering space, they flew right into a literal swarm of trouble.

CHAPTER
13

INTO THE FIRE

When they emerged from the vortex, Oonak had scarcely any time at all to react to the shots that were fired at them from above. In a flash, Oonak spun the ship around just a few fractions of a second after they had emerged from the gate and somehow managed to evade their fire. For a moment, Zahn thought he saw giant insects perched on the edges of the gate’s ring. As they jumped off and headed toward them, he saw their narrow, menacing shapes. They seemed more biological than metal.

“Zahn, hold tight! Marauders!”

An instant later, the entire cabin around them became covered in the red grid Zahn had seen back on the South Pole as Navika enabled the cloak and Oonak returned fire. Huge bolts of purple light hit a few of the ships, but it wasn’t enough. Whenever Oonak fired, the cloak faltered for a fraction of a second, giving away their position.

Zahn found it strange that he couldn’t hear their weapons impact onto the marauder ships, but he reminded himself that this was impossible since there was no medium in which sound could travel through between them and their attackers.

Another wave of fire.

Oonak looked worried now. They were clearly outnumbered.

“Oon, can we go faster? They’re gaining on us!”

Navika spoke for him, so he could remain focused.

“Oonak is pushing my systems as far as they will go, Zahn. With my timespace drive offline, this is my maximum velocity,” Navika said.

Zahn had to admit to himself that, without any point of reference, he had absolutely no idea how fast they were going. After all, he could only see the ships and the stars.

“Do not worry, Zahn,” Oonak said. “We will find a way to survive this. I’m sending out a distress call, and I have detected an asteroid field nearby. It is possible, however unlikely, that someone is living within it.”

Even as Navika sped away from the gate, more and more of the small, insect-like ships surrounded them in a frenzied swarm. Each of them had what looked like tiny metal heads and arms, and Zahn wondered if they captured ships or consumed them piece by piece.

As Oonak skillfully evaded most of their fire, Zahn felt horrible that there was no way to help him. He could only look on, impressed at how Oonak avoided firing unnecessary shots so he wouldn’t give their position away more than necessary.

Above them, below them, and to all sides, dozens of ships fired in wide spreads. Oonak continued to evade most of the fire, but the ships formed a sphere around them that slowly got smaller and smaller as it followed them.

There was no way out.

As the sphere got smaller, the ships made more direct hits, and it became harder for Oonak to evade their fire. Each time one of their plasma bolts hit the ship, Zahn winced, as though Navika’s ivory skin were his own.

An alarm sounded throughout the ship, and Navika announced that his cloaking field had failed completely. They could now see the ship. Oonak focused all of his effort on taking out the ships one by one, yet there were simply too many of them firing at once. More must have arrived because Zahn could even see two new plasma beams in their midst.

Except that these crimson beams of light sliced a marauder ship to pieces. And another. And another. Oonak and Zahn were stunned, but they couldn’t see any obvious source to the beams.

“Zahn, we are receiving an inbound transmission,” Oonak said. “I’m putting it on surround so you can hear it, as well.”

At first they heard only static, and then the static resolved itself into a woman’s voice. The voice sounded feminine, yet Zahn couldn’t understand any of it. The words sounded more alien than any language he had ever heard before, including Jangalan which was infamous on Avani for being almost impossible for foreigners to correctly pronounce.

“Oonak, what is she saying? Is there something wrong with the transmission?”

“The transmission strength is excellent, I assure you,” Navika said. “Perhaps you do not know her language. However—”

“Intriguing,” Oonak interrupted. “It seems someone out there would rather have us stay alive. We have just received a waypoint that lies deep within the asteroid field.”

“Okay, but how are we going to get over there without being blasted into the next galaxy?” Zahn said.

Just as he finished saying this, two crimson beams sliced three more ships into pieces, creating a small gap in the sphere.

“By following the path,” Oonak said.

With shots blazing, Navika charged forward and fearlessly plunged through the small gap. Some of the marauders followed them into the asteroid field, but the combination of Navika’s weapons and the crimson beams picked off the closest ones.

In the distance, Zahn could now faintly see a grey, circular object. Above it was the familiar red symbol that Navika used to mark waypoints, and after a few seconds Zahn saw that it was a moon. The closer they got, the fewer marauders remained, and the more lifeless the surface of the grey moon looked.

“That’s it?”

Zahn was unimpressed. Everything on the surface was graphite. There were some craters and a few rolling hills, but not much else.

“Look at where the waypoint is. There is a circular platform. Clearly unnatural,” Oonak said.

Zahn looked down to the spot. The circular platform was the same color as the rock, and they were nearly above it now.

“Navika’s scans indicate there is a hollow space beneath the platform, and these circumstances suggest that it is most likely not a trap. In either case, our options are limited.”

Navika approached the surface, and the moment they touched the platform, it descended into the depths of the moon.

CHAPTER
14

A SHADOW IN A DARK HALL

The sheer immensity of the hollow space left Zahn speechless at first. Stretching off in front of them was a wide hall that faded into darkness with the distance. When the descending platform finally touched the floor, a deep sound reverberated down the massive hall, and in the distance, Zahn thought he heard other sounds, as well.

Oonak stood up.

“Are you okay, Zahn?”

“I’m excited. How are you?”

“I am well, but I advise caution. We have no idea who rescued us or what their intentions are, so I want you to take this.”

Zahn looked down at the object Oonak was holding. It was a curious piece of shimmering metal formed into a loop.

“It is a mental amplifier and interpreter. It will aid you if trouble should befall us. Perhaps even more useful in your case, it will allow you to understand any languages which the Confederation has encountered.”

“But it looks so simple.”

“Put it around your wrist. If we become separated and you need help, you can contact me by picturing my face, and then mentally sending me a message. Keep in mind though, its range does not extend beyond this planetary system.”

Zahn put it on his left wrist, and when he did, it shrunk a bit to fit his wrist better.

“Do you have any questions?” Oonak said.

“About a million. This wristband can do all of that? How soon will you receive a message if I send you one? And how does it interpret alien languages? Let me guess, Spacefarer code—”

Oonak interrupted him.

“—only allows me to share information that you may need to know for the purposes of our mission. What I can tell you is that it works on a simple principle of thought-form resonance. Consider it as a bridge between two minds; as long as I’m in range I will receive a message instantly.”

“Incredible.”

Their conversation was interrupted by a low pulsing sound ahead of them. When they looked up, they saw a floating sphere hanging in the air above the ship. It was dark blue, metallic, and tiny points of light were evenly spaced around its surface. From one point of light, a beam shot out of the sphere and moved up and down, soon touching every surface of Navika.

“Whatever that object is, it is scanning us. No doubt they have discovered Navika was heavily damaged in the ambush. Keep in mind Zahn, even though we were saved, that does not mean their intentions are pure. Come. Let us find out who we are dealing with.”

“Or
what
we’re dealing with,” Zahn added.

“Precisely.”

As they exited Navika, Zahn put the silvery jacket back on and grabbed his backpack. He had a feeling he would need it.

Once they were outside, they had a chance to examine the room in greater detail. Foremost, the room was dark. It was more like a cave than a room, and there was only a dim light high above. From what Zahn could see, the room was circular and appeared to have been carved out of the moon rock itself. The floor was made up of a matrix of stones in varying shades of grey that fit together immaculately, and the stone pattern continued down the hall, fading into the darkness.

When Zahn finally pulled his eyes away from the room they were in, he was struck by how Navika looked. Since the cloaking field had been activated until it was damaged in the battle, this was the first time he actually got to see the ship from the outside, and the damage from the ambush was glaringly obvious.

Black marks were spattered onto all of its surfaces, but he could still see that the ship was made of a shimmering white material. When he examined the ship up close, he almost thought he could see little flecks of the rainbow buried within the ivory crystal, but the black marks covering most of the ship made it difficult for him to be sure.

Oonak walked up behind him.

“It is truly a shame that such a magnificent vessel has been marred by such a swarm.”

“Well, at least we survived,” Zahn said. “I can even see parts of the ivory crystal between the burn marks. What is this ship made out of anyway?”

“It wasn’t made. It was grown.”

“You mean it was a crystal that grew?”

“Yes, in a vast harvesting field. But let’s focus on the present. It appears our little friend has moved.”

He’d almost forgotten about the strange sphere that had been scanning them. It was about two meters above them, scanning their ship from another angle now. Oonak looked up and called out to it.

“I am Oonak of the Confederation of Unity, and this is Zahn. Please identify yourself.”

The sphere made a low, gravelly tone which gave Zahn the distinct impression that it was surprised or annoyed, yet it continued scanning.

Oonak turned to Zahn. “It may not be intelligent enough to respond to our queries. I shall try again.”

“My name is Oonak. If you cannot state your intentions, please summon your superior.”

This time, all the points of light on its surface turned magenta, and it zipped away with a low hum, disappearing down the dark hall.

“Hmm,” Zahn said. “Do you think we made it angry?”

Oonak looked at Zahn with the slightest smile on his face, raised an eyebrow, and entered the dark hall.

Zahn followed him. The darkness overtook them quicker than they anticipated, and to his surprise Oonak’s uniform glowed, sending out beams of light ahead of them. At seeing this, Zahn remembered the small flashlight in his backpack and shined it onto the immaculately carved walls around them.

And then, he saw it. On the far end of the great hall, they could just make out the shadow of a figure walking toward them. As it grew closer, fear seized Zahn, and his thoughts raced.

What if it’s going to torture us? What if this was all some kind of trap? What if it traps us here for a thousand years? What if it’s going to cook us, or worse, feed us to something while we’re still alive?

Oonak stopped walking and raised his index finger.

“Redirect your thoughts,” he said. “There is far more to this than appearances.”

They both stood there, almost motionless, as the shadowy shape approached them. When the shadow finally stepped into Oonak’s light, it revealed itself to be a slim figure wearing a dark maroon spacesuit. The helmet even matched the suit, but its visor was so dark that they couldn’t discern any facial features.

Still, it approached.

When the figure was just a few meters away, it stopped walking, looked them up and down, and made a sound of quiet contemplation. Oonak was just about to introduce himself when the figure spoke. Its voice sounded completely artificial, completely emotionless.

“State your identities and intentions. Why have you come here?” The figure spoke in cold, measured sentences.

“I am Oonak of the Confederation of Unity; this is Zahn from Avani. We are on an urgent mission to deliver a message to the Confederation. When we reached this system, we were ambushed by marauders. Someone saved us and directed us to land here.”

“We are well aware of the marauders. What is your message?”

“Under Confederation code, I am not permitted to say. However, I can say that it is not related to events taking place within your world,” Oonak said.

“Does your message pertain to the gate network you used to arrive here? The gates are ancient, and their creators have been missing for aeons. Few are left that dare use them. Why have you taken this risk?”

“We have been forced to use the gates to deliver this message because of the damage to my ship. Without the gates, we would have been delayed indefinitely.” Oonak paused for a moment. “May I ask who you are? Where we are from, it is customary for introductions to be mutual. May we see you? Face to face.”

The figure walked up to them. Although Zahn couldn’t see beyond the visor at all, it seemed to be looking at them directly in the eyes. Zahn also noticed that the figure was feeling for an object in one of its pockets.

“I see no lies in your eyes.” The figure removed its hand from its pocket, pulling nothing out. Instead, it planted its hands on its hips. “I apologize if I seemed cold. We have many visitors, not all of whom have noble intentions for being here. However, my intuition tells me your story is true.”

Slowly, the figure removed its helmet to reveal the face of a truly striking woman. Her olive skin complemented her dark brown hair which was arranged up into a bun, and her eyes were a warm brown. Zahn could even see flecks of green in them, but what caught him off guard was her face itself. It was the most perfect face he had ever seen. In short, she was stunning.

“My name is Ashakirta.” Her true voice revealed itself to be warm and sweet to their ears. “But if that’s difficult to remember, you can call me Asha.”

She first offered her hand to Oonak who shook it warmly, and then to Zahn who was still somewhat in awe of her presence, though he tried not to show it.

“Pleased to meet you,” Zahn managed to say.

Asha nodded her head slightly and replied, “And you, as well. Now, who is the pilot of the damaged starship?”

“I am,” Oonak said.

“Very well. Your ship has already been scanned, and we have confirmed its origin. However, it will take some time to fully assess the damages. In the meantime, I will lead you to my father. By the way, are either of you hungry?”

In the excitement of all that had happened, Zahn had somehow completely forgotten about his stomach, but now that it was being included in the conversation, he realized he was quite hungry indeed.

“Yes! Food would be fantastic,” Zahn said.

“Then follow me.”

And Asha led them down the dark hall.