Reborn (The Cartographer Book 2) (15 page)

Kedge laughed and Lianne elbowed him. Vigil, however, kept his smile and shrugged. “Nothing I suppose.” Despite his unexpected passiveness, he fingered his falcon head bracelet with a cocked eyebrow. His expression stole some of my rage and I backed up a step, half-expecting the falcon to spring to life and leap for my throat. “But I would hold off on that act of aggression. You see, as the Surveyor, my job is to monitor the situation and report back to The Progenitor. Your act of aggression might be construed as an act of war. That would be a most unfortunate turn of events.”

As I looked around the tent at the concerned faces I understood the implication. No matter how arrogant Vigil could be, his assistance was more important than my bruised ego. “So tell me what's going on,” I snapped.

Vigil took no solace in his moral victory and he ignored my curtness. Instead he clenched his jaw and switched his attention to the map. “Six days ago Solomon Corvus slaughtered a Defense Fleet squadron just outside the Richat Structure on Earth. His defiance enraged Meta and he lost all sense of reason. In his zeal to destroy the time hole and prevent any more of Corvus' forces from arriving he declared Earth an enemy and attacked under the guise of Helios Protocol. The Astral Spirit led an attack on Earth. Unleashing plasma weapons and chemical agents ended up ripping holes in the atmosphere. The Explorer's League distanced themselves from Royal Command and attempted to rescue some of the population. Meta declared them traitors and attacked them as well. War raged on the planet's surface between human forces and the Defense Fleet but their technology was no match for the destructive power of the Consortium. They were routed.”

My blood boiled and I clenched my fists. “What about the Ascended?”

Vigil shook his head. “We don't know what happened to them. Last scans led to a point beyond the Milky Way.” He pointed to a coordinate on the map. “We believe they retreated to Carcer-4 and are setting up a base there.”

A lit waypoint lay where Vigil pressed his finger, highlighting the prison planet of Carcer-4. I guess it's a former prison planet now, God only knew what Corvus did with the prisoners who inhabited the planet.
Most likely integrating them into his army
, I thought gravely.

“Where is Meta now?” I demanded.

“On his way back to Caelum, I assume.”

I turned to Embeth. “I need you to take me to Earth.”

Silence blanketed the pavilion. Everyone looked at me sympathetically but no one acknowledged my request. After several moments I repeated my request. Satou finally responded.

“I do not think that's wise, Nathan.”

Kedge interrupted. “The boy is right.”

Satou looked incredulous. “You cannot be serious. Going back to see the destruction of his home serves no purpose.”

Kedge picked at the metal plate covering his throat—a consequence of the technology that kept him alive for centuries. The lens of his bionic eye dilated when he fixed it on Satou. “It serves a great purpose.” He turned to me. “You need to see it, Nathan. You need to see what these people have unleashed. Use all of your anger to water the seed of rage until it blooms into a flower of hatred unlike any you have ever seen. Use it to strike back at them.”

“That's morbid!” Lianne exclaimed. “He is only a child.”

“He is no older then I was when my home was taken from me,” he stated plainly.

“There is enough hatred in the universe to last a billion lifetimes,” Vigil grumbled. “My take on the subject would be advising against revisiting the planet, but it may actually do the boy some good to see the destruction that can be wrought during times of war.”

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Ageless,” he responded as if the word explained everything. The rain continued to pound the large tent and the wind dislodged the main flap of the door. He strolled over and secured it before continuing. “I am one of the Twelve Timeless and the Surveyor. My job is to make sure that order and chaos maintain balance in the universe. For millennia sentient beings have used worm holes for many reasons. No matter their reasoning, whether it be good or bad, people have always respected the power they held. The wanton destruction of these portals are frowned upon by the Progenitor, and we are forced to act.”

“Who is this Progenitor?” I asked.

A smile formed on his lips. “In time, you will see. Only then will your eyes truly be open.”

The storm calmed and the rain ceased its endless pelting of the pavilion. “What the heck does that mean?”

Before he could answer a loud commotion sounded outside. One of Embeth's soldiers popped his head into the tent. The golden helmet of the Defense Fleet covered most of his face, but judging by his heaving chest he just finished running back to camp.

“What's wrong, soldier?” Embeth asked, suddenly concerned.

“Sir, I think we have a problem,” he gasped. “You better come outside.”

Concerned looks were passed around the pavilion. Embeth hurried out the door with the rest of us in tow. The camp appeared normal but it wasn't until I looked in the sky, toward the mountains, that I understood the soldier's concern. In the distance were several winged creatures closing in around us. I immediately recalled our earlier encounter on the planet and assumed they were the burrowing owls we faced. As they approached I immediately knew that was not the case. Soldiers scrambled around us and formed a defensive perimeter. Kedge had his staff in hand and Lianne reached for her sword. Embeth and Satou reached for their sidearms. Vayne stood on the ramp of his ship with Wraith not too far behind. Vayne rested his hand on his weapon, but did not draw it from its holster.

“What are they?” Satou asked a nearby soldier holding a scanner. The soldier wore no helmet and the lone antenna centered on his head glowed brightly. He hailed from Exorg-7 and memories of Madoc came flooding back.

“I have no idea,” he responded with a confused look. “According to this, they are not organic in nature.”

“Fascinating,” uttered Vigil. “I would bet that Scribe would love to be here right now.”

I didn't know who “Scribe” was nor did it matter at that moment. The winged beasts were closing in fast. Vayne removed his weapons and were holding them stiffly by his side. I felt Kedge brush up against me and noticed his knuckles were white dots against the staff. If he clutched it any tighter it would snap in half.

The beasts were about two hundred yards and closing fast. They weren't birds at all but humanoid beings with oversized wings sprouting from their backs. From this distance I could see they were mostly gray in color with a dark brown stripe covering the top of their wings, as if someone poured a gallon of melted dark chocolate over them. They had long horns protruding from the sides of their heads which gave them a gazelle-like appearance. Their eyes were a deep red, like blood, and their fingers ended in sharp claws.
Demons
. All rage seeped from me, quickly replaced with a combination of fear and morbid curiosity. I still held a small place in my heart for exploration and discovery, despite recent events. Soldiers surrounded us as they formed a defensive perimeter around the camp with rifles pointed toward the sky.

The first one landed in a clearing about a hundred yards from camp. The creature studied us intently but made no move toward us. He was unarmed, which was very little relief when I spotted his razor sharp claws. As more of them landed behind the newcomer I noticed they were much smaller in size, no larger than five feet tall, and clutched crude weapons such as hammers and spears. Thirty in all landed and despite their archaic weapons they were no less fearsome.

“Hold the line,” Embeth shouted. Soldiers stood shoulder to shoulder in a semi-circle between us and the beasts.

The largest of the group—the one who landed first—approached us. Despite his stunted legs, he moved quite gracefully, almost gliding across the landscape. When he got closer, I noticed the brown stripe across his wings reflected light and was actually bronze in color, and metallic. Everyone raised their weapons until Vigil cried out.

“No!” he pointed at the claws. “He comes to us unarmed, wait and listen to what he has to say.”

“You call that unarmed?” Lianne responded skeptically, gesturing toward its claws.

My first instinct was to believe they were demons sent from the bowels of hell to wipe us sinners off the planet. When I looked at the other creatures I observed a nervousness about them. They continued to stare at our ships like they were creatures themselves. One of them sniffed the air near Vayne's ship and hopped back defensively, unsure if it would attack. It seemed they were as afraid of us as we were of them. Out technology frightened them.

Their “leader” stood approximately ten yards away but would come no closer. He held up a clawed hand and uttered several guttural sounds. The sound reminded me of rolling gravel. Everyone exchanged confused glances before Satou hurried over to a large metal case sitting on a table under a canopy. Opening it hastily, he yanked out a translator headset, however when he offered it to the newcomer he flinched and hopped backwards. He let out a scream that turned my blood to ice. Rows of pointed teeth, the color of obsidian, filled his mouth. Soldiers returned to their defensive position and aimed their weapons at the creature.

“Wait, lower your weapons,” Satou said. “They are as distrustful of us as we are of them. We need to find another way to communicate.”

It appeared the newcomer understood and thrust his hand to the ground. He drew something. Curiosity took over and everyone moved in closer to see. I slipped between Kedge and Lianne and craned my neck forward. On the ground was a large circle. The creature pointed to the circle, uttered several guttural syllables and pointed to the sky. His finger was directed toward the sun.

“It seems our new friend thinks we came from the sun,” Kedge said with mild surprise.

“
No, not quite
.”

All of us turned as Gard rolled down the ramp past a startled Vayne. “Are you saying you understand him?”

“
A little
,” Gard replied as he rolled onto the open field between us and our new friend. “
The dialect is crude but reminds me of a language I picked up from tribal leaders during a trip to Arkon-2. He believes we were sent by the sun. It appears these creatures worship the sun
.”

Gard uttered several guttural syllables in reply. Their leader turned and responded in kind. He gestured toward our vessels and growled a few more syllables while flapping his arms animatedly. Vigil folded his arms across his chest and observed the dialogue with interest. Satou let out a dry chuckle.

“
His name is Urlan and he is the leader of the Quark. Those that are with him are his personal guard
.
From what I can translate, it seems they are mistrustful of our technology. More specifically, our starships
.”

“They do appear to be primitive,” Satou agreed.

“
I concur. I have run preliminary diagnostic scans and it appears they are inorganic
.” Gard rolled up to Urlan who stepped back tentatively. Gard stuck out his clawed hand and touched his arm. Once Urlan realized the robot meant no harm, he relaxed. “
It seems his epidermis is comprised of a mineral mixture of sandstone and quartz
.
I detect organs underneath and blood flow which means he is not entirely made of stone
.”

“Well, I guess that's a relief. We have enough stone-heads around here,” quipped Vayne.

Gard ignored him. “
Their 'skin' prevents long range life scans. That is why we did not detect life upon initial scans
.
It also makes for a formidable protective layer
.”

Urlan stared at Gard like he was some sort of god who descended a heavenly escalator from the sun to smite them all. I chalked it up to his distrust of technology.

“They would make fine warriors,” Vigil commented.

Everyone understood the implication of his statement. Our list of allies was small. We would need many in order to fight a two-sided war with the Consortium and the Ascended. I had no idea how many allies we had but we had no more than forty soldiers on Xajax. The Quark would prove useful.

“Gard, ask them what they want from us,” I said.

“
I'll try
.” He turned to them and uttered several raspy sounds, followed by something between a growl and a choking noise. This went on for several minutes before Gard stopped and turned toward us. “
He says curiosity brought them from the mountains which is their home
.” Gard pointed skyward, beyond the grove of trees, to the mountain towering on the horizon. “
They have not had visitors for several centuries until strangers came riding great silver chariots adorned with metal flags
.
I am not sure if this is a translation error, but that is the best I could gather from his statement. He insisted that these chariots brought a great flood of other flying vessels, of which many looked different.
”

“Great silver chariots adorned with flags?” Kedge repeated and scratched his chin. “I came here with the Lumagom a while ago to set up a base camp, but our ships looked nothing like what he describes.”

“I wonder if he means the Scarlet Moon,” I offered, remembering our encounter in space. Their ships reminded me of pirate ships except their sails were silver and comprised of some unearthly metal which made them appear like they were sailing in space.

Embeth nodded. “That could very well be. Which would mean our enemies are here.”

“More reason to endear ourselves to the natives,” Vigil grunted. “Our forces are a bit thin at the moment.”

No one argued his point. When I surveyed our camp I knew our handful of soldiers could not repel a full assault from our enemies. Embeth and Lianne were veteran soldiers, skilled at the art of defense and warfare and were more than capable of holding the camp against smaller groups, but if either the Consortium or Corvus' forces attacked, we wouldn't have the manpower to repel them.

Embeth turned to Gard. “Do you think you can explain to them who we are and why we are here?”