“Anywhere but here,” Cash answered the AI’s question but received no response.
“Well, at least we solved the power issue,” I said. “Now, there’s just the problem of there being nowhere to go.”
“There has to be some way out of here, even if the earthquakes have blocked them,” Dick said. “Otherwise, how did the ship get here in the first place?”
“That’s a good point,” Vomero said. “Although, it’s entirely possible that Maluna used the scepter’s power to create this grotto around the ship.”
We were all silent for a moment, letting that dismal possibility sink in.
“Well, that sucks,” Cash muttered. “I say we pretend that’s not what happened and look for a way out big enough to fit this ship.”
“It makes sense, though,” I said. “And if that’s what happened, we’d be wasting time we could use to think of another plan. The scepter was powerful enough to raise the islands, it certainly could form this grotto. It would also explain why the place is falling apart since the kid ate it.”
The child seemed to understand that I was talking about it as it once again became uncomfortable and scampered off in the direction of the common room.
“Do you think the AI was calling it by its name?” Dick said introspectively. “Ancient Light?”
“That’s not a name, it’s a description,” Cash pointed out.
“How would the computer know its name?” I asked. “You think it did some weird thing to the ship’s AI to change it?”
“No,” Vomero said. “I can sense the system functioning as it was originally intended. Whatever that thing is, it simply fixed what was already here.”
“That ole’ tale you shared about this place,” Ryuuk added, “didn’t you say this Maluna person crash landed on this planet? Maybe this was that ship. It was broke, and now the little one used the scepter to fix it. Ya’ll said that thing was powerful.”
“Odd that Maluna couldn’t just do that in the first place,” I said but agreed with Ryuuk’s assessment. “This is definitely not like any ship I’ve seen before, and it’s nothing like either the Malunite or Syreni technology we’ve encountered on Kalo-Mahoi.”
“Which still doesn’t explain how the ship would know the kid’s name,” Cash said. “Hell it was just born. We don’t even know its name. Dick, I suppose it’s up to you to give the thing a proper name since it’s your kid and all.”
“Very funny,” Dick said. “For the last time, I was not pregnant, and I’m not that kid’s dad. It just took up residence inside me for a while until it got strong enough to survive in the world on its own...”
Silence descended as everyone in the room stared pointedly at Dick.
“Fine! I gave birth to the goddamn thing!” he said in exasperation. “That doesn’t make me its dad, though. More like a surrogate.”
“Lot’s of species reproduce that way,” I said in a mollifying tone.
“It’s not weird at all,” Vomero comforted, his tone only slightly sarcastic.
“Both male and female Avians take turns sittin’ on a egg,” Ryuuk added. “It’s completely natural.”
“It’s fucking hilarious, is what it is!” Cash said, doubling over in laughter.
His laughter, along with the discreet snickers emitting from the rest of us, were drowned out by another loud rumble of the cavern. This time, the shaking was accompanied by the unmistakable sound of large, rocky debris hitting the hull of the ship.
Tria’s voice chimed in to update us.
I have detected destructive forces threatening the external hull of the ship. Shields have been automatically activated. How would you like to proceed?
The five of us looked at each other uncertainly. Who was the ship’s AI expecting to answer? It didn’t seem to respond at all when Cash spoke to it earlier, and the kid had wandered off to another room.
“You were the first one it responded to earlier,” I observed, speaking to Dick. “Give it a try?”
“Give what a try?” Dick asked. “You want me to just ask it, hey computer do you know of a way out of this grotto that won’t get us all killed?”
Calculating possible trajectories.
“No fucking way,” Cash said in disbelief.
“But why is it responding to him?” Vomero mused. “Unless...”
“That’s the most pressing question in your mind right now with the whole mountain about to cave in on us?” Cash responded. “You’ve really got to get your priorities straight.”
“No, this is relevant,” Vomero said. “Maybe it has to do with exactly what we’ve been talking about. The entity lived inside of Dick for the better part of a month.”
“So, you think it left some residual imprint on him?” I asked.
“It’s possible,” Vomero said, “which means Dick can probably fly and operate this ship as well as the entity could. Well, better actually, considering the child doesn’t seem to do anything but act on instinct right now.”
“I’d say that it’s more than possible,” Dick said, staring at a display of scrolling text.
To me, it looked like gibberish, but Dick was staring at it intensely as the words flew by.
“I’m going to go on a hunch here and guess that none of you can read this. Right?” he said.
Each of us confirmed that we had never seen the language displayed on the screen. This was different than the common language text that had appeared previously on the displays. It was on a separate display panel that hadn’t activated before.
“And you can?” Vomero asked. Dick nodded, not taking his eyes off the display.
“I think the biosignature you were looking for was called Ancient,” Dick said. “I see that term used several times in this database.”
“What’s the information you’re seeing mean?” Vomero inquired, stepping closer to where Dick still stood on the platform.
“Most of it is searching for possible exits and crossing the bad ones off the list of viable options,” he said. “But this part down here...”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
He pointed to a part of the display in the bottom left corner. It looked like a circular loading bar with a familiar silhouette inside that looked like the outline of the child.
“It says, roughly, umm...power potential. And the symbol underneath it means Light.”
“Ancient Light,” I muttered. “Or...Ancient, Light. A title and a name? So, the computer does recognize the entity by name? And it’s name is Light?”
“The little thing does light up a lot,” Ryuuk observed.
“It just finished,” Dick said, watching the fully filled bar.
Next, Tria chimed in again.
I have found only one viable option for escaping the grotto under the current circumstances. Although, there are several others with unacceptably low chances of success. I recommend initiating the advised course of action quickly as the probability of it’s success has already dropped significantly since calculation.
“Why has it dropped?” Dick asked.
The recommended action requires the use of Light’s latent energy stores from absorbing an artifact of Ancient origin.
“So, its name is Light,” Vomero mused.
“Tria, what’s wrong with that, is the energy fading? Will this hurt...um...Light?”
Negative. However, the young Ancient is currently under threat. Escalation of that threat reduces the chance of success.
“From what?!” Dick shouted, turning around swiftly and stopping in his tracks.
“From me,” said Owen.
* * *
Owen stepped into the control room with a smug look on his face.
Three of his Syreni operatives followed behind him, one of which held Light captive with a thermite blaster pressed to the back of its head.
“You heard the computer,” Owen said in that smarmy persuasive way I had always hated. “Escalation of the threat means we all die together. So, stay calm and do what you’re told.”
He motioned to Cash and Ryuuk, whose hands were already hovering near their weapons. Cash glanced at me, and I gave a subtle shake of my head. With a look of pure malice on his face, Cash moved his hands away from his weapon, taking a non-threatening stance with his hands spread far to his sides.
Ryuuk seemed like he wasn’t going to give in for a moment, but Vomero slowly touched his shoulder for a second to calm him down. Ryuuk’s hands also floated helplessly by his side.
“Great time for someone to leave the damn door unlocked,” Cash grumbled.
“To our good fortune,” Owen said. “The exit to this cavern crumbled before my men and I could escape. We’ll be taking whatever exit route your computer has calculated. If you don’t cause any trouble, we’ll be on our way as soon as we’re clear. Everyone wins.”
Not everyone, I thought. Not Gramps. Not the innocent people he and his bosses manipulated, persecuted and killed to get to this point. And not, Light, I realized.
If Owen had heard enough to know he couldn’t just take the ship and leave us, then he also knew the value Light would hold, especially now that the crown and scepter were gone. There was no world in which I believed Owen would just let us go with the child. And none of us were leaving without it, most especially Dick.
“Ok, so exactly what do you want?” Dick asked through clenched teeth.
“For starters, everyone drop any weapons you might have on you and kick them over to my men, here,” he said. “Miss Alnasi and Mr. Maldorani, if you’ll please restrain yourselves with these.”
A goon tossed over two restraining cuffs.
“I know you can’t exactly disarm yourselves,” Owen added.
“What if we promise to be on our best behavior?” I said snidely as I secured the cuffs around Vomero and he did likewise to me.
“I’m afraid your best behavior is a paltry reassurance,” Owen responded.
His men positioned Ryuuk and Cash on one side of the control room on their knees; Vomero and I were seated on the opposite side, also on the floor. A Syreni guarded each side, with the third one still holding the thermite blaster to the child’s head.
Owen moved toward the center platform.
“Proceed,” Owen said to Dick. “Try anything, and I kill the kid. We all die. Get it?”
Dick nodded silently.
“Tria, what’s next? How do we initiate this escape trajectory?”
Ancient Light will need to open a pathway using the artifact’s residual power.
“And how do I get it to do that?” Dick said.
You could try asking.
“Oh, so simple,” he muttered sarcastically under his breath. “Why didn’t I think of that? Just ask, she says.”
Dick looked over at Light, who appeared terrified by everything that was happening.
Turning to Owen, he said, “You’re going to have to stop scaring the shit out of this kid if you want us to get out of here alive. How am I supposed to convince it to do magic while you’ve got a gun pointed at its head?”
Owen considered the situation for a moment, then nodded to the Syreni holding Light to lower his weapon. He pushed the child slightly toward Owen, who grabbed it by the shoulders, holding it at his side. Light struggled to get free and run to Dick, but Owen’s grip held firm.
“Now, now, little one, daddy has to fly the plane,” Owen said. “You’re going to stay right here and open up that path for us.”
Light trembled but stopped struggling. We waited long minutes, but nothing happened. In the meantime, more shaking and rumbling could be heard all around us as debris continued to pummel the ship’s shields.
“Great plan, very effective,” Dick derided Owen. “You’ve really got a way with kids, asshole.”
Owen narrowed his eyes angrily for a moment before pulling his own blaster, a regular plasma blaster rather than the thermite kind the Syreni held, from a holster strapped under his long coat. He pointed it at Dick’s head and everyone in the room went still. Beside me, I could feel Vomero’s breath become ragged, and I glanced at him to see equal amounts of hatred and terror in his eyes. I knew he was reliving the moment Owen had done the same to Gramps.
“Let’s try it a different way, then,” Owen said forcefully, gripping the child’s shoulder tightly and flinging it back toward the Syreni guard who had been holding it. This time, instead of putting a gun to the kid’s head, the guard held the little one steady in place facing Dick and Owen.
“I know you can understand me,” Owen addressed Light. “So, let me make it clear. Open a pathway or I will kill this man, do you hear? And this time, he’ll stay dead.”
“You son-of-a-” Dick’s words were cut short as Owen fired a warning shot into his thigh.
I glanced over at Cash, knowing we had to find our window of opportunity before either Dick died or the kid went off rails and did something crazy. I mouthed supernova, hoping he’d understand. I was still low on energy from the earlier fight, but desperate times called for desperate measures. I made sure Ryuuk and Vomero also understood vaguely what I was about to do.
Dick tried to bite back his cry of pain as best he could, but Light still screamed with a mixture of terror and anger. I nodded to Cash.
“Supernova,” I said, forcing every bit of energy I could spare without passing out into the incantation.
A burst of blinding light erupted in the control room. At the same moment I felt the familiar tingle of electricity race along my wrist as Vomero disabled both of our cuffs. Before the burst of light had even started to fade, I was already moving, diving across the control room toward our weapons lying near the floor.
“Now, kid!” Dick said to Light, and for once the young Ancient seemed to follow directions.
Supernatural light began emitting from its body, so bright and warm that the Syreni holding it snatched his hand away. I was once again, prompted to look away in humility.
Grabbing my Gemini blaster with one hand, I slid Ryuuk’s weapon along the floor toward him. By the time the glow from both my supernova and Light’s ability cleared, we were armed and ready for a fight.
Around us, the cave shook ominously. This wasn’t just another cave in; it was the sound of the earth around us ripping in two as the power of Maluna’s Ancient artifact bent rock and stone to its will.
Dick wasted no time, grabbing the controls and shooting the ship forward into the widening rift we could now see displayed on the view screen. The sudden inertia sent everyone in the control room except Dick and Light tumbling backwards against the double wide control room doorway. I pushed the open command, toppling two of the Syreni goons through the door and backwards into the common room. Cash followed them through.
Owen landed beside me on the wall next to the door. I grappled with him for a moment. The ship was no longer completely vertical, and it was harder to send him through the door. He pinned me to the wall, and I could see the front viewscreen over his shoulder. A wall of water was descending through the tunnel in front of us. I grabbed the closest handrail I could find and braced for impact.
When we hit the wall of water, Owen was flung forward slightly and away from me. I used his natural momentum to kick him through the open doorway, as well. Ryuuk scrambled past me after him. Looking over at Vomero, I saw he was extricating his toxic spikes from one of the Syreni operative’s neck. He nodded and I pushed myself to my feet.
“Get us the hell out of here,” I called to Dick as he navigated us through the narrow, twisting, water-filled corridor. “We’ll take care of them. Lock the door.”
With that, I pushed myself through the entryway, hitting the touchpad on the door to close it as I went.