Child of Time (57 page)

Sapphire glanced at Kiyan and Luke still a little
confused. “She is an elemental. A level ten at least.” Kiyan
supplied the information. The shock on Deep Current's countenance
betrayed his surprise.

“Amazing.” Deep Current was speechless for a moment
before he changed the subject when he saw Kiyan and Kendra watching
him. “I will get us in warp and back to Kiyan's ship. Make yourself
comfortable. There is a shower in that room and I will replicate
some food. I'm sure you are all famished from being in that desert
but first I need to pilot our way off this planet.” Kiyan left
Sapphire fingering Luke's bracelet and followed Kendra up to the
cockpit.

“Deep Current, I gave the oracles dreams and visions
about the first foretellings you told me about. When I got to the
one about Kiyan, I couldn't find the right person then I found that
they had actually seen the vision.” I had nothing to do with that
vision. Kendra crossed her arms and waited.

“He knew that. He also knew that the oracles need
credibility in order for the real prophecy to be believed. In fact
he has been playing us for the whole time. Bending and weaving us
into the footsteps he saw in the vision. He sabotaged the star
drive on the ship he was on so that they would be rescued and
brought to the refuge worlds.” Kiyan watched Deep Current's
reactions as he spoke. After first freezing mid motion Deep Current
had turned with something akin to relief in his eyes. Kendra had
gone from surprised to confused then she had looked angry. Finally
she settled on understanding.

“It must have been when you reversed time. The
aftershock filtered back through the ages.” Kendra gave a brief
explanation.

“How did you find out? I always knew someone would.”
Deep Current combed his long pale hair with his fingers.

“Sorloc was quite informative.” Kiyan settled into
the copilot chair and spun it around.

“That old wind elemental still goes by that name? I
should have known he was the only other one to know what part I
would play.” Deep Current scowled at his feet.

“Wind elemental?” Kiyan sat up in the chair.

“Yes. How else did you think he is still alive. Not
much that could injure the old man.” Deep Current glanced up then
averted his gaze again. “He likes to perpetuate the idea that he is
immortal for other reasons.”

“Next time you see anything like that just let us
know. You don't have anything to fear from us.” Kendra settled into
another chair in the cockpit. She didn't look upset any more, only
tired.

“So I can still remain in the protectorate?” The look
on Deep Current's face spoke of a struggle he had dealt with for
some time.

“You tricked us but you did it because you felt that
it was required. I met a number of people and changes happened
while I was on the planet. We still don't know if the demon fish
were of drakken design or not. Riftor lives and he wants to join
the protectorate when he is old enough. Sapphire won't have to
endure her banishment in a desert for an eternity.” Kiyan stretched
his arms and cracked his fingers. “I'm not sure I would have been
able to figure another way to make it all work.”

“Riftor.... The name sounds mountain tribe in
origin.” Deep Current looked thoughtful.

“He is an orphan from the mountain tribe. He showed
considerable skill with both earth and air bending. We left him
with Sorloc. If he is the wind elemental you say he is then Riftor
will have ample training.” Kiyan's thoughts drifted towards
Sapphire. She was still in the other room and he could sense her
talking with Luke.

“Oh, I almost forgot. Did you find out what the plot
for the planet was?” Kendra was looking better as she slowly
regained her energy.

“I found the drakken's ship in a low orbit. It had a
radiation weapon on board that would have killed everything on the
surface if it had been released. It was only a frigate class so I
ambushed it and destroyed it before it could charge the weapon.”
Deep Current had piloted the ship beyond the atmosphere so he
opened a warp frame and dropped the ship into subspace. Kiyan felt
the fraying energy at the edges of his senses but Kendra looked
like she was drawing off the energy. Deep Current left the controls
and walked over to a small alcove built into the wall. Kiyan
watched as the energy was phased into matter. There was some fruit
and a dish of something resembling noodles. Kiyan wrinkled his nose
when he saw the food. He realized he was spoiled having an AI that
liked to cook. Replicated food just didn't taste right.

“How much longer before we get to the Avenger?” Kiyan
was looking forward to getting home.

“We are only in a drop ship so I am traveling under
cloak. It will be a couple hours at this speed.” Deep Current
balanced a dish in each hand and went back towards where Sapphire
was. Kiyan found himself alone with Kendra. He knew more about her
but she was still a mysterious figure. He shared a connection with
Theo but knew even less about him.

“What would have happened if you had raised me
instead of letting James and Marisa?” Kiyan felt sorry for asking
the question when he saw a flash of guilt on Kendra's face.

“Your father was trapped in the dark universe before
you were born. When I saw the competing time lines I examined each
as much as I could. You were destined to ascend so I couldn't watch
you. I could only see traces like foot prints or ripples caused by
your movements. I did see that if I raised you, you would have
become a powerful ascended but would have died today. Where or how,
I didn't know but I saw that you died and our war was lost.” Kendra
looked at Kiyan with pain in her eyes. “You are less powerful now
than you would have been yet you are able to overcome greater
obstacles. I believe that if I had raised you, you might never have
learned to time slip.”

“Does Theo know this?” Kiyan understood more than he
had ever about his early life.

“I told him everything I have told you.” Kendra's
eyes seemed to go out of focus as she examined Kiyan with her mind.
“There is a strong temporal energy build up around you. More than
you should have. The flow of time is strong around you.”

“Is that dangerous?” Kiyan could feel Kendra's
concern.

“No. It protects you from changes in the timelines
and allows you to time travel if you can control it. There is more,
like you were or will be the center of some massive temporal
event.” Kendra became silent as she thought.

“I did just reverse the timeline and changed it.”
Kendra nodded slowly as Kiyan spoke. “I displaced a lot of energy
when I moved back.”

“That could be the cause. It could be.” Kendra lapsed
into silence so Kiyan decided to move back to where Sapphire was.
Kiyan found her looking like she had washed up. Her clothes had
healed from the burns and looked like new. Deep Current and
Sapphire were deep in a conversation about the nuances of life
bending so Kiyan stepped into the med bay to clean himself up. The
dirt and grit in his hair only took a few seconds to bend away then
he washed the grime off his face. Looking into the mirror revealed
a new person. He had to use his hand to brush down the straw
colored hair that stuck out like he had been electrocuted. Kiyan
focused for a second and the remaining water in his hair went off
in a cloud of steam. Looking into the mirror he saw a stream of
ships coming through a portal. Blinking his eyes and shaking his
head Kiyan only saw himself in the mirror.
Must be tired
.
Kiyan thought to himself. Walking back into the central room on the
drop ship Kiyan plopped into a soft chair and leaned back. The
animated chatter between Sapphire and Deep Current was drowned out
by the constant hum from hyperspace as Kiyan dropped into
sleep.

Chapter Twenty-one: Destiny

“Wake up. Deep Current says that we are almost
there.” It only felt like a few seconds had passed since Kiyan had
fallen asleep. Sapphire was gently shaking his shoulders.

“I'm awake.” Kiyan shook his head and rubbed his
eyes. He remembered disconnected dreams about ships coming through
holes. With a thought he pushed the images to the back of his mind
to deal with later. Climbing to his feet Kiyan followed Sapphire to
the cockpit and looked at the holographic windows that were
projected around them. It gave the strange sensation of floating
through space in a bubble of nothing. Glancing around he quickly
found the Avenger with the outlines that were projected on his HUD.
Sapphire was looking around but without the aid was unable to see
the cloaked ship. Kiyan connected with the Avenger's com systems
and asked Alec to decloak for them. Sapphire gasped when the giant
ship appeared out of the inky black space in front of them.
Disengaging the travel drives Deep Current maneuvered them
skillfully towards the open hangar deck. The Avenger grew in size
until they were swallowed by the hangar bay doors. They maneuvered
into an empty slot and touched down.

“There is so much.... Metal.” Sapphire was standing
outside of the drop ship gazing around at the cavernous hangar
bay.

“If there is nothing else, I will continue on to my
ship.” Deep Current saluted Kiyan and Kendra. “It was a pleasure
meeting you Sapphire.” Kiyan returned the salute before Deep
Current reentered the drop ship.

“The entire ship is made mostly out of metal of one
kind or another but I think I know of a place you would like.” Luke
had reminded Kiyan of the atmospheric processing facility. Kiyan
interfaced with the teleporters and the group rematerialized under
a tree. Sapphire looked disoriented for a moment after the
teleport.

“You have forest on your ship?” Sapphire ran her
finger over the bark on the tree.

“Not quite a forest but yes we use plants to purify
the air and water on the ship.” Kiyan gave a brief explanation. “If
you want you can become the chief gardener.”

“You mean I can stay here?” Sapphire looked around at
the exotic foliage that surrounded them.

“I suppose but I can get you quarters if you would
like.” Kiyan hadn't expected Sapphire to want to live in the patch
of trees but come to think of it, it made sense.

“I can grow a stand of trees there and up there I can
grow a house.” Sapphire rubbed her chin as she thought. “If I put
the stream closer to those trees, they would grow better and that
sparse patch could have a fruit tree. A garden could go over there
and..... That is if you don't mind.” Sapphire looked up at
Kiyan.

“No not at all. I'm sure Alec would love the fresh
supplies.” Kiyan was mildly amused at the changes Sapphire
proposed.

“Who is Alec?” Sapphire had a questioning look.

“He is the ship's AI.” Kiyan could sense that Alec
was watching them but chose not to reveal himself.

“But isn't Luke an AI?” Sapphire looked a little
confused.

“Yes but he is imbedded in my implants. Alec lives in
the ship's mainframe and controls the ship. They tend to dislike
each other but haven't tried deleting each other since we got back
so that's a good sign.” Sapphire began giggling and Kiyan sensed
annoyance coming from Luke. “Anyhow, I have some things I need to
deal with so if you are fine here.”

“Oh yes I have plenty to do to make this forest
habitable.” Sapphire fingered one of the few seed bracelets that
had survived the battle.

“OK then. Just ask Alec to teleport you to my
location if you have any questions or you could just ask him
yourself.” Kiyan was about to teleport to the conference room where
he knew Kendra was waiting.

“Just one more thing.” Sapphire paused for a moment
like she was searching for the right words. “You said that there
was someone here that could help me control... “She trailed off and
looked abashed.

“Oh yes, I almost forgot. Corban is a fire elemental
also. I am sure he would be happy to help you learn to control your
fire bending.” Kiyan made a mental note to tell Corban about the
situation. Sapphire looked relieved but still a little worried.

“I don't think you will burn anything before then.”
Luke took a visible form. “Until then I can stay with you to put
out any accidental fires.” Luke snapped his finger and a light rain
began to fall around them. “This room is outfitted for watering the
plants so it should work as a fire suppressant as well.” Seeing a
satisfied look come over Sapphire's face Kiyan shook his head and
activated the teleporter. Kendra and the commander of one of the
other vessels were talking and hardly glanced up as Kiyan
materialized.

“We only found a few dozen ships hiding in an
abandoned system.” The reborn drakken managed to capture a clone
archive on one of the ships. The Thoran that Kiyan had never met
was describing the events of the last couple days.

“I didn't expect find many ships but not that few. I
can't believe that we had managed to weaken the dark lord that
much. If he had any plans of returning with a show of strength he
would need thousands of clones to crew the ships.” Kendra mused on
the new information.

“We did find something curious. It would appear that
when the dark lord evacuated, he sent several hundred ships into a
star. All we have to verify that is the sensor logs on one of the
ships. We have scanned the star to find out if they had used it as
an energy source for a gateway of some sort but we find no
anomalies. Just a few molten blobs of drakken metal about to be
consumed by the star.” The thoran shook his head like he wasn't
believing what he was saying himself. “It makes no sense to destroy
even a fleet that small. I know that when they first invaded they
marshaled fleets in the thousands but a fleet of a few hundred
ships could still cause havoc.”

Kiyan had been half listening and half thinking about
other things as the conversation progressed. His thoughts were
drifting between Terra and what to do for her to make up for his
sudden disappearance and the updates that Alec kept sending about
the changes in the atmospheric lab. The AI seemed annoyed that
Sapphire had undertaken redesigning the entire place. Kiyan smiled
to himself when one of the newest reports indicated an increased
efficiency and processing capacity of the lab. He was looking at a
schematic of the new tree locations when the image of ships pouring
through the portal reminded him of the current conversation.