Navigating empty corridors
on route to The Gathering where
Prussia awaits, Ronan retrieves a video message within Mon Goshe Taur’s update.
Root-Nano-Factory
Units, under the guise of being authorised geoprobes, had been openly planted
across RT7 immediately following Mar Poltauramy’s death over a decade ago. The gen
Ronan was now receiving explained that the first continent subject to exilux had returned information
regarding the presence of an olden nuclear power plant in proximity to a
presently active volcano. Information filed by Gerard Stanfield’s last
expedition into the terrain near where Joan Thurman had died, cited the plant was
abandoned ˗probably after reactor meltdown damage caused by past earthquakes. There
were tanks of highly contaminated water, reactor cooling pools of spent fuel
with missing rods, slowly leaking radioactive substances into groundwater near
the city Raintree inhabitants called Asher.
The
possibility of two rods touching in one of the collapsed plant’s water wells,
causing a fission reaction and large release of radiation, did not concern
Ronan for its capacity to further cause genetic disease in the Ashen natives,
but for the contaminated matter confevoromateria
could accrue.
The
relocation of some geoprobes by inquisitive inhabitants also posed another minor
problem; as, combined with the shutting down of selected RNF’s in the area, confevor’a
in the region could become an uneven and untimely process.
At
the end of the lonely corridor, Ronan had an unusually long wait for a security
clearway to open, even after swiping his eyelet twice. Asher aside, Ronan knew
Prussia would be upset at the loss of the City of Nahul, which had grown in
renown since Poltauramy and Nelesia had been out of the game for its culture,
jewellery, musical instruments, craft beer, and spices. A notable mix of
enchanting spices called reddukkar had long been illegally imported into Netech
by recon emissaries. He pushes the thought of Nelesia casting a dark shadow as
she ambled dirty streets in strong sunlight out of his mind, by swiping his
eyelet a third time and lightly inspecting it. Silencing his visuals and drawing
his focus to the cool stone as he turned it over in his fingers, something in
the corner of the doorway, on the floor, catches his eye. Before he could give the
tiny cluster of mushrooms any further thought, the secured clearway opened to a
bustling metropolitan vista of human doings.
~
Nel
and Polt were standing together, looking out over Netech.
‘Reality,
realty, royalty…one of these days, one of those threats was going to catch up
with us,’ shrugged Nelesia.
~
After
the funeral, Mayani went to the Golden Oak in the centre of Eden and circled
its girth; gently dragging her fingers across the bark until they caught a
particularly deep split, with the smallest length of thread inconspicuously
poking out. With a decorative pin from her purple scarf, she levered out a
small object entwined in the end of the thread. Unfastening the decorative
knots, Mayani finds a mini music card with the name Nelesia carved across its surface in neat tiny lettering.
Mayani
sighed with relief, having fulfilled the first part of a personal request made
by Nel and Polt when their son was born. Long ago, when they had helped her
gain independence after entering Netech as a specimen, Mayani had agreed to activate
their failsafe in the event that Poltauramy met foul play during the
contentious transition period ahead of them –because they believed the future
of their son’s world was irrefutably tied to the future of hers.
~
As
he walked behind Katherine and the Pleiian Ward’s double, Donnie focused on
rolling an exposed egare kernel, powdered with the ash of crushed snail shells,
into fire cured tobacco, and fresh kibou leaves.
‘How’s
your brother going?’ asked Kath.
‘Better,’
replied Bennet. ‘He’s responding really well to the treatment… the symptoms are
lessening, and his spirits are growing noticeably.’
‘And
how did you go with finding fabric for your friend’s gown?’
‘Oh,
well, I’ve had some difficulty finding fabric that is soft and drapes nicely,
in the same colour as some that has body and will stand firm. You know, how the
difference between the top and bottom half will be.’
‘Well
if you want, I could try help you find something while you’re here?’ offered
Katherine.
‘Oh
thanks, yeah if you have time after supper…’
‘Surely.
And if not, Donnie knows the troupe I have in mind –he could take you to them.
Either, or –right Donnie?’
Anticipating
the heat as he lifted the kibou leaf to his lips, Donnie noticed Jullee
standing with the elder woman of the newly arrived Tekah Ahn by a smouldering
fireplace. He slowed as he saw Jullee sit on her knees, head bowed.
When
Katherine and Bennet noticed Donnie had stopped following them, Katherine
walked back to notice him glaring at Orana as she stood over Jullee. He
admitted his distrust, saying, ‘I don’t know about these people.’
Katherine
left him alone, saying quietly, ‘It’s called empathy Donnie.’
Donnie
watched Tharwa lead Orana away, and left before Urik returned for Jullee.
~
The
two candles she had brought to the table were ending.
‘Your
mind, once stretched by a vision…may never regain its former shape,’ professed
Jullee as she poured another mouthful of her drink to the ground for those that
had passed, before sinking the last drop of Dusty’s homebrew. She sat her glass
on a closed silverbook and rested her eyes; smiling peacefully.
Billy’s
wife Lainey soon took Jules hand and began leading her away from the tavern
table where they sat outside by the river.
On
the way to Jullee’s transient room, she was apologising and mumbling, ‘I’m
sorry Lain, sometimes it’s just nice to be blind… you know?’
‘It’s
okay honey,’ soothed Lainey with sympathy as they unlinked arms and Jules
teetered into her room. Lainey had learned that in a stolen moment of respite, whilst
swimming that morning, Jullee had been caught and told of a dear friends
passing.
As
she slowly closed the door on Lainey, Jules insisted she was alright, had much
to do and just needed a good night’s sleep.
Lainey
prayed wordlessly in the silent candlelit hallway, sending strength through the
closed door.
Inside,
Jullee waited till she was sure Lainey had gone before packing her rucksack;
then heading downstairs and climbing onto Chess.
Today,
Jullee had: acquainted a gathering of Wards, welcomed the original Tekah Ahn to,
and learned of Nibwaw Ariod movements near, the Shadow Mountain settlement in
the morning; conferred with Joan Thurman, and proffered new directives to
Phaeona near the Dana Pinnacles in the afternoon; and finally met with Camelia
and secured their Armin’s wages, before dinner and drinks at this safe house –she
was exhausted.
‘Take
us home will you,’ yawned Jullee as she leaned into the tangle of Chestnut’s
mane; coaxing him to take them back to the Shadow Mountains settlement.
~
At
dawn, several adorned Mara entered The Hall with their Highest Priest,
Jeremoth. After their Gondor ceremony at the Temple of Quatar was disturbed by
earth tremors, they had found something. Leading with his silverstone stick embedded
with coloured stones, Jeremoth proceeded to present to Richard and Prue an
unusual looking hammer stone held by two Hiidean’s –it was larger than normal,
and had an unnatural glossy white surface.
‘It’s
not a hammer stone Murn Richard,’ confirmed Jeremoth.
The
Hiidean’s proceeded to reveal the stone had been cracked open by rocks falling
during the night tremors; as Jeremoth removed a geometric object from the round
white shell.
It
was felt in The Hall at that moment, that Richard’s powers might be affected,
or have some effect, on the foreign object.
A
knock on the door interrupted them and a messenger bearing a scroll entered,
followed by Armin escorting Finlee Catar and a small, handsome, tame wolfdog at
his heels.
‘After
the quakes I thought this might be a one way trip,’ explained Finlee at
Richard’s astonished expression.
Richard
motioned for Prue to read the scroll, and she accepted it after prompting one
of the serving girls to fetch Finlee a drink.
‘According
to the watchers, Geoldoff and Velda are now within sight of the city’s northern
gates –they’ll be here within hours,’ concluded Prue.
Richard
nodded while visually inspecting the object Jeremoth had brought him, and ignoring
Finlee as he was being seated on Lonigan’s empty chair opposite Prue.
Prue
motioned to another serving girl, as Richard spoke. ‘Finlee, today you will
manage the relocation of a significant number of mineworkers to Norwood Base.’
The
unnatural compulsion to obey Richard’s command began to take effect on Finlee’s
thoughts and future plans. Unlike Prue, and present Armin, Finlee did not know
this request was in preparation against possible Raken and Ariod threats, but
he didn’t question the command.
Jeremoth
stood by, almost beside himself with anticipation for Richard to pick up the tesseract,
and verged on incensed for not being the centre of attention.
‘Take
the notes Prue has made for you, and see Lonigan if you have any further questions
–I assume he’s still alive. Is he still alive?’ quipped Richard, glancing Prue.
‘Surely,’
stated Prue, as she received a scroll from a serving girl and Finlee received a
pewter tankard. Finlee drank deeply, stabbed by the memory of the Gambit Section
collapse Richard had made a point of leaving in his mind –Prue watched him impassively.
As
Finlee’s senses gently clouded, he chose to spare the last sip of his drink.
Prue
gently ruffled the papers while checking everything required was there.
Richard
glanced Jeremoth one last time before reaching for the object.
As
Prue leaned forward and proffered the papers, Finlee stood up and poured the
last of his drink on the ground in front of him –it splashed on the stone
instead of absorbing into exposed earth as he truly wanted. Walking over the
wet floor as he took the papers from Prue and they ruffled in his hands, something
tugged hard at the back of Finlee’s mind.
Distracted,
Jeremoth was confused by the way Finlee spilled his drink.
Prue’s
eyes sparkled.
Murn
Richard lifted the unfolded tesseract into the air, disappointed nothing was
happening.
‘To
Norwood,’ reinforced Prue to a slightly disorientated Finlee.
‘One
of your better designs I’d say,’ remarked Richard. ‘Oh, you probably don’t
remember,’ he scorned.
Richard
sighed boredly as he replaced Jeremoth’s object to the broken stone. ‘Take this
rock to the Alecsee Library…Anastasia will direct you to someone who can tell you
more about it.’
Slighted,
Jeremoth bowed stiffly as he thanked Richard for his direction and excused himself;
Prue was amused.
‘Oh
and Jeremoth,’ added Prue, ‘do set aside the afternoon to be at The Arena for a
series open games. We hope to offer a wonderful spectacle after the terror our
citizens have just experienced –in order to unite us in solidarity… that our
great project may continue. Yes?’
A
faint smile broke Jeremoth’s serious contemplation as Prue pressed, ‘perhaps
you would be willing to contribute ceremoniously in some way?’
~
With
a small Armin escort, Cornelius goes to fetch The Bear. For someone known to
have enough spare money to invest in the building of schools and housing for
the poor, he is surprised to find a modest timber home with a decorative front garden
and bound stick gate. He picks some cherry tomatoes at the gate, eating them as
he pushes it open and looks to smoke coming from a little chimney.
As
Armin post themselves at the gate, Cornelius walks up to the open front door
and calls out.
‘We’re
outside, come through!’ returned a woman’s voice from somewhere beyond the back
of the house.
Cornelius
signals to his Armin, and two enter the house to stand by the door while
another two follow him inside. He passes a small fireplace with a large pot of
vegetable stew bubbling away; the delicious smell makes his stomach turn with
hunger.
Following
the sound of running water, Cornelius goes to the back veranda and stands
beside some clothes lying on the floor. Looking out into the landscaped garden,
he sees a lonely figure sitting in a rock pool made from redirected river
water.
Walking
towards her, he stops short at the sound of a bow being drawn above him.
Looking up he sees a young girl perched on the roof with an arrow aimed at his
skull.
‘Join
me general,’ teases the maid in the water.
He
shifts uncomfortably in his armour, and contemplates the Armin posted behind
him throughout the house; his Captain looks away.
Cornelius
caught himself beginning to smile. ‘Must I?’
To
his relief, she moved her head to say no.
‘Why
are you here?’ asked the maidservant, her swimming clothes swaying
distractingly in the water.
Cornelius
gathered himself, and placed a message scroll on the ground in front of him,
while glancing the girl still perched above him. ‘Your Lady is required in The
Arena by Lord Mayor Rinehart before the close of day.’
‘They
will be honoured general.’
He
nodded curtly and turned to leave. As he was walking away, she called out, ‘you
will be there also?’
His
heart leapt but he kept on walking, accustomed to not giving himself away.
She
smiled even as he ignored her.
~
Jullee
woke up on Chess, who was standing facing a collapsed stable; she worried for
his naked hooves against splinters of stained glass amid broken gypsum plaster
underfoot, the remnants of an old church vestibule. With bleary eyes, she
looked up and around to see a broken tavern as the animated voices of people
roaming wreckage hit her ears –she had slept through an earthquake. Astonished,
she sighed with relief as she saw Dusty and Lainey alive and well, looking at
their half destroyed tavern from the street. Seeing the sun was still low in
the sky, Jullee hastened Chestnut to return to the Shadow settlement.
Cornelius
and his escort were shortcutting through a series of alley ways.
He
was contemplating the way he felt something more than what he was compelled to
do under Richard’s power. While quietly considering the women they passed, his friend
teased, ‘who are you looking for?’
Cornelius
shrugged him off, but this only made his friend laugh as they turned another
corner.
‘She’s
a mere maid,’ defended Cornelius, recalling her in the rock pool clearly.
At
the other end of the alley, Cornelius was struck by a familiar face. His
company laughed at his reaction, distracting him while she suddenly turned her
horse around.
Jullee
was leaving the city when she remembered her silverbook, she had left it behind
and wanted to go back for it. Pulling on the reins, she turned her horse around
and started galloping back –but the presence of Armin had increased so she was driven
to find a way out of the city again.
Cornelius
paced ahead of his troupe for another glance of the familiar woman, but was
unable to catch her on her arbitrary path.
~
‘Patches
makes perfect,’ smiled Jullee as she stopped to help someone repair their tent
which had been burnt.
‘I
could make a real trade selling these huh,’ suggested the boy, lifting his now
empty bamboo water gun kept by the fire.
‘Yes,
you do need fires to sell fire extinguishers,’ admitted Jullee as she looked
around their camp. It was now just after midday and there were a few small
trails of smoke from lunchtime cooking. She overheard someone crying.
Jullee
found Orana mourning loudly for Tharwa. He had passed over in his sleep during
the night, and they were now moving the body to a resting place. Orana didn’t
have the strength to stand, and kept falling to the ground as she wailed
inconsolably.
Katherine
was explaining burial arrangements in the camp to Urik, as Nile and Iris nursed
Orana. When Katherine left them with some burial hands, she saw Jullee pierced
by Orana’s voice –Jullee did not approach them but hastened away.
Akhtar
and Elstir returned to Urik holding a silverbook.
‘What
have you done?’ panicked Urik.
‘Well,
we didn’t know what to do. We thought it best not to leave it behind, in case
it fell into the wrong hands,’ explained Akhtar.
‘This
is my fault,’ stressed Urik. ‘We can’t have her fretting. She’ll think that…she’ll
be stressing who has it, she’s going to be upset.’
‘We
could just leave it somewhere here, to turn up for her,’ suggested Elstir.
‘No,
no,’ shook Urik. ‘Then she’ll be wondering who’s been in her tent, and then who
can she trust in this camp… It’ll just cause suspicion, fear, and doubt. We’ll
have to be honest, we’ll have to come clean.’
‘Okay,
I’ll take it to her,’ volunteers Elstir.
‘No,
I will,’ says Akhtar.
‘Stop,’
interrupted Urik. ‘It has to be me. If you go to her she will want to know why
you were there. More questions will follow. I’ll go to her and get to the heart
of it.’
Akhtar
and Elstir nodded apologetically.
‘With
any luck, she’ll be grateful it wasn’t lost in the quake you experienced,’
added Urik hopefully.
~
Jullee
is inspecting an ovoid white stone, broken open to expose a geometric shape
inside, some children had found it in the forest and their parents sent them to
Jullee and the Wards with it. Urik braced himself as he neared the gathering
around Jullee and the strange object, his palms sweating against the
silverbook’s cover.
The
Arundhati sky peoples Ward was insisting it was no ordinary meteor, and calling
the object inside a deltoidal hexecontahedron, when Jullee first glanced Urik
and recognised the book he was holding. She blinked hard, but turned to the Arundhati
Ward saying, ‘we entrust this to you now. Maybe something in the Pleiian
Greibarians books will reveal more.’ As an afterthought, she added more
quietly, ‘I hope they haven’t been affected by the earth tremors.’
Jullee
then excused herself from the gathering and shot Urik a look, asking him to
follow her. Once they were out of earshot she turned to him and held out her
hand. He placed the book in her hands impassively. ‘Thank you,’ she said
quietly, noting the hand tie hadn’t been tampered with as she drew a deep
breath. ‘So…you don’t trust me?’ she stressed very slowly.
Urik
looked up and around; he saw Lei watching Iris, and Iris watching Eva as she
watched her little brother playing. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, lifting his head. ‘But
I have a…’
‘Don’t
be sorry,’ interrupted Jullee as she remembered Tharwa was now being buried. It
made her think of Samuel, whom she’d not have time to see before they closed
his body over. Jullee only now realised, that in Tharwa’s passing, Urik would
likely be naturalised as a Chief leader of the Tekah Ahn.
‘I
have a responsibility,’ finished Urik.
‘I
understand,’ admitted Jullee. ‘You’re trying to protect your people, and here
we are…leading you into the lair.’
Urik
was relieved as they smiled wryly at one another.
‘Thank
you,’ she said firmly, lifting the book. ‘And I’m sorry for your loss,’ she
grieved sincerely, referring to Tharwa.
‘Thank
you, and I’m sorry for yours,’ replied Urik, meaning Samuel.
Jullee
threw him a look as if to say how did you
know?
‘Katherine,’
replied Urik.
Jullee
nodded, wondering if Katherine had also exposed her Ashen whereabouts
yesterday. She tucked the book out of sight, into her jacket against her back,
and made to walk away.
‘Oh
by the way,’ added Urik. ‘I’ve seen pictures of that thing the children found,
carved in stone, in caves on the other side of the Paper Plains.’
‘Of
course you have,’ smiled Jullee with amusement; remembering his revelation
about the Nibwaw Ariods when they had only just met. ‘What are you doing now?’
asked Jullee. ‘You can tell me more about these drawings on our way back to the
Others. We’re about to eat together, as we have a huge afternoon ahead of us…
and you’re a part of it all now.’
‘I
need to check on Orana first,’ declined Urik politely. ‘Then I’ll join you.’
‘No
worries,’ nodded Jullee, and they went their separate ways.