From the interface Ben had placed his crystal within a sharp bolt of raw electricity shot out and struck him squarly in the chest. He flew backwards through the air and landed with a heavy thud on the crystalline floor, whisps of smoke rising up from his chest and the smell of burnt fabric and flesh scorching his nostrils....
He lay there in shock for a moment, trying to clear his head, he felt dazed... even so however, he knew immediatly what had happened.
There was something here... and the moment he had connected with it when he touched his crystal it had overwhelmed him. His head throbbed with pain, from the contact, or the electrical discharge he wasnt sure. He felt... different somehow.... as if...
He knew things.
Knew things he had not known before.
In the few moments he had been connected to whatever it was that remained in here information had been exchanged, how much he had no idea, but he could feel already his thoughts trying to process whatever had entered his mind. The interface was his escape, he had set it to do exactly what it had done if it detected the same kind of energy that Zarita had used to destroy the light diodes all that time ago, outward energy that he had determined over the course of his studies had only one purpose: to manipulate and to control.
He had no idea what "it" had tried to do exactly, however its intent was clear, evidenced by the smouldering burn mark that now stung his chest.
He quickly gathered up the crystal from where it now rested on the floor, being careful not to touch it directly, and leaving the smouldering remains of the interface on the ground he turned to leave the room.
A whisper crossed his mind.
He turned swiftly blaster in hand and scanned the room.
It was empty, though he knew, he could feel that he was not alone.
Not wasting time now he returned to the spot where he had entered, there was an indent on the floor and he touched it with his foot. Sure enough, the room about him blurred and he shot quickly upwards until he found himself standing once again in the main room above the chamber.
The whisper had not left, in fact, he felt it more tangibly now, whatever it was was close... and it was trying to do something.
He ran towards the crack in the facing door but as he did so a thought crossed his mind.... Chamber..... active.... code sequence.....shape
"By crete!" he gasped, he knew, knew immediatly what he needed to do to accomplish what he had come here to find. "Haha! you bastards!" he yelled triumphantly, "you let it out, you let it slip, you told me exactly what i wanted!" Whatever it was that was here had tried to reach out into his mind for its own purpose, yet that reach had not just been one way, and while it had tried to control, Ben using all the strength and discipline he could muster from the years he had practiced using this technology had doggedly sought but a single piece of information "How do I get her our, How do I get her back".
He had found the answer and as he dashed out of the room the way of doing it became clearer in his mind.
Squeezing through the crack in the large door to the outside he heard an audible movement behind him, turning momentarity he saw... something, a shimmer, a shifting in the gloom. Whatever it was, was moving, and it was coming for him.
He fired a half a dozen blaster bolts back into the chamber, the loud CRACK of the weapon shattering the silence of the room and echoeing across its walls. He had no time to lose, he had no idea what was following him and he did not intend to stay to find out.
Another sound now, this time closer and he felt something else, tangible emotion - emotion that was not his own, and it was not happy. It raged, it boiled with seething anger and hatred that must have been pent up over millenia, who knows how long whatever it was had been in that place? Who knows if it had even been conscious before he had glanced its thoughts - but it was coming for him. He sprinted from the building and into the open heading quickly towards his Gladiator. He ripped his comm unit from his tunic jacket and swtiched it on, running and short of breath he yelled into it "Venganza, this is Laowai, arm all guns and fire on my comm location!" A voice began to respond but he cut it off hurriedly "Dammit dont ask questions just do it! Do it now!"
Turning quickly he tossed the comm as far as he possibly could back towards the entrance of the structure and for the first time he saw something real and tangible. Something was moving through the crack in the door, it seemed firmer now though still somehow non corporeal. His comm unit landed just in front of it and skidded towards the door.
He leapt up into the Gladiator and didnt wait to suit up, arming its engines he entered the emergency thrust command and it suddenly leapt into the air, its canopy not even fully sealed, he grabbed the controls and began to back as above him he heard a faint and distant crack. High in the sky, glowing lights broke the thin layer of atmosphere and raced towards the ground - and him at a terrifying speed - Panic gripped him and he kicked the trust into boost, swinging the ship around as fast as he could. Its computer howled in protest, its warning systems going off simultaneously as he pushed the unshielded hull of the ship well past its stress tolerance levels.
Yet up she went, swinging it around he narrowly avoided one of the now huge bollts of light streaming down around him that had been fired from the Venganza's guns, he swerved another as the canopy closed and below him he could hear a deafening roar as the energy weapons slammed into the ground where he had only moments before been standing. He banked the ship upward and away to avoid more of the fire and felt a wave of relief hit him as the ships systems began to calm down, indicating that the Gladiators shields were now active.
Banking her slighly he looked over his shoulder. Below him, now moving further away into the distance he could see a pall of dark black smoke rising up from the ground, small flickers of flame occasionally breaking through the rising cloud.
"Elder" a voice broke through the whine of the ships engines "This is the Venganza... are you....?"
He clicked on the comm unit and laughed "Laowai here, im allright.... and good shooting lads.... im on my way home!"
He set the ship to auto and it targeted the docking beacon on the Venganza. He slumped down into his chair.... the adrenalin he felt now slowly starting to wear off and he became aware of how fast his pulse was racing.
That.... had been close.
Yet the gamble had worked, he had against all odds found what he was looking for. He knew what he had to do - he would return to Tangier and to her... and soon, very soon Zarita would be free of her bound immortality, free to live and breathe as any other human.
"Fire up the engines" he called out to the battleship in orbit; "we're heading home!"
The Gunboat “Outsider” stood docked in the belly of the Battleship Fes. Her crew now well dispersed among the great ship's bar, liberally helping themselves to the food and beverages on offer. All of Elder Ben Laowai's crew members were known on the ship, and her acting captain; Commander Philip Alberto was well known to its officers.
They had come this time as escort to their Elder, flying beside his Gladiator as they made their way to the Fes. Upon docking, Laowai and his men had paid their customary dues to the Fes's commander and the drinking had begun.
Laowai however, did not join them... alone and without announcement he boarded his Gladiator sometime later and had headed out into Omega 47 to the small grey planet at the edge of the system.
Tangier.
It seemed almost like a second home to him at times. He had always remained loyal to Crete, he had sworn to protect it with his life - and yet Tangier had a special place in that most secret part of his heart and mind... It was here that he would retreat, it was here that he found peace, wrapped in the arms of his wife, Zarita, who had all those years ago, given up her physical life to save his and who now remained, preserved, trapped, eternally forever in the ancient crystal chamber buried deep under Tangier's surface.
This visit however, would not be like all the others, this would end differently, it was his hope and his dream that this time... he would not be leaving alone.
He knew. After all these years he knew what to do, and it amazed him that the answer to the problem had always been on Tangier itself, right where this had all began. The Corsairs of Tangier had no idea what they had discovered. He did, at least now he thought he did.
As he approached the bleak looking planet he banked his ship towards the sun and away to confuse the scanners of the orbiting Hessian Depot. Moving across to the far side of the planet he used line of sight to obscure his ship and took her down into the cloudy atmosphere. He broke through the clouds somewhere above the hidden Corsair colony, reaching beside his chair he placed his hand on the crystal stored there ***It's Laowai, putting her down in the usual place***.
A thought came back into his mind instantly ***Of course Ben... and welcome back***.
An Elder he might be on Crete, but here he was not - trusted as he was by the Corsairs who made this place home he would never be one of them, Zarita spoke for him.. and he had kept their secret for these long 30 plus years - but he had no rank here. These people had their own Elders, their own council... and they kept to their own set of rules.
He thrust the ship down towards the ground and a hollow beneath him began to open.... a large open cavern, the closest thing these Corsairs had to a spaceport. Its mouth was covered by large coated Timber gates which were opened by crude machinery adapted to the purpose. These machines would have run out of power years ago if Ben had not brought them fresh supplies, but he knew that it was only him that ever used these doors, the few ships the Corsairs of Tangier possessed, a Titan or two and an extremely antiquated freighter had not been flown in years; no one here had any desire to leave.
Landing the ship, Laowai climbed out of the cockpit as the room about him was plunged into darkness as its great wooden gates were closed overheard... a few spotlights around the cavern burst into light and shone the way to the mouth of the cave that exited the hangar. He was met at the mouth of the cave by a young Tangier Corsair he hadn't met before.
“Greetings” said Ben, “ive come to see my wife”.
“Of course” said the young man - You know the way of course, is there anything I can prepare for you?”
Ben shook his head - “No, That will be fine - could you please turn the power on to my quarters however?”
The man nodded and turned and left. Ben then made his way though the caverns and down its many twisting paths towards the crystal chamber. He passed people along the way, nodding politely and smiling - the younger ones he passed stared at him curiously, he was always a source of novelty for them; for most of them, he was the only off-worlder they had met, and indeed, would ever meet.
He continued downwards through the caverns and the tunnels, till he reached the area where the strange lights in the walls reacted to his presence and began to light up. A few Tangier families wandered past him, evidently having visited the chamber to visit friends and relatives... long gone. None of them new what he intended here - he wondered if it would truly work, and what would happen if it did.
He rounded the corner and pushed aside the heavy fabric covering, entering the chamber as he had so many times before. It shone with the same eerie brilliance it always had, and he noted, in exactly the same way the ancient chamber he had found on the Dyson Sphere. These places had a purpose he now knew, it was where things were born, and... thanks to the information he had gleaned while on the sphere, it was where he hoped Zarita would be reborn.
He took his Crystal from his pouch and wrapped his hand around it. She was with him instantly. ***Thank the gods your alive! Ive been worried sick!***
He thought the most reassuring thoughts he could towards her. ***im fine, im fine.. and I have good news***
She knew immediately what had happened of course, when linked this way, he hid nothing from her, and her him. She knew immediately what had happened, what he had learned, and what he intended to do.
He looked at one of the facing walls at the far end of the room and he heard her, ***It's in there... its been in there the whole time?!***
***Yes*** he returned ***and none of us knew***
He could feel her hesitating. Her questions filled his mind, almost faster than he could process them, ***But... what Will I be, Human? Not human? One of them? I mean... What are they Ben?***
He gave her the knowledge he had, that what possibly lay beyond that door was a shell, a vessel, something incomplete that had never taken true form, it was a vehicle for her with which she would live, breathe and walk again.
Her questions remained ***But what would I be?, here I'm... me, I know who I am, even though I have no form, no body, but my soul is intact*** , ***Does it even have a soul?***
He smiled ***It will my love, it will have yours, and you will be free, you can see the stars that I have shown you with your own eyes again***
He could feel her hesitating, part of her wanted it, part of her was driven to try as he was, and yet fear of the unknown remained - as far as he knew, and thus as far as she knew, no one had ever attempted this before, at least none Human that he knew of - and this was alien, ancient and something that despite his confidence, he hoped he understood.
She felt his doubt ***I know you think you know*** she said to him ***But you feel it yourself, no one knows.... ***
He wished he could see her, touch her - but it wasn't the right time for that event to take place, all he could do was let her feel his thoughts and feelings - this is what we have sought..... he passed onto her This is the answer we have wanted, this has been what I have chased all these years.....
Lastly, he felt her fear ***Ben... what if I die? if it can die, what if I die with it?... here, I live on forever, and when its your time... you will be here too... but out 'there', what happens?***
***Its life Zarita*** he thought ***and it will be our life out there, and I would never let anything or anyone hurt you.***
Standing on the precipice of the moment he felt her give way to the decision ***ok*** she said ***we have to try at least***.
He walked to the wall and placed her crystal in its niche. Immediately her voice was gone from the wider room as she passed her consciousness into the crystal and out of the chamber. He held it in his hand, in doing so he could still hear her. ***Lets do it then.... *** he felt her say to him.
He placed her crystal in his pouch and, still clutching his own, he stared at the point on the distant wall.
Nothing happened, so he focused his thoughts again... concentrating on the image that he had gleaned from his contact with the being on the Dyson Sphere, it was vague... distant... and yet
Chamber....
Suddenly, like mist clearing from a morning rain, part of the wall seemed to shimmer, it appeared translucent and then suddenly vanished. He raised his eyebrows in surprise, He wasn't sure even that would have worked.
He walked through the entrance carefully, not seeing anything in the gloom in front of him when was startled suddenly when the room burst into light, reacting as everything did here to a physical presence.
He shook his head, he really should be used to that by now. Entering the room he looked about him. The room looked completely bare, Crystal walls as the main chamber had, although these were interlaced with similar kinds of masonry and designs of the kind he had seen on the Dyson Sphere.
He was in the right place. Quickly looking behind him he tried to think of some kind of thought that indicated “Close” - the door however seemed to catch his drift and the wall seemed to coalesce again behind him, hiding him from sight should anyone else wander into the main chamber.
Yet, there seemed to be nothing here? He looked puzzled, this had to be the place... he ran his mind back over what he had learned from the being and tried to recreate it in his mind. Focusing hard he thought Chamber... active.....
Again, nothing - He repeated it again and suddenly the room about him burst into activity. Walls shimmered and shifted, changing form as if being moulded instantly by skilled hands - the floor in front of him began to raise until it formed a pylon much like the ones he had seen previously. Around the room, one by one large cylindrical monoliths began to emerge from the wall, they moved forth slowly, each one standing at at least twice the height of a man. Large and round they were made up of two large stones, one atop the other separated in the middle by a gap in the stone. Each of these gaps lay empty, all save one.
From within the centre of this one a light shone out, illuminating the room about it. A Circular, shifting shape of light that seemed to dance within the confines of its pillars, twirling and changing silently powered by an unseen energy. Laowai stared at it... mouth agape... the vision he had seen had been right, this was it, this was what he had sought. It must be some kind of stasis chamber he thought to himself, but if it were it resembled nothing of similar technology made by human hands - and Human examples were only believed to last a few hundred years at best before they would need maintenance.... How long must this thing have been active? Thousands? Hundreds of Thousands of years?.....He wondered incredulously.
He reached in to his pouch and took out Zarita's Crystal, once more the moment he touched it she immediately knew what he knew, saw what he saw. He could feel her wonderment matching her own, behind that, her nervousness and uncertainty. He reassured her ***Soon my love, I will see you soon***.
He placed the crystal on the pylon in the centre of the room. He had no idea if that was what he was supposed to do, but the vision he had taken from the being seemed to indicate that this... whatever it was was going to look for something, that is if he managed to turn it on.
The final part of the puzzle came to his mind.... he sat down on the floor and held his own crystal in his hand... he tried to recreate the patterns that had entered his mind on the Sphere
Code... sequence.... code seq.....
Before he could even consciously think another thought a splitting pain coursed through his head, he doubled over and screamed in pain. He tried to drop the crystal but he was unable to move his muscles and his hand gripped it like an iron vice... ***Code 'remember' errors/regret awaken*** a thought burst from his mind, but it was not his. He fought against the pain now raging inside his skull and as he did it seemed to subside....he collapsed onto the floor, water filling his eyes and a cold feeling of shock beginning in his stomach “What the hell......?” he said out loud, when a sound from across the room caught his attention.
The monolith with the light was moving..... It shifted forward slightly, its massive stone base scraping on the floor below it, the light from within it seemed to dance faster now, turning and shifting more erratically. Laowai propped himself up on one arm, and steadying himself against the wall he managed to get to his feet.
As he did, a blinding flash of light filled the room - it circled the room once and then focused on the pylon in the centre, flashing up and over it moved across the base and then over the top, lingering for just a moment on Zarita's crystal as it passed over it. Then, almost as fast as it had appeared the light vanished back within the monolith.
Silence.
Ben dashed across the room in a panic, he grabbed the crystal frantically.
She wasn't there.
Panic began to set in when the monolith began to move again, in shock all he could do was stare it it. It slid back into its wall recess and the light within it seemed to grow. It filled the centre of its cell and then continued growing, its light seemed to glow brighter, brighter, spilling outside the chamber that had held it and growing still - no longer dancing, now it had began to form a solid ball of light, glowing brighter and brighter.
Ben shielded his eyes, covering them with his hands and peering through the gaps and still the light burned brighter.
Then suddenly it was gone, there was a crack and a hiss and suddenly within the monolith itself there glowed a strange, glowing translucent blue form, the light faded and the form slipped out of the monolith and slipped to the floor with a liquid thud.
Ben stood over it.... What was it? It looked like... nothing? It had no shape, and yet it did, it seemed organic, and yet it moved and glowed with an energy that seemed to glow from all around it. This looked liked nothing he had seen before, certainly not like any of the organic remains of Nomads he had studied over the years, this looked different, it looked almost like..... their ships....
*** aaaaaaaaaaaaaaargghghhhhhh***!!!! a scream of raw agony pierced his thoughts, a terrified, wild and uncontrolled emotion that invaded his mind without pause or consideration. The force of it knocked him off his feet for the second time. Gatherthing himself up quickly he tried to focus, but realised he didnt have his crystal in his hand, it was still somewhere on the floor where he had dropped it and as he moved to try and find it it came again ***AAAAARRRRGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH***. The thought rang out with the same intensity of a mother in the throes of the agony of birth, it bombarded his mind with a force like nothing he had felt before and he cried out “For the Love of Crete what......”
*** AAAAAAAAAAARRGGHHHHH BEN WHAT.........!!?! * Terror * ***
He leapt up, “Zarita!” he called out desperately, no longer bothering to try and find the crystal, “ Zarita is it you?”
The shape on the floor moved, erratically at first, shifting shape and form and moving as if unable to control itself, it rolled towards him and then slivered away, shifting again and then once more a scream of agony pierced his mind... but this time.. it did not stop.
It crashed into his mind like a tsunami demoloshing any defences he had and completely overwhelming him, he grasped his hands to his temples and tried to stop it but on and on it came, an endless piercing wail that had no sound but was at the same time deafening, pain gripped his head and he began to scream out loud.
His voice filled the chamber and seemingly echoed the one in his head that none save him could hear.
Yet the sound began to change, it began to leave his head, the pain began to subside, he stopped screaming, and yet there was still a scream in the room, a piercing, human sound, terrified and unmistakeably female.
He took his hands from his head. There, at the foot of the monolith, shaking and screaming, was Zarita.
He shot across the room and gripped her arms, her real, tangible physical arms - she looked at him in terror, wide eyed and startled. “By god” he said in sheer amazement, he gripped her face, holding her steady - “Zarita, its me... its Ben... by god it worked....”
He gripped her face and kissed her, "It worked, it worked - you're here.... you're real!"
She looked around the room hurriedly, disoriented and afraid, he steadied her, putting a hand on her back and holding her hand with the other. "It's OK" he said, "Its OK, you're safe, you're here; with me..."
She looked up at him directly for the first time, "B... Ben?" she muttered. She was breathing quickly, "I... I can't... move... my...." She looked down at her arms and at her body "It... its... real?"
He smiled at her again "Yes, its real, we did it, you're out - you're in the land of the living again!!"
He moved back slightly "Can you move? Can you move your arms and legs?"
She looked down at herself, "I... I don't.... I...." Her words slurred slightly and a concerned expression crossed Laowai's brow, "What's wrong?"
Looking confused she tried to speak again, "It... I... not used to speaking..."
"Can you move?" he asked again. She tried once more, her arms shifting only slightly, she tried her legs, which only trembled "I... I don't I... think... so" She said.
Ben moved now to cradle her closely and take some more of her weight, "I should have expected this" he said to her. "Its been a long time since you have had any physical body, and this one isn't exactly... human."
At that she looked at him, fear clearly present in her eyes. "Don't worry he reassured her again, It will probably take you time to get used to it, controlling it and make it do what you want."
"Come on" he said, he bent down and scooped her up in his arms, lifting her up he carried there to where he had entered the room.
There was some kind of entrance here he said, "I'll need to get my crystal and....."
There was a sudden hum and the wall in front of him began to shift and dissolve as it had done when he first entered the room, in moments it had vanished leaving the entrance to the crystal chamber open.
"How... Did you do that?" He looked down at her. A confused expression crossed her face, "I don't... Don't know... I just thought....."
Ben looked concerned but left the room, "Ill get the crystals" he said. He placed her gently on the ground leaning against the wall and went back into the other chamber. He found his crystal on the floor and began to look for Zarita's. He found it on the floor underneath one of the monoliths and as he stooped to pick it up a warning crossed his mind: ***Ben.... Help...***
He dashed quickly from the room and into the main chamber. Zarita lay on the floor where he had left her, standing close by - staring in shock, were several Tangier Corsairs.
A man and several others stood in the room, staring in shock at Zarita as she lay, propped up and struggling to move.
One of them, a young man looked up at Ben incredulously; "What.... What have you done?"
Moving to stand protectively by Zarita, Ben answered "I've got her out.... nothing more... now.. back away..."
The man hadn't moved. "How? He said How did you....?" turning quickly to the woman beside him he blurted: "quickly Get the Elders... get the guards go, go!!"
The woman dashed off our of the chamber and the man turned round again, a mixture of fear and hope in his eyes.
"She... She was gone... with the ancestors... how can she be here?"
Ben stood ready to pounce, he had hoped he would be able to get her out of here with a minimum of trouble, at least with enough time to come up with some kind of explanation for these people. These were good people, Corsairs yes, but simple, passive in a way that the wider Corsair community in Sirius was not, and yet - this chamber, the preservation of the spirits of their dead was central to their identity as a people, and he had just brought someone back.
He knew they could never know how, he knew they could never know exactly what she was. He looked at the man and spoke as firmly, but as calmly as he could.
"All these things will be discussed in time, but for now, I need to get her out of here, I need to get her to where I can take care of her and that isn't on Tangier."
He bent down and picked her up "Ben...?" she whispered
"Its Ok"... He stood up and carried her towards the door. He could feel her hands trying to grip his shirt but opening and closing as if she was trying to get used to moving them... which, he thought, she probably was.
The young Tangier Corsair however, made no move to get out of the way. "You can't leave" he said, "The Elders need to be told about this."
Laowai scowled, "The Elders will be told but right now I need to get her to where I can take care of her."
He made to move again when several large guards entered the room followed by a perplexed looking Tangier Elder, one that Ben had not met before. The Elder looked at Laowai standing there with the newly reborn Zarita in his arms. Recognising her, a look of astonishment crossed his face - "By Crete... how did you...."
Ben was growing impatient, he had no idea what Zarita's medical condition was, what physical sensations she would be undergoing and he needed to get her to a secure location where he could watch her and allow her to adapt away from prying eyes... "I don't have time Elder, I need to get her to suitable medical facilities, they do not exist here on Tangier."
"Ill reveal everything to you", he lied... "just let me get her out of here."
The Elder shook his head slowly, and then with more certainty as he realised the gravity of what he was looking at.
"No....." he said "No I don't think you will be taking her from here... not..." he looked at her again, completely unsure of what to make of the situation. "Not until we have looked into this."
"Ben?" Zarita muttered.".. what's...?" The Elder made a nod and two guards approached, Laowai backed off slightly: "You cannot take her...." he said growing increasingly angry. One of the guards placed his hand over his blaster and said "You heard the Elder, you know we have to obey... you can do this quietly or it will be difficult.."
Ben scowled and the second guard drew his blaster and trained it at him. He knew however that they would not fire in here, they would not risk this place with a missed shot, that being said, he knew he probably couldn't physically overpower these men.
That was confirmed when another Elder and 2 more guards entered the room. The first Elder held up his hands "Senor Laowai - please... be reasonable here, you cannot leave this room... and let us not have violence here, in this our most sacred of places as you well know."
He was trapped, he looked down at Zarita trying to think of a way out, it was incredible! After all this effort and work, to be stopped by... this!?
***It's ok Ben*** he heard her voice in his mind suddenly. He looked at her, feeling both anger and helplessness ***leave me with them, they wont hurt me***.
His shoulders slumped and he gave in to the situation. The first guard approached, he placed his hands on Zarita and took her weight. "Be careful" Ben said anxiously, "She cant move". The guard, nodding, lifted her easily and turned towards the Elder who nodded in the direction of the entrance to the chamber. The guard, nodding in return walked out of the room - Laowai's angry and desperate glare following him.
He turned to one of the Tangier Elders - "So then.... What happens now?"
The Elder shook his head angrily; "What did you do here - how did you do... this?"
Ben looked at the man menacingly "The fact is I.. no... we did it, and you cannot understand, she needs to be supervised right now, cared for and I intend to do it."
The Tangier Elder looked to his colleague and then shook his head again "... No... you will not, we need to confer on these matters and you need to leave."
"Leave?" Ben said incredulously, "I cannot leave, I cant leave her... not now, you have no idea what you are dealing with here!"
The Elder whirled on him, "No! We don't, but we shall confer on these things and what you have brought upon us! No one has ever emerged from this chamber once they become part of it, we did not even think such things were possible.. and yet....."
He made a gesture with his hand and the two guards behind him moved closer, hands over their holsters. "You may go back to the Fes while we speak on this, and after we speak to her. We will contact you when the time is right for your return."
Ben was stupefied. The guards now gestured towards him and indicated the door. "Senor Laowai, you will come with us please, we'll take you back to your ship."
He ran possibilities though his mind rapidly, and yet all drew blank - He knew these people, he knew that they were good people, he did not want to bring the vengeance down upon them that he very much had it in his power to do so.... he scowled.. he needed to be patient, she was out now....
In a low voice he addressed the Elders. "Very well, I will do as you ask, I shall return to the Fes."
The Elder nodded but Ben continued, "But - I will remain there for no longer than two weeks, after that I will have to return to Crete. I expect to be contacted within that time, if I am not, I will be coming back here of my own accord."
"And my friends...." he added coldly, "If that happens you can be assured that I will not be coming alone."
The Elders tossed each other a nervous glance. "Watch her..." Ben said, "If there is any change in her physical condition, if she seems to suffer in any way while you are... deliberating I expect to be contacted, you do not have the facilities here to care for her that I do on Crete."
"Very well Senor", one of the Elders conceded, "We shall contact you in two weeks."
He walked out of the chamber with guards in tow, he did not really want to come to blows with these people, they had always welcomed him and they were Zarita's people, she loved all of them deeply and it was for this reason alone that he had conceded to giving them this time to consider what had happened. However, he had worked too hard, and risked too much to be separated from her now... and things were too uncertain, what if they discovered what she was?
There was too much at stake, he decided then as he walked back up through the winding tunnels and caves to his ship, he would be back well before the two weeks were out, he would not come alone and he would take her out of here.
***I'm ok Ben...***
He heard in his mind. It broke his heart to leave her, he put his hand inside his tunic to where his crystal rested, touching it he thought ***Be careful, they cannot know***
***they wont*** he heard back.
The Guards followed him to the hangar and waited as he strapped himself into his fighter and began to prepare it for flight. He lifted it off and out through the great timber gates up into the grey Tangier sky. He had a strike team on the Venganza in Omicron Gamma, a Core group of specially trained men and woman that he had chosen personally and had used on various covert operations. This would be a snatch and grab mission, She would be angry, he was sure, but he would not risk losing her. Not now.
"This is Elder Ben Laowai to the Fes", he spoke into his comm system, "Patch me through to the Venganza in Omicron Gamma....."
Whispers.
Voices and thoughts familiar and yet strange, heard as they had been before but this time distant, echoes and sounds from somewhere down a long dark tunnel, shadows of movement from the corner of the eyes, a flicker - voices and whispers, distinct and yet not.
Up and up her gaze followed, Tangier loomed below and above, her people moved within its stony caves and tunnels, far down in her midst the spirits of those since gone danced in worlds of their own creation. High above, the Hessian station turned on its slow orbit, the night watch keeping vigil over glowing and flashing machines while the rest slept peacefully unaware of those that dwelt below. The great sun of Omega 47 bathed it all in its fiery orange glow as upward still she looked, voices still echoing familiar and then not. A light shone and she turned her gaze toward it, brighter and brighter it shone and she felt it's gleam focus on her as she stared. Growing brighter and more intense it shone till it seemed it would burn her very eyes from their sockets, she turned away now and tried to close her eyes. She began to feel afraid and she did not want to see the light any more and yet she could still see it, as if there was no shade to be had, no respite. She descended now, faster and faster away, back to the caves on Tangier... away away from the light that seemed to burn her very heart.
***who (?) * you *? ***
She screamed and sat up in the bed, looking around her quickly, as if half expecting someone to be in the room with her.
However the cave around her was quiet, dimly lit and she was alone.
Zarita looked around the room seeing nothing and yet hearing everything in the gloom, she turned to the side table and reached for the mug of water that lay there, her arm... sluggish, shifting finally until she lifted the cup to her lips and drank. Her body felt slow, heavy, as if it heard her commands and acted on them only after persuasion.
She splashed a small amount of water on her face, trying to rouse herself from the remnants of her dream, she felt generally groggy, as if she was looking at everything through a mist – and yet her dream seemed ever so clear in her mind.
There was a guard outside the door. She knew, but she wasn't sure how she knew, it felt like standing near something warm in a dark room, she could feel the presence of the guard and yet couldnt see him. She didn't like that they had posted a guard at all, it wasn't like she was dangerous and yet - there had been little she could say or do about it. She knew that the Elders had no idea what to make of her, they had arranged for the colonies medics to examine her tomorrow - and she knew that couldn't happen.
She felt trapped, confused and afraid. She needed to get it together, she needed to figure out what to do.
She tried to get up off the bed, but her legs moved only sluggishly - “Dammit” she muttered. Leaning forward she tried once again and this time was able to put some weight on her feet, she took a chance and pushed off the bed, only to collapse onto the floor with a dull thud.
“Oh this is futile!” she said angrily, all she wanted to to was stand up! In her mind she imagined herself rising off the ground and standing boldly and confidently.
Suddenly, she found herself rising and was standing.
“What the....?!” she exclaimed, she was standing, her body had moved as if it was seemingly the easiest thing in the world. She turned to reach for a coat that hung on a rack by the bed - her arm reacting sluggishly. Her hand suddenly dissolved, shifted shape and began to look like....
“Argrghh!” she screamed and began to shake it madly! Her hand? What had happened to her.....
then, just as suddenly as it had changed, it was a hand again. She stared at it in shock, it had just... changed? It moved? “oh that's... just.... WIERD” she muttered to herself.
There was a knock on the door, “Everything ok in there”? The voice of the guard called out. She looked at the door in mild panic “Ah... yes... everything's ok, I just... tripped....”
At least she was able to talk now, a little better than before, though her mouth still sometimes seemed to react as if delayed, and her thoughts often felt confused and jumbled.
Wait - How had she managed to be able to talk? She wondered for a moment? How does a person.... talk? Had she thought about it? “Talk” she said aloud.
She tried again.... “Keep talking” she said aloud. It then dawned on her, she wasn't thinking about it, she just “talked” - she knew what she wanted to say, almost as if she pictured it in her head, and she found herself saying it.
“I can talk!” She said aloud again, a smile crossing her face, “Talk talk talkity talk, I can talk, I can make wor...” her mouth slumped slightly and she slurred. Dammit! She had thought about it.
She wondered if this was how it worked.... she pictured herself walking across the room and then all of a sudden found herself doing it. Wow? She thought, I can do it, thats all I have to do?
“Huh?” a voice came from outside the door, “Senora are you all right? What can you do?”
Zarita looked up in shock.... “I... I'm sorry?” she called out.
There was a rattle at the door and the guard walked in, keys in hand. She was standing at the far end of the room and looking at him in confusion. The guard looked at her... a little puzzled. “Senora, is everything all right? Do you need assistance?”
She shook her head... looking and feeling every bit like a child that had been caught with its hand in the cookie jar. “N...No... why do you ask?”
The guard sighed, “You said you could do something, you must have walked right up to the door and said it because I heard it right in my ear... and now you're standing over there..” He began to look irritated “Are you playing some kind of trick?”. Now it was her turn to look confused, “No... no? I mean I didn't know I'd said it that loud... sorry....”
The guard shook his head... “Look, Senora, its late... I have to stand out there, but you should go back to bed.” He looked at her expectantly and she nodded “Yes... You're... right, its late... “ She looked at the bed... “I'll go back to bed now.”
He waited... and she looked at him again... “Can a lady have... some privacy please?”
Shaking his head again the guard left the room and she heard the lock turning as he closed the door.
He had heard her? But she had said nothing... it was as if she was in the chamber and he was touching a crystal or a pylon.... Like she had spoken in his head..... and he head heard it as if he was in the room... only.... How?!
She had done it with Ben... when she first woke up, she had thought what she wanted to say and he had heard it, only she still wasn't sure how she had done that... she was half conscious, disoriented. Here.. she had done it and she hadn't known!?
“oh crap” she said.... “this is just......”
She had to get it together, at least to move. She tried again, pictured herself moving to the other side of the room and sure enough, she found herself doing it. She tried once more, this time picturing herself moving across the room, picking up the mug of water and sitting on the bed and as before, she walked across the room, picked up the mug and sat down. “Yes!” she said excitedly, and in doing so lost control of her hand and the mug slipped, spilling its contents onto the floor. She shook her head... 3 out of four wasn't bad. She experimented further, rising from the bed, picking up the coat, circling the room. Her body still seemed distant, sometimes sluggish and she stumbled a few times however she found that if she just knew what she wanted to do her body seemed to react to it.
Finally, after another hour of this, she began to feel a little more confident.
She decided that she was thirsty and wanted another drink, so, she turned around to stoop down and pick up the mug. It leapt up off the floor and shot across the room towards her. "AAghht! she squeeled and ducked quickly, it flew past her head and crashed into the far wall with a loud clatter.
“Senora please!” the guard from outside called out.
“S... Sorry!” she shouted back.... “I... dropped my mug”.
She stared at it sitting on the floor where it had landed. Ok what the hell was that? She thought to herself... then quickly looked at the door half expecting the guard to tell her to be quiet again.
The thing had... moved! She never laid a hand on it.
A chill crossed her body and she felt afraid... she had no idea what was going on. She only knew that she had to get out of here and fast.
The bright orange sun of Omega 47 was beginning to crest over the nearest horizon to the Corsair colony on Tangier.
She knew it was coming, and she knew she couldn't be in this room when the dawn broke, if they knew what she was, she would surely be doomed.
She sat on the bed... It had taken her most of the night but she felt confident about moving, she was able to do so now with little to no mishap, but she needed to do more than move if she was going to get out of the room.
The way the mug had moved scared her - but in this she had seen a way she could get out.
If she could only do it again.
She had placed the mug back on the floor at the far end of the room and had been staring at it now for an hour.
She wanted it to move.
It hadn't.
She was becoming increasingly frustrated and anxious. Walking was one thing, but this? This had to be something else! The maddening thing was she knew she could do it, she had done it! She just had no idea how. She had wanted the mug of water, and it had leapt up at her almost knocking her out in the process.
She stared it it. It was a mug, dark timber hewn into a shape and reinforced with metal edgings to take the worst of its everyday usage, Showing signs of age its wood had a grainy look, its original lacquer worn slightly and its metal trimmings showing scratches and scuff marks. It was tall and chunky, far too big for anyone with small hands to hold, a thick handle made of the same grainy ageing timber thrust out from its side, bolted on with crude iron tacks that had been hammered into the side and the flattened to avoid any overt jagged edges.
Suddenly, she didn't like the mug. It was ugly, crude looking, and as it sat there unmoving with an annoying inanimate smugness she began to feel as if it was mocking her. The thing had almost taken her head off a few hours ago, and now? Nothing! Oh it was fine then, when I didn't need it, you blasted thing...
She willed it to move again and still nothing happened. She grew more irritated, staring intently at it as if she could intimidate it to come to her. A particularly wide grain in the timber held her gaze and she scowled... why wouldn't it move! She drew it closer to her in her stare and imagined herself grabbing it, scratching the grains with her nails and crushing it in her hands, climbing inside its grainy surface and smashing it apart from within... dammit, dammit, dammit WHY WONT YOU.....
A crash nearby snapped her out of her stare, a chair had fallen on the other side of the room, knocking the table and causing it to spill its contents on the floor. She looked startled and turning quickly,it was then that she realised that the mug hung in mid air halfway between where it had sat on the floor and herself. “Oh my!!” she said out loud astonished
“Ok, Se?ora, enough is enough!” a voice from outside the door called out, a key was turning rapidly in the door which suddenly burst open, the guard entering the room to be greeted by the sight of a mug hovering in mid air and an extremely startled looking Zarita sitting on her bed.
“Oh no!” she panicked and suddenly there was a vicious crack. The mug exploded in the air where it hung, fragments scattering around the room, one of them, a large chunk of wood bearing one of the ugly wooden bolts hurtled into the face of the guard who dropped to the floor in a heap.
He lay there groaning and holding his face... “wwwhat!?... how..?!.” he mumbled and gripped his forehead, his eyes shut with shock and completely disoriented.
Shocked at what had happened Zarita sat frozen where she was for a moment when suddenly she saw her chance, the door was open! She jumped up and ran towards the door, stepping over the guard... “I'm... really sorry!” she said awkwardly and then ran out the door.
She knew there was only one way to get off Tangier and she ran as fast as she could for the old hangar cavern that Ben used when he came to visit. She had no idea if the antiquated craft in that hangar worked, but it was her only hope.
It was morning in the colony and the first few early risers were beginning to show themselves in the caverns and caves, yet she passed only a few people as she bolted to her destination, none of whom noticed who she was and who only grumbled slightly at the young woman dashing past them at a pace that no civilized person should be moving at this early hour.
She reached the hangar and found it deserted, as she had expected it to be - for the Corsairs of Tangier rarely if ever came here, there was simply no reason to.
The ship she wanted sat on the right of the room, a large jutting structure covered by a crude canvass sheet that stood metres off the floor, looking like some kind of misshapen circus tent which was much too tall and pointy, draping down and out to where a small round snub nose jutted out from the beneath the cover.
A Corsair Titan.
More to the point a Corsair Titan that mustn't have been airborne for at least 40 years or more.
Would it even fly? She walked towards it and tugged at the ropes attached the heavy canvass. It slipped to the floor in a cloud of dust revealing the aged craft underneath.
“ok... now I have to make you.... fly” She said to herself. The trouble with this was that she had never ever flown a spacecraft in her life, added to that, she had never really done anything more technical than disassemble and reassemble a blaster rifle either. It will be fine she thought to herself, the base level Corsair power module and fusion drive fitted in this class of ship should have a standby life of at least 135 years, and provided the cabling to the reactor core hadn't corroded it should still be able to put out enough juice to get her airborne and break orbit, hopefully to at least get the Fes and contact Tomas de la Corez who could.....
She stopped where she stood - “ Wait.... What?!” How had she known that?
She cocked her head and looked at the underside of the ship, a curved panel ran from underneath the ship up towards the side of the engine, behind this was a key set of cables that would need to be intact if she had any hope of starting the engines. Almost without thinking, she found a set of tools in a cabinet near the ship and took out the tool she needed to remove the panel. She unfastened the bolts that held it in place and then paused, for if it fell, she would never be able to move it, this was a job that was usually done on a hoist with hydraulic assistance or in Zero G.....
The knowledge seemed to come from within her, but at the same time, she knew it wasn't hers – still, she needed to do this, and had no time to waste on the fact that somehow she seemed to be accessing an encyclopaedic knowledge of Corsair engineering from her head that she wasn't aware she had. Looking around she tried to find a way she could lever the panel free in a way that would allow her to shift it back into place again when it suddenly dropped...
“NO!” she shouted and reached out instinctively with her hands, the panel froze, several hundred kilograms of super alloy suspended in mid air exactly the same way that the mug had been.
“oh... wow.....” she gasped... she kept her gaze firmly on the panel... hanging there as it shouldn't be... “I... REALLY need to know how I do this......”
Gingerly moving closer she moved around the panel slightly and looked inside the now revealed innards of the Titan.
The cables were intact, their outer corrosion shielding showing only minimal signs of wear. Relieved, she backed off.... looking once more at the panel that was still hovering as if it was the most natural thing in the world for it to be doing... She was doing this, she knew that to be true, but she had no idea how she was doing it, nor how she was going to make it....
Go back into place, which it did the moment she thought it, obligingly shifting itself back into the slot from which it had so recently broken free. Scrambling quickly she grabbed the bolts from the floor and hurriedly fastened them back into place, fearing the entire time that whatever strange force within her that held it in place would suddenly decide not not hold it there any more and send it crashing irretrievably to the floor.
Once done, she stood back, admiring her handiwork. “Not bad Zarita” she smiled to herself, “Not bad at all”, chuckling she tossed the tool to the floor and then turning quickly on her heels she reached out her hand “Come to papa!!!!” she said, willing it to leap back towards her open palm.
Nothing happened, and the tool crashed to the ground with a thud.
Growling, she shook her head and climbed moved to the other side of the ship where the access catch was, popping it open she shifted the hydraulic lever within and the canopy of the ship began to open, a dull hissing sound filling the air as did small puffs of dust as ship began to open up.
Climbing inside she sat herself down in the dusty pilots chair and surveyed the blank and dust covered controls, dials and computer screens in front of her. Pausing a moment, she waited for the knowledge she needed to enter her mind. Sure enough; Arm the primary batteries off the power core to diagnose the internal systems, and assess the state of the reactor, once done and all clear restart the reactors and allow a few minutes for it to reach capacity, the engines will need to be powered up and down a few times after such a long period of inactivity, after that, the thrusters will need to.....
Reaching down beside her she found what she now knew to be the emergency battery reset lever and she tugged on it sharply. Lights flashed suddenly on the panels before her and an electronic voice spoke out, crackly and distorted, as if it had just been woken up too early in the morning and was not at all happy about it *crack..... imary batteries *crack....ndby for systems check... *
She waited a moment... dusting off some of the panels with her fingers, finally the voice spoke again * ....stems completed, reactor s....ble, nav syste.... table..... weapo...ystems stable, cooli.... ystems stable, do you wish to rest...t the primary power and re...tor core? .... *
“Yes thankyou” she nodded, and a dull hum could suddenly be heard from underneath her, the sound, she knew of the reactor spooling itself up to its regular power limits. Jumping out of the ship now she walked quickly across the hangar to where the control panel for its great outer doors stood. There was no need for computer security on Tangier at the best of times, and moreso here, this least most visited place on the Colony. So she had no problem accessin the controls and pulled the large lever down on the panel. High above her, the massive doors began their slow clunking retraction, letting the growing morning light in as they did so.
She began to return to the ship when she suddenly stoppped. Something was.... different.... creasing her brow she cocked her head to the side once more... and she felt it.... gasping she realised what it was... the guard had come to, he had sounded the alarm, someone was coming.
She ran now, positivley leaping into the cockpit of the Titan and sealing herself in.
“Computer, Status... “
The rusty voice spoke in reply * react.. at 75%, systems... “
She cut it off mid sentence “Too slow, combat override, arm engines at current power levels and lift off” The information came into her mind and she reacted without thought, she needed to get out of here and needed to go now.
The computer sounded a warning in reply but complied, the Titans vintage engines whirring into life once more. The ship began to shudder just as the first guard entered the room. He was shouting something but was drowned out by the growing din of the engines. She saw him reach to his belt and retrieve his comm unit, speaking into it she knew he was calling for backup. Come on.. come on... she willed..... Another guard appeared, and this one was armed.... he ran across the room and waved his arms madly, shouting something. Zarita waited nervously as the whine if the engines began to reach a high pitched wail, a sound that she knew would mean it would be ready to leave in moments.
There was a loud “Clang” on the side of the ship and she turned quickly, the guard was shouldering his Blaster rifle and she could see smoke coming from its barrel, he had fired at the ship, and without shields it had landed squarely on the body of the vessel. She saw him fire again and a shower of sparks flew off the nose of the aged vessel. "Come on, come on come on..." she muttered.....
She looked up, and to her horror she saw the doors to the hangar beginning to close, the second guard was standing by the control panel and had ordered them shut!
Suddenly, there was an almighty roar and the ships thrusters burst into life, scattering dust throughout the hangar and sending the guards running for cover as the ship leapt into the air. Zarita was thrown back into the seat, having neglected to fasten herself in. With blinding speed the ship went up and shot out of the hangar, narrowly missing the retracting doors it climbed into the sky.
Recovering herself she peered out of the canopy, up and up the ship went into the Tangier sky and a feeling of relief and joy washed over her, she threw her arms up into the air and laughed in triumph, “I did it! I did it!” she laughed out loud, leaning over the side of the cockpit she watched entranced as Tangier, her Tangier, her home for the entirety of the life she had known, began to grow smaller beneath her, whisps of cloud passing the ship.
She sat back in the chair, for the first time, wondering what awaited her, where she would go. She had only ever known life on Tangier, she had never thought to leave, never thought for a moment that she ever would - she suddenly felt very much out of her depth.
Still, she did know one thing at this point beyond certainty, she had to find her husband, she had to find Ben.
As the ship cruised its way across the Omega 47 system, she tried to familiarise herself with its computer systems. Familiarise... or re-familiarise herself because as she tinkered with them she found herself delving into memories that she knew were not her own. Her husband's memories, his knowledge of the ship, his knowledge of what it did.
The memories came slowly however, it was like reaching for something that was barely a shadow in a room full of mist and fog.
Locating the navigation system she tracked though it to find the Omega 41 jump hole. It seemed easy enough, she selected it and the computer beeped helpfully letting her know it was heading on that course, it was then that a voice crackled though her comm system, startling her: “Unidentified Corsair vessel, this is the Battleship Fes, you are not registering a current IFF code, identify yourself”.
She looked around the cockpit confused, Battleship? She tried to recall that particular memory and it wormed its way into her mind... Battleship Fes, Osiris Class battleship on permanent station guarding the Omega 41 jump hole, Crew compliment......
She stopped herself, no need to let the memories run over her... she just needed to give them some kind of satisfactory response. She fumbled around trying to locate the comm system and found the switch marked “transmit local”... She needed to come up with something and fast otherwise she knew they would send out some ships to investigate.
Flipping the channel to "open" she answered “Battleship Fes, This is Corsair operative transmit Zhang13alpha - my IFF was knocked out by a near miss with some Hessians back there... sorry, im getting it seen to as soon as im back on Crete.....”
She waited and her Titan sped on, she had answered once more almost on a reflex and it took her aback how the words just seem to come to her, like her mind and her body were acting on some kind of subconscious level, seemingly better than it did when she thought about it just as it had on Tangier. She also knew that she had just given them the classified operative code that belonged to Ben's sister Isabel, and that when the controller on the Fes ran it through the system it would show her status as on assignment to an Elder of the Council and she would not be hindered. She also knew, that she could be in a lot of trouble were that fact ever discovered.
“ID confirmed Pilot” came the voice of the Fes's comm operator again “Good hunting, Fes out.”
Sighing in relief she sat back in the chair as the ship sped its way closer to the jump hole. Gazing out the canopy she marvelled at the system that she had lived in her entire life but had never actually seen. Such beauty had always been there and she wondered if on some level the Corsairs on Tangier weren't depriving themselves of something by isolating themselves the way they had. She reached up and framed the sun in between her fingers, as she had done so often laying in the grass and looking up from the surface of Tangier. Up this close, it couldn't fit in the frame she had made, its massive orange bulk spilled out from the sides of her fingers and above and below her hand. A smile crossed her face as she took in the awesome sight before her, its glow bathing everything in the cockpit in a majestic orange, her hands almost... glowing. She stared at her fingers and her hand, looking like it had always remembered it to look, she moved it slowly around, flexing her fingers and opening and closing a fist. Then, something stopped her and a crease formed on her brow.
Something had moved.. in, under the flesh of her hand.
Was it a trick of the light? She moved it again and saw to her horror, lines forming from the tips of her fingers, forming themselves into intricate patterns that seemed to move autonomously under her skin, lines crossing lines, intertwining and separating, vanishing and then reappearing lower down her arm, crossing her forearm and then dancing back to her hand again, growing, moving, seemingly intending to cover her arm and then continue further up her body until.....
She screamed, the sound piercing the silence of the cockpit and she shook her arm madly, “my god my god” she muttered in terror, shaking her arm as if she had just seen some hideous kind of bug alighting upon it and she was trying to desperately shake it off.
She held her arm up to her gaze again and this time the lines had vanished. Yet she felt herself trembling, a human reaction of fear in what she was still realising was anything but a human body.
She cradled her arm against herself and tried to calm down. Yet she suddenly felt incredibly small and in over her head, no one could give her any answers on this, no one knew what she was and she had no one to ask.
She needed to find her husband.
Her thoughts were disturbed by the computers voice chiming up “approaching jump hole”. She looked up and saw it, a swirling mass of lights dancing in circular patterns, lines of light orbiting a cloud of multi coloured gases around something in its centre which was at once both there and not there... she noticed transfixed by the lights she was seeing, how similar they looked to the lines on her arms....
She gasped and covered her face with her hands, terror striking her once more as the ship buffeted slightly and the computerised voice spoke once more “Docking”. She closed her eyes and heard a roar and felt the tremors rocking the ship from all sides, “no nononono” she muttered to herself, trying to bury herself into the chair as far as she could, the roaring continued and she cried out as a wave of raw fear washed over her “NOOOOOOOO STOP IT!!!!”.
So it did, the sound stopped.... and she glanced up. The ship was sitting still in space, different space. In the distance she could see thousands of floating asteroids hanging still and silent, with their smaller cousins tumbling about, bumping into each other. “Omega 41 system, danger, radiation damage detected”
“That was a wormhole” the memory voice in her head whispered to her once more, yet she could barely control her fear and her shaking. She took deep, slow breaths – she had made it this far, she knew she had only a short journey ahead of her before she would jump once more to the Omicron Gamma system.
Suddenly, a warning sensor to her right emitted an urgent beeping sound and she sat up to try and figure out what it meant. A light on one of the tactical sensors was blinking, its warning light labelled “Proximity” and at that moment a shadow passed across her vision and Corsair Praetorian bomber passed over her ship, circling around and turning to face her. “Pilot identify yourself” a voice crackled over her comm system. It was a Corsair ship, she knew that much from the sight of it, and yet.. who? She fumbled around once more with the scanners, while simultaneously transmitting on a local frequency... “Umm. ..one moment, im.... not sure how this thing works....”
The Scanner blinked again and a code scrolled itself across the screen “OPG registered praetorian bomber class vessel”.
On the Fes, Ben sat before a terminal in the quarters he had taken up - He considered his options. He was extremely loath to use force to remove Zarita from Tangier, he did genuinely like the people there. However he knew that the longer he left her there the more dangerous it was, the truth of her nature could be discovered and that would only end in disaster.
He flipped on his comm device and spoke into it “Phillipe... “
A voice, his lieutenant Phillipe Alberto spoke through the device “Si Senor, what do you need?”
Ben sighed... in doing what he was considering doing he would be shattering the lives of the people on Tangier and robbing them of their isolation, he had grave misgivings about it, but he could not leave his wife as she was there now.
He spoke into the device again “Get yourself and 5 men, armed and ready for a ground mission, have them ready in the Outsider in half an hour”.
Alberto answered again, the man was nothing if not loyal and he knew Laowai's tone well enough to know that this was not a time where he should ask questions. “Will do Capitan....” he said, then he added “Oh... I was in the operations room on the bridge just now, it seems your sister just passed through the system.”
Ben sat up slightly... “What? Isabel is down here? How do you know?”
There was a pause on the line and then Alberto went on “Si Senor, her operations ID that we used for the mission to Alpha just came over the line and as I was there I cleared it, I hope I didnt do anything out of place?”
Ben shook his head... “no no... you know where she stands, Ill... look into this, Laowai out”
What was his sister doing in Omega 47? He had seen her some time before he had left on the mission to the Dyson sphere, but they had not arranged to meet again for some time, and there was no reason why she would be here... unless she had some business deal to follow up, and yet, if she were out in this part of Sirius on business.. She knew better than to use her operative id?
He hit the comm system again, and spoke to the comm officer on the Fes - “Put me through to Crete, on a secure transmission, Elder protocols, I want the Signals division outside Capital City”. He waited a moment until a voice answered, Crete had much more powerful transmission equipment capable of leeching off the Sirius wide networks that ran through trade lanes and communication satellites and he knew he would need that to get the range he wanted...
He was connected to a secure line and he punched in the code he used to locate his sister within Liberty space, there was a delay and then finally he received a code indicating that the line had been connected and he could transmit - “Isabel.. This is Ben, where are you?”
He waited, he had no idea if she would be in her ship, and if so, he would have to try her personal comms in her house, and yet, if she was in her ship..... and in this system.... then....
After a moment he heard a voice “Ben?” his sister's voice spoke out “Well... didn't think I would be hearing from you for a while, how are you?”
“Where are you?” he asked again bruskly, he was beginning to feel nervous, this wasn't adding up.
“Nice to hear from you too, im in New Tokyo if you must know.... Is everything all right?”
He fell back into the chair.. New Tokyo? Someone had used her ID somehow in this system, only a few hours ago. He answered quickly, “Im not sure, we may have a problem but I cannot talk about it now, ill contact you again soon, out”
He heard her trying to speak but he cut the transmission. Standing up he grabbed his jacket and was about to leave the room to head to the bridge when his comm system beeped again. He turned, looking at it Dammit... he thought, his sister was unbelievable, how had she managed to patch through to him here of all places that quickly... He hesitated, he did not have time to have an argument now and yet he felt a little rude for having cut her off, scowling he want back to the comm system, hit it on and spoke quickly “Isabel, I don't have time for this right now I have to.....”
A voice cut him off, “Er... Elder Laowai Sir, this is Tripoli security here, I hope I'm not interrupting but... we have a situation and I'm afraid we need to speak to you about it.”
Tripoli? Laowai sighed, this day was becoming more and more surreal by the minute, “What is it Tripoli, make it fast I have some business out here I need attending to quickly”
The speaker answered him “Yes, Elder, understood, its just... there is a woman here, we have no idea who she is and she isn't on any file that we can locate, Sir,...... she claims to be your wife?”
The ship had barely docked when Ben strode down its landing ramp. Leaping the last few inches before it came to rest on the Super Alloy floors of the docking bay, swirls of gas and smoke flicking around his ankles and dancing around his flowing coat.
He moved directly to docking control and the officer in charge of security.
"Where is she?" He asked coldly.
The man nodded and answered " In a holding Cell Elder.... we didnt know what to make of her until you got here."
Ben scowled slightly but caught himself from saying anything further. He had not anticipated this or that she would somehow make her own way into Corsair space, he had hoped to get her here and into medical care on his own terms and... far less publicly.
"You did the right thing" he said to the gaurd... "But in this case, your caution is not nessescary, the woman in question is my wife, but .... she has not been on Crete for some time".
The man looked slightly perplexed, "Well, Sir, we ran her details through the system she comes up blank...." He hesitated and Ben started at him. ... sensing the man's discomfort.
"And?" he asked pointedly.
The man looked slightly uncomfortable... "Well, Elder... we retina scanned her, which... showed.. well, Nothing... and" he shuffled his feet slightly, then reached down to a termial beside him and switched it on... an image of a hand and close ups of fingers appeared "We even tried fingerprints... but, well,... she doesnt have any?"
Ben looked closely, sure enough, the flats of Zarita's fingers showed no lines of any kind, they were perfectly smooth and showed no discernable features at all .... She must'nt be fully aware of how to shape herself.... he thought.
He stood up straight and with an air of authority, looking around him he leaned closer to the security chief.... "I know" he said "and thats completely intentional... there are certain... security concerns here, Outside of the empire... her line of work is.... discrete."
The man's eyes widened slightly, understanding the implications. "Well, Yes sir, i understand."
Laowai patted him on the shoulder, "Good work... I'll get her back to Crete for a debriefing...."
He turned to move to the cells but pausing added... "And ill be needing the security footage you took of her as well... on my authorisation....and your monitoring will be off while im with the person in question, clear?"
The chief nodded again, saying nothing and turning finally Laowai strode out of the room and to the neaby holding cells, finding the one he needed he activated the code to shut down the security field and then opened the door to the cell.
There, sitting with her legs up and looking forlorn, was Zarita.
Seeing him she leapt up and ran to him, embracing him firmly "Ben... thank the ancestors you came!"
He held her and then putting his hands on her shoulders he looked her over "How did you get here? Are you allright.....? you can.. move?"
She nodded quickly... "Yes... im fine, i can move well enough... just....not so confident about everything else".
Laowai's brow creased "What else?"
"You have no idea... I have no idea... we really REALLY need to talk...."
He nodded and turned to move her towards the door "Yes, we do... but not here, come on, my ship is waiting."
They moved out into the hall way and as they walked he looked it her, it amazed him, it was her, she was real, physical and actually here, walking beside him. He smiled; "How did you get here?" he asked her.
"Titan" she said matter of factly, "One of the old ones in the hangar on Tangier, fixed its reactor and restarted it.. got it out and came here".
He stopped... "You... fixed the reactor?"
She turned sharply... "Yes, i fixed it.. i know what you know remember? this stuff just... keeps coming out of my head..."
She grabbed his arm and leaned in close; "Can we please go? Somewhere else... i cant be around people right now, im.... " a look of concern crossed her face "not sure what I might do...."
They returned quickly to the Outsider and taking her to his Cabin onboard he activated the comm system and ordered the Crew to lift off and return to Crete.
He sealed the cabin door and looked at her once more... Despite his anxiety, he couldnt hide his joy at seeing her here, and seeing his face she smiled at him. "Well... we did it?" she said.
He sat beside her and cradled her against him, "That we did... "
He thought for a moment and said "When we get to Crete, we'll go up to my cabin in the mountains, its isolated.. "
"I know... " she said, leaning her head on his shoulder "Ive seen it in your memories..."
He smiled and held her close, this was all going to take a lot of time....
The Shuttle flight up to the mountain cabin had been a short one. Usually Laowai chose to walk the distance, prefering to take the few days it took to collect his thoughts and enjoy the journey.
This time however he had opted for a shuttle, not knowing how Zarita would have held up on a trek of such a length, as it was, she had fallen asleep in the shuttle and as it touched down a short distance from his cabin he woke her gently.
She had only been on Crete for a few days and they had spent the time secluded in his Hangar while he organised some paperwork to have her registered with the local Corsair authorities. Using his influence he had had her included on a local census that had taken place prior to her arrival. Corsair security was known to be suspicious of people who just "Showed up" on Crete, usually these individuals underwent a vigorous questioning regime and were subjected to scrutinity and more often than not, surveillance. None of this could be allowed to apply to Zarita, and being the wife of an Elder, she was able to fit within some of the few loopholes that Elders could use to thier benefit. His suddenly showing up with a wife had indeed raised a few eyebrows among those who knew him well enough to know, but they also knew well enough not to ask.
The Shuttle lifted off again, casting clouds of dust around them as they gathered up their packs and supplies and walked the remaning distance to the cabin. Zarita shouldered her pack with little to no effort, something that caused Ben to raise an eyebrow. He had noticed over the last few days that while she looked as she always had, she seemed to posses a physical strength that belied her size. For her part, she wasnt aware of it, and had only barely noticed, claiming, rightly so, that it had been so long since she had physically lifted anything that she had no idea what her strength had used to be, much less what it was now in her new form.
By the time they had unpacked and given the cabin a brief clean to make it slightly more habitable the sun was beginning to set and they sat outside on the balcony together, watching the flaming orange colour show as it gradually decended into the Cretian sky.
"Its really beautiful here" Zarita said "I mean, i know it, ive seen it in my thoughts, but its so much more vivid when i see it like this."
She had said many things like this over the last few days. She had known her way around his hangar like she had been there her whole life, she had had to catch herself several times to prevent herself addressing members of his crew by their first names, and on one occasion had inquired about one of his Navigators wives by name, causing a small amount of confusion in the man who wondered how this woman who he had never met seemed to know so much about him and his family.
On the whole though, they had remained alone, keeping quiet and marvelling in the fact that they were physically close again, with no deadlines, no 6 month intervals. Things were different in some ways, there was no way to share their thoughts as they had, at least not as easily - They had tried using their crystals at one point, but the moment Zarita had touched it she had sent her husband sprawling to the floor, grasping his head in pain.
Best not do that for now - they had thought, best take small steps before they started to run.
"Ill need to go and hunt us something to eat" Ben said, breaking the silence. She stirred beside him and yawned, "I should go now before the light goes completly, Slouchers are quite hard to track at the best of times, and they'll be out now".
She sat up and stretched, "Dont worry" She said, smiling at him "There are two of them a few hundred metres that way" gesturing in the direction of the small creek that ran nearby.
"How do you know that"? he asked, a slight look of concern crossing his face.
She hesitated a moment; "I Dont know,.... i can just.... feel them". She took his hand, "I can feel... lots of things, the Slouchers by the creek, the nest of native eagles in the tree behind the cabin, the rats that live underneath it....".
"Rats?!" Ben said, surprised, "Ill have to set some baits!"
They chuckled and she continued "Its so strange Ben, this happened on Tangier, and its just gotten stronger, its like... i feel.... presence, life... something around me.... I could feel your crew when we were in your Hangar, i could feel the people outside my cell on Tripoli...."
There was so much they didnt understand. He tried to reassure her, telling her that everything they knew about the Nomad species pointed that they possesed what humans would call "extra sensory" abilities, she was bound to manifest them in some way. This seemed to comfort her somewhat, and yet at the mention of their name "the Nomads" She had visibly tensed, he didnt need to have any kind of telepathy to know the idea of them seemed to chill her to the bone.
"Ive had... dreams" She had told him, "Im not alone in them, its like there is something out there, waiting, something watching.... its light and dark at the same time, sometimes, its like a distant singing that seems to hover around, just outside earshot, i only get fragments of it... it scares me and i want to wake up".
He didnt say anything to her about this, but this did concern him - There was nothing he wouldnt do to protect this woman, and all he could do was reassure her. He had no idea whether there were Nomads on Crete, one thing was for certain however, if there were, she would no doubt feel it the moment any of them came near her.
Sure enough, he had found a Sloucher down by the creek, and after shooting it, he returned to the cabin, skinned and gutted it and carved it up into storable amounts. That night, they ate a hearty meal and retired early, laying close together in the small cot he had made, drifting off to a quiet, peaceful and contented sleep.
See the life that was, you can feel it, they are above you, majestic and powerful and yet so innocent - Remember on Tangier, watching them swoop and dive, if they could express emotion in a way you could've understood it would have been joy, sheer joy. You always wanted to be able to do that, do be like them and fly, imagine the freedom of it... imagine... imagine......
He was startled awake by a loud shattering sound and the sound of falling equipment, plates and untensils, broken glass spread out across the floor. Zarita was gone and he heard a loud and pained thud from outside the cabin.
He jumped up, grabbing a blaster from the side of the bed and bolted out the door. "Zarita"!!! He screamed. Dashing off the porch he shone his flashlight around and underneath the broken window he saw her, struggling on the ground, thrashing wildly as if she was trying to fight something off, dust kicked up and there was a flash of large dark feathers in the light, which quickly disapeared as she rolled over again.
"AAArrrghhh!!! my god!!! whatss happpening to me!!!! " her wail shattering the silence of the night around them. Thinking she must have run afoul of one of the game birds that nested nearby Ben dashed to her side and gripped her shoulders, "Zarita its ok, its ok im here.. its ok, its...." He turned her over and then leapt back in shock - There, where her left arm should've been, thrashing around in the dust; was a mass of feathers and barely formed flesh, still shifting, looking for all the world like some kind of molten metal trying to fit into a mould.
Complete terror filled her eyes - "Ben!!! what is it? whats it....."
He moved to try and steady her and she thrashed at her arm again, the feathery wing shape suddenly vanishing to be replaced by a morphous blue mass that whipped around quickly before shifting itself back into the shape of a human arm.
She was sitting in the dust, looking in terror at what now was a regular looking arm.... she looked up at him and her face broke and she burst into terrified tears. "Its ok! its ok, its stopped now" He knelt beside her, pressing her face against his chest. She sobbed uncontrollably, her body shaking and trembling. He rocked her against him, "its ok, im here... i wont let anything happen to you ...."
He knew he meant those words, and yet, far down in his instinct, he knew he was dealing with something here that he only barely understood, if at all.
She looked up at him, tears streaking dark dirty marks down her dust covered face. "Ben... I... I didnt do it, It.... just.... What have we done?"
He picked her up, cradling her against him he carried her, still sobbing back into the cabin. "We'll be ok" he said "We just need to take this one step at a time, this is new, this is going to happen, but we can do this...."
He could feel her nodding against him, and he felt an outpouring of love for this woman, he could only imagine the fear she must be feeling and for a moment he felt tremendous guilt at this; This had been his idea, it had been his plan to do this, but yet it is her now that has to bear the ordeal.... She was so courageous and in that moment he felt completely unworthy of her ordeal and her courage.
He scowled and then sitting her down on the bed he knelt before her. Taking her hands in his he looked up and into her eyes "Nothing will happen to you, and I will do everything in my power to go through this with you, to understand it and help you control it - Zarita, you CAN control this.... ".
She leaned down and placed her forhead against his "I... know, im just afraid, i dont know what I am....."
Looking up, he kissed her gently on the forhead, "You're my wife, nothing can change that".
A little smile crossed her face, which broadened into a grin when she saw his own smile break.
"Come on" he said, "Lets get this dust off you and get back to bed.... "
Laowai woke early the next morning - Zarita lay beside him, still asleep and breathing gently. He smiled and kissed her forehead lightly. Raising himself gently off the cot he dressed and gathered his things, he wanted to get an early start, get out and gather some wood, water and perhaps some more food if he could find it. He recorded her a message on a data pad and headed out.
Zarita awoke sometime later. She yawned and stretched - She knew Ben had gone out a while before, even without listening to the data pad message, she'd been aware of his movements somehow while she slept. She sat up, moved across the room and opened the cooler - taking out some of the meat from the night before she nibbled on some and played back Ben's message on the data pad. He was expecting to come back around lunchtime and so she still had a few hours to kill.
Right she thought, if this is what i am, then by the ancestors im going to be the master of it, it is NOT going to be the master of me.
She held up her hand and stared at it intently, an image began to form in her mind and yet she maintained her stare, beneath her skin, she saw feint lines begin to form, much like the ones she had seen whilst flying the Titan. This time however, she didn't give in to her instinctive fear, she maintained her stare, emptying her mind of anything save the image she had, an image of what she had seen last night when her arm had morphed from a wing back to her human shape... a clear, blue shapeless shape, liquid and yet solid, changing and yet stable, moving and yet......
Trance like she almost didn't see it, and yet, it happened, slowly her fingers began to move, coalesce, join, almost melt into each other, the lines under her skin seemed to widen and the pigment of her hand began to fade, began to shift, began to wash over itself with a clear, pure almost liquid... blue.....
With a start, she snapped back to the here and now, and her hand whipped out and took clear shape once more, fingers where they should be, pigment lines gone and her flesh the same olive complexion it had always been. She stared at her hand and the realization dawned on her.....
She leapt up off the chair "Yes!!!!" she cried out to no one. She could control her fear, and if she could... if she could keep some form of control, then it appeared that......
She could change shape.
Whipping around with a laugh she pointed at the door and shouted "BOOM!!!", as she did so, the door suddenly snapped off its hinges and flew violently outwards away from the cabin, a cloud of dust and splintered timber in its wake.... "oh... crap...." she muttered......
She walked outside, the door lay meters away, sitting squarely in the dust, if it could express emotion she felt sure it would be one of irritation.. she giggled... "What did I ever do to you?... Mr Door says....."
She sat on the steps and looked at it - She didn't know what her body was, or what it was really capable of... and yet at this point, certain things had manifested themselves - as she pondered this she began to feel that it was in the moments when she was least "conscious" that its abilities seemed to come to the fore.
She considered that, for how does a person... think, without thinking?
She tried once more, imagining the door lifting from the ground and moving towards the now open lintel... and yet, she didn't look at it, her eyes stared at nothing in particular, the dust, the birds moving through the trees, the clouds drifting across the sky.
She turned and sure enough, the door was hanging inches away from her, hovering in front of its old position. As she became conscious of it, it dropped with a loud clatter and fell once more, this time onto the balcony.
Cocking her head to one side she looked it it... It really shouldn't be there.... she thought, it was heavy, and really, laying flat on the balcony it was useless as a door, it wasn't even really a door anymore, more like a joined collection of flat timbers, because surely a door should actually lead somewhere in order to be able to rightly call itself a door, and after that, what was Ben going to say when he came home and found the door to his cabin laying completely un-door-like on the balcony, he surely wast going to.....
The Door raised up from the balcony as if being lifted by many pairs of hands, effortlessly it moved until it stood, squarely in the lintel where it had been, it leaned slightly against one side and then its weight shifted away from its invisible hands and back onto the ground.
"There" Zarita said with a small smile of satisfaction "A couple of hinges and you can call yourself a door again"......