Awoken (9 page)

Oa allowed himself to be led up the ramp onto the open deck of the vessel. He had little time to look at his surroundings, but he scanned the deck as quickly as he could. There were two thick metal struts overhead that ran out from the central hub of the ship down into the railing that bordered the edge of the deck. A hefty metal track was bolted above the railing. Several broad metal panels were stacked up at the end of the track next to the ARI’s bulky thrusters. Two metal pillars supported the overhead struts and held a peculiar piece of machinery up on the roof. The machine appeared to be a collapsed metal appendage with four digits hanging limply up at the end. Oa spotted several controls on the panels bolted to the support pillars. He didn’t have time to look further because Kai had pulled him through the first of the two doors leading into the enclosed half the ship. They walked into a circular room that was dark except for a dim light coming through a viewport in the front of the hub. Oa turned and looked out of the window. He was staring out into the large hangar. On either side of the viewport, both halves of the disk-shaped ship extended forward like a pincer. Kai let go of Oa’s hand and hit a panel in the wall. Orange lights in the roof activated with a slight flicker. Oa turned and looked at the room. The first thing to catch his visual receptors’ attention was a raised half-dome platform in the center of the chamber. He reasoned that the platform also sat in the center of the whole structure.

“This is the central power hub. The whole ship is functional but there is nothing to power it,” Kai said, walking up to the platform. She pointed to a missing section at the front of the power hub. “I think a fusion drive gets plugged in here.”

Oa looked where she was pointing. There were two empty sockets for the fusion drive to plug into. The spacing and layout of the depressions in the platform seemed familiar, but Oa could not figure out why.

“Silly question; but you don’t happen to be carrying a fusion drive in your bag, do you?” Kai asked.

Oa shook his head and shrugged. “Sorry, I don’t know what that is—back in Bolleworth, I saw a lot of strange artifacts. Maybe one of them was a fusion drive.”

“No,” huffed Kai. She slouched down into the empty power hub. “Susan and I have already checked there. Nothing but useless junk and Sleepers.” The perky Awoken sat up and pointed at Oa. “You seem comfortable enough dodging around the Legion. Their fighters have to be powered by fusion drives. I spotted a Legion outpost a few cycles ago. It’s not too far from here. It’s tucked high up in the canyons. They have been monitoring Bolleworth for several cycles now, probably waiting for something.”

Oa could sense where the conversation was leading. He wanted to help make the ARI fly again. A ship would certainly speed up his and Ohm’s travels. So he decided that they needed Kai as an ally. He was also growing fond of Kai and her strange comrade.

“Can you take a Legion fighter apart fast enough to steal a fusion drive before anyone notices us?” he asked.

“Of course I can!” Kai exclaimed enthusiastically, jumping up out of the power hub. “All we got to do is track down the outpost and infiltrate it. You can watch my back while I nab us a fusion drive. So what do you say to that plan, Oa? If you help me get the ARI flying, I can get you and your friend far away from those goons.”

Oa considered Kai’s proposal. He wished Ohm was awake so they could talk things over. So far his strategy had worked. He had stolen the soul embers, and now he had the Legion’s attention. He needed help though, and Kai’s motives seemed honest. Oa felt that her ship was his best chance to stay ahead of the Legion while he searched for answers in his quest to stop Eol. The young Awoken’s curiosity also urged him to accept Kai’s offer. He wanted to try his hand at piloting the ARI. It was much more interesting than the crude Reapers the Marauders flew.

“Your plan seems as good as any. I will help you fix your ship in return for a ride,” Oa said, accepting Kai’s offer. “But only if you teach me how to fly ARI,” he blurted impulsively, slipping the proviso into the agreement before the deal could be sealed.

“There’s the catch,” Kai said, punching his arm teasingly. “We have a deal then. Let’s get this thing into the air first, and then I will do my best to show you how to pilot it.”

Oa followed Kai as she walked back onto the open deck and off the ship. Susan was hovering by the bottom of the ramp, gnawing at an unruly clump of lightning in her tail. Kai patted the varl’s head as they passed. Little purple sparks arced across her hand.

“I knew you would help, Oa. I can tell you are honest. When you crashed into our door, Susan gave her happy growl. It’s the same one she gave me when I first met her,” Kai explained as she walked toward the far edge of the room.

“Did she tackle you when she first met you, too?” Oa asked, amused as Susan whizzed by looping around them in excitement.

“Nah, she took me and flew me far away,” Kai said, fondly remembering her first encounter with Susan. The two Awoken reached the edge of the cavern, stopping in front of several metal cabinets lined across the wall. Kai opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a thick belt composed of cinder-black strips of metal linked together by a shimmering mesh. The belt carried twin holsters made of a thick black material. A purple bandolier hung under each holster. Kai strapped the belt around her waist, over her jumpsuit. Then she buckled her jacket up, covering her soul ember. Oa thought of the cavity in his chest where the mystical stone should be.

Kai pulled open several drawers, from which she grabbed three fist-sized cylindrical objects. She set them on an empty shelf. Various symbols and hazard warnings were crudely painted on the canisters. She pulled out a box of glowing blue blocks from another drawer. Oa noticed that the pieces where transparent and could easily fit in an Awoken’s palm. The glow came from blue energy swirling inside. Kai removed the bricks from the box one at a time, sliding them into her left bandolier. Then after some hunting, she found more of the strange rectangular bars. These were black instead of transparent, and Oa could not tell what was inside. Kai slotted them into her right bandolier.

“What’s all that?” Oa asked, feeling left out in all the preparation.

“Ammo for my guns and a few embersplitters, just in case the Legion is unlucky enough to spot us,” Kai replied cockily. She grabbed the three embersplitters from the shelf and slipped them into the pockets of her baggy jumpsuit.

Kai snatched two pistols from another shelf in the cabinet and placed them in the holsters on her hips. They were the same dull, gray color as her jacket.

“Are those boltspitters?” Oa asked, thinking he recognized the firearm.

“Gross, no! I made these myself. I never named ‘em, but they’re much more elegant than a boltspitter,” Kai replied proudly.

“We should start now. I want to spend one last cycle wind-hopping through these canyons before we make the steal. I probably won’t come back here once we leave in the ARI,” Kai explained as she slapped the clasp on her belt. Immediately, the mesh between the metal tightened, cinching the belt around her waist to support the added weight of the gear.

“I understand. I’ll be right back. I just want to go make sure Ohm is still alright,” Oa said, intrigued yet slightly puzzled. He had no idea what Kai meant by wind-hopping.

“Don’t take too long,” Kai called while opening another cabinet. She grabbed several compact tools and tossed them onto a nearby table.

Oa was already running back up the tunnel to the chamber he had left Ohm in. He knelt down next to his friend. Nothing had changed. Ohm still lay motionless. The blue light behind his mask flickered.

“Fred, are you sure Ohm is fine?” Oa asked worriedly.

“I am sure, Oa. I cannot predict when Ohm will reawaken. I frequently attempt to create an algorithm that mimics Ohm’s sleep patterns, but I still have not succeeded,” Fred replied apologetically.

“That’s alright, Fred. I need you to give Ohm a message for me when he wakes up,” Oa said hurriedly.

“I would be happy to relay your message,” Fred replied.

“Tell Ohm he is currently in a cave not far from Bolleworth. Tell him that I met an Awoken named Kai, and this is her home. We are going to steal something called a fusion drive from a nearby Legion outpost; it’s for her ship. We should be back in a cycle or two,” Oa instructed Fred.

“I will relay the message. Be careful using Seeker, Oa. My programming is not fully functional without Ohm. His sleep stopped us just short of a resolution to the data we gathered on you. Our findings were beginning to point toward several dangerous conclusions. We cannot complete the analysis until Ohm wakes up. If you are going off alone, be cautious. Take this tracker so Ohm can locate you when he wakes,” Fred advised. A tiny disk slid out of a slot in the pack. Oa grabbed it and placed it in his satchel. The disk began to blink red.

“I’ll be careful. Thanks, Fred,” Oa said. He stood up and raced back to the hangar. He arrived back at the ARI’s chamber to find Kai and Susan waiting for him. The varl was still roughly Kai’s size. Oa figured it must be her preferred volume.

“Ready to go?” Kai asked.

“Yeah, I guess,” Oa replied, slightly nervous. He had been unsettled by Fred’s ominous and annoyingly vague warning.

Kai sensed the hint of worry in Oa’s voice so she slapped him on the back reassuringly. “Don’t worry, Oa. I have done this type of thing a bunch. They won’t even know what hit ‘em.” She turned and picked up an oddly scrunched pack from the table she was standing in front of.

Oa noticed that she was already wearing a similar pack. It was made of the same shimmering mesh that held her belt together. The top section of the pack was enclosed in a matte-gray shell, just behind the shoulders. A mesh sack hung beneath the shell. Oa could see the shapes of various tools and supplies through the taut material. The pack had two straps that ran over the shoulders and buckled together in a cross over the chest.

Kai turned back around and handed the pack to Oa. “Put this on. You will probably want to put that bag of yours in here as well so you don’t lose it. We are going to start that lesson in flying.”

Excited, Oa took of his satchel and placed it into the mesh pouch hanging beneath the hard shell portion of the pack. He pulled the cover of the pouch down and buckled it to the bottom of the pack. He then slipped the harnesses over his shoulders and buckled the straps together across his chest. The pack fit loosely. He shrugged his shoulders awkwardly, feeling the baggy pack slide around.

“Hit the button on your right,” Kai instructed. Oa looked over and saw a small button on the strap running over his right shoulder. He pressed it; and the mesh of the pack tightened suddenly, conforming to his body. Oa jumped up once, trying to shift the pack. The pack did not slide at all; it fit securely against his back.

“What are these for?” Oa asked.

“Gliders for wind hopping,” Kai explained. She stepped away from Oa and slapped a second button on her left shoulder. Immediately, the shell covering the back of her shoulders cracked open, and a blur of dark gray fabric leaped up into the air. The thin material sprung into a wide chevron-shaped wing an arm’s length above her head. Two loops of the thin material dangled down from the wing just over Kai’s shoulders.

“This is air-skin material. It’s very light and compact, stretched over a micro-skeleton of memory alloys. Never forgets the shape it was crafted in, and it’s tough enough to withstand all my crashes,” Kai explained as she slapped the button on her left shoulder again. With a whoosh of air, the whole assembly folded back down into the pack. The hard shell closed again with an audible click.

“I can’t wait to try this,” Oa said, growing excited.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Kai admitted, walking toward the back of the ARI. “Alright, let’s get going before all the good currents run off.” Oa and Susan followed close on her heels as she circumnavigated the large ship. Back behind the engines three tunnels split off from the chamber headed toward unknown destinations.

After a moment of consideration, Kai grabbed a scrap of metal from the floor and threw it down the middle tunnel. The metal chunk clattered down the corridor and echoed back out to the trio. Susan barked happily, sparking with a bright purple light as she flew down the tunnel after the scrap. Kai started jogging after the rambunctious lightning varl and Oa followed. They had not gotten far into the tunnel when Susan came back with the scrap in her mouth. She followed by Kai’s side, dropping the scrap once she realized Kai was not likely to throw it again. This tunnel was the longest of the three Oa had been through during his stay in Kai’s hideout. There was no need for light, as Susan gave off a comforting glow that guided them through the darkness.

The corridor sloped downward, and Oa began to wonder where he was in relation to the bottom of the canyon. They rounded a corner, and the path abruptly ended. Before he could ask about the dead end, Kai walked over to a hand-sized device resting on the floor. She pushed one of the buttons on the square gadget, and a portion of the wall disappeared, revealing a hidden exit out onto the floor of a ravine. The terrain was unfamiliar to Oa, but he realized he had seen so many glimmering rock faces, that he doubted he would recognize this one even if he had walked past it before.

“That device is quite useful. Is that what disguised the other door?” Oa asked

“Of course. I invented this as well. It’s a camo-buffer. It projects an image and a force-field simultaneously. So far, neither the Legion nor the Howlers have caught on to the trick. I have gone unnoticed for many cycles now,” Kai said, proud of her work.

As they strode out into the canyon, Oa turned around to look for the exit. The device must have reactivated because there was no sign of the opening as far as he could tell. Kai motioned to the immense stone walls surrounding them.

“The Legion outpost is up on a nearby plateau. They should be looking toward Bolleworth still, so we will make sure to come in from the opposite direction. We will take the long way around—partly to be safe, but mostly because I want to get a good long glide in,” Kai explained as she looked around the rocky ground for a good spot to start.