Ice Phoenix (42 page)

"You
're focusing too hard. Relax your mind or you'll end up breaking another glass."

Too late.
Master Drummik watched as the glass exploded on the table, and Terrana stomped around in frustration after witnessing her latest attempt at telekinesis fail miserably. Her eyes felt like two burning coals in her face, her brain felt like mush, and she was exhausted. They were four days into their voyage, and she felt as though she had been trapped on the ship forever.

An energy bar was thrust into her face and she looked up.

"Here, eat. We'll stop here for today."

Terrana scowled
, but did not refuse the bar. Instead, she tore it up hungrily and swallowed it in three bites. A drink was also put her way and she gulped it down. Slowly, she began to feel her body return to normal; her eyes cooled down and the throbbing in her head waned.

Telekinesis sucked, or more accurately, distant-qi manipulation.
'DQ' or 'duk', as it was known among the students. She glanced at the shattered glass remorsefully. That had been her fiftieth. Even as she watched, Master Drummik effortlessly gathered the pieces together into a large metallic container and reduced them to a liquid before reshaping them into individual masterpieces. They were perfect replicas in weight, size, and appearance.

Terrana picked up one of the cooled glasses, twisting it under the light so that it sparkled.

"What would happen if I tried to duk a person?"

"I recommend that you don
't. Not unless you have an interest in anatomy. You're focusing your qi in the wrong place, and you're forcing it with your mind rather than just feeling the energy around you."

That was Master Drummik
's way of telling her that she had just flunked his lesson. She scowled and put the glass down.

"I
'm going to the observatory."

"I
'll see you there soon."

Terrana nodded and headed out
of the padded training room, ignoring the tremors that had constantly plagued the ship ever since they had entered the Voron Cloud. One hundred and forty four hours had passed since they had penetrated the terrifying purple mass that hovered on the edge of Dartkala. Everyone had gathered together like a massive tumour to witness their historic moment, or what could have been the end of their existence. But the pendant held true to its powers; it protected the ship and everyone in it. The passengers of the
Dark Star
had given a collective sigh of relief when they realised the pendant had not let them down, but they also knew their successful journey was due to the astute management of Grandmaster Deitrux, who remained cooped up for most of the time on the bridge, with the captain and crew members.

As she negotiated the turns and chutes of the
Dark Star
, Terrana felt a tinge of sorrow thinking about the pendant. It had been her only memento of Puddy and home, and now it was no longer with her. Grandmaster Deitrux could not promise to return it to her either. She thought back to her conversation with him.

"
Did you kill Nashim?"

"
No. I sent him to another place instead. It is nearly impossible to defeat him, not when he can draw on the pendant's power despite it being broken."

"
But you managed to steal back the tonien and the pendant, didn't you?"

"
Just the tonien. Nashim disappeared into the void with Namasar's pendant."

"
The void? You sent him into the void while you were in the city fighting him?"

"
Yes."

"
So where in the void is he?"

"
To be honest, I don't really know. Terrana ... try to stay out of the L-Masters' way, okay? The less they know about you the better."

"
I understand. Grandmaster Deitrux, how long will we be in the cloud?"

"
I don't know that either. It could be days, months, or even years. No one has ever succeeded in penetrating this deep into the Voron Cloud."

Terrana hadn
't liked the sound of that. They could die in the cloud before they ever found the Dream Walker! In the meantime, she had no idea whether her friends were still alive on Pa Gumpina. The ship's communication system was down. While everyone had expected it to fail eventually because of the lack of satellite walls in the cloud, they had the fright of their lives when the
Dark Star's
main engines also failed, but it had simply been the pendant overriding the ship's power source.

The
Dark Star
was flying solely on pendant power, which caused a lot of tension between the Imeldors and L-Masters.

That an artefact of
such immense power rested in the grandmaster's hands aroused anxiety and envy in the others; it didn't help that he spent most of his time away from them, sealed in on the ship's bridge. The pendant generated a power incorporating electrical energy and a river of qi, its type never witnessed before. Whatever was not protected by it, was destroyed. It explained how they could travel through the cloud — the pendant's power destroyed the purple matter that would otherwise have consumed them.

The tonien added further complications to the situation
, but at least Grandmaster Deitrux was able to project its mapping system across the training room. No surprise that it was also up on the bridge, where it rotated slowly in the air. The Ancient Ones had entrusted only Grandmaster Deitrux with the key, and they warned him to never leave it alone while activated. He soon discovered why. The tonien was set to auto self-destruct if he moved more than five metres away from it. That didn't pose so much of a problem except that he couldn't move the tonien while it was activated and, of course, being in the Voron Cloud meant that he could not afford to de-activate it. Such was the grandmaster's predicament.

Terrana came to an elevator chute
that would take her up to the fifth level of the observatory deck. Next to it was a studded wall, like those found in indoor rock-climbing stadiums, and a rope trellis. The wall and trellis went up to the fifth level also. Terrana didn't question why they were there, it was obvious. She was restless anyway and she had to admit she missed Kampu training.

In fact, since being on board, she had thrown herself into as much physical training as possible — it tempered her grief for Baneyon. Robbed of the chance to grieve properly for him, she felt like a dry husk, ready to crumble at any moment. Soon, she had promised herself. Soon, she would honour him properly
, but right now everyone's life was in danger. She had to think of them first. She grabbed the rope and began pulling herself up.

When she finally reached the observatory deck, she crawled away from the edge
of the wall, unwilling to leave any part of her limbs hanging over the side. The climb had exhausted her and she felt she no longer had any bones in her body. Her legs seemed like elastic, and she couldn't guarantee that they wouldn't just droop all the way to the bottom.

"That took you a while," said Master Drummik, leaning against a column.

Terrana wondered whether her heart had a mind of its own as it hammered hard at her chest, screaming to be let out.

"On the contrary, I thought she did rather well," said a female voice.

L-Master Eliksha Bakshur walked into the observatory, and Terrana glanced at her in surprise. While she knew that Eliksha was on the ship, Terrana had been trying to stay out of her way because she knew all the L-Masters were suspicious of her and wanted to find out the real reason she was on board. They had first met in a café in Pophusia before she had started school at Minda Yerra, and even back then the woman had been trying to learn more about Terrana and even hinted that Baneyon had been trying to hide her from the L-Masters.

Terrana tried her best to act natural
. Eliksha and the other L-Masters knew nothing of her powers and her relationship to the Dream Walker, and Terrana was determined to keep it that way.

Eliksha walked over and offered a hand
, which Terrana accepted. She was pulled up with surprising strength and greeted by a kiss on each cheek.

"You always seem to be running off somewhere on this ship
so, now we are face to face, I was hoping we could have a chat," said Elisha, gazing at Terrana with piercing eyes.

"I didn
't want to get in your way," Terrana lied glibly. "I know you have an important mission."

Eliksha smiled. "
Why would you be in my way? We're on this ship together, we have no idea how long we'll be living in it — company is something we could all do with."

Terrana
smiled back. "It can get boring on the ship."

Eliksha's
expression turned serious. "I heard about Baneyon. I'm really sorry."

Terrana tensed
.
No. Don't bring him up! Don't talk about him, please!
It was Master Drummik's cue to step in. "Terrana is still a little emotional, Eliksha. News of his death was a shock to her."

Terrana was grateful that Master Drummik had subtly reminded her that s
he wasn't supposed to have been on Si Ren Da. She was supposed to have learned of Baneyon's death at Minda Yerra.

Eliksha
laid a hand on her shoulder and lowered herself to Terrana's level so their eyes met. "You can always talk to me, anytime, anywhere, Terrana. If you need to scream, or if you just need to be with someone and not have to say anything, come and see me, okay?"

Terrana nodded. It was nice of Eliksha to offer
, but she didn't think she'd be speaking to her anytime soon. The other chutes to the observatory lit up, and Master Drummik groaned inwardly as the remaining eight members of the sealing team walked in. Two of the members were Imeldors, and Master Drummik recognised Lady Skiss and Quempa. With only the grandmaster absent, all nine of the sealing team were now in the observatory.

"Well now, if this isn
't a surprise!" called out a rather yellow, slimy man. He was nearly as tall as Eliksha and possessed a full head of jelly blobs. His shoulders were broad, and he had two sets of powerful tentacles where his arms should have been. Terrana recognised him as L-Master Hadrick and she disliked him, although she didn't know why. Perhaps the overpowering stench of his breath was one reason.

"Miss Terrana and her ever so dour teacher Master Drummik.
Have you come to admire the purple blandness?"

He waved his hand expansively at the void to prove his point. The entire observatory was made of special glass to allow passengers and
Space enthusiasts the opportunity to observe and study what lay beyond, and it was fully equipped with scanners, telescopes, spectroscopes and other equipment that Terrana didn't recognise.

"It was about time for us to conduct lessons in the observatory," said Master Drummik. "While we
're here, we should learn everything we can."

"Spoken like an educator," scoffed L-Master Hadrick. "Do you intend to share your observations with the whole school upon your return? If there is anything to return to ..."

The only visible sign that Master Drummik was affected by Hadrick's careless words was the white line that appeared over his lip. The L-Master continued, "It's strange how only you and the girl were separated from the others. It's almost as if you ran, and the girl was your excuse to board the
Dark Star
."

Terrana stiffened at L-Master
Hadrick's bold implication. He was accusing Master Drummik of being a coward in front of everyone. She wanted to say something, to defend Master Drummik, but he caught her eye and the meaning on his face was clear.
Don't say anything.
Terrana bit her lip in frustration.

"It is the educator wh
o brings up the next generation," said a different voice. A tall, insect-like lady approached. She wore a sleek, dark helmet over her head and a strange body-suit that seemed to repel the air around her.

"That may be so, Lakara, but
educators must be careful about how they indoctrinate children. Master Drummik has taught the child that it is all right to run from an attack while abandoning the rest of the group. Particularly for a thirteenth-worlder, where this unbecoming trait runs riot, it will negatively reflect on her forever."

"You
're being unfairly harsh on both Drummik and Terrana," snapped Eliksha. "And as a man of dignity, shame on you for dragging her into this!"

"But I speak the truth," said Hadrick, his eyes narrowing. "Allow me to demonstrate. Terrana, tell me, how do you feel being safe here on this ship while
not knowing of your friends' plights in Pa Gumpina? That you escaped UWIB's directive to be exterminated with the rest of the population?"

"That is enough, Hadrick!"
growled Master Drummik. But it was too late. Terrana's hands clenched into fists.

"I feel that you should shut your mouth more often and apply what little intelligence you have to re-grow your haemorrhoid-sized brains."