Ghosts of Lyarra (18 page)

“No, but a girl can hope can’t she?” She waited for his reaction to her answer; hoping she had successfully deflected his challenge. His head tilted slightly and his eyes narrowed slightly; he was sizing her up! Iana silently wished that she hadn’t decided to push her luck for no reason. Then as quick as he had become inquisitive, Aen became friendly and dismissive once more as he held out his hand for her to continue to lead the way once
more.

“A girl can, if that is what she wishes to do.” He replied at last. “Now if you are able, shall we
continue?”

With a nod and a smile, Iana resumed the last leg of the climb; all the while a bit wary that this creature who held no real allegiance to her, was a few feet behind her unguarded back. Quickly, she reminded herself that despite not knowing his past that it was still Aen that guarded her and her fears were unwarranted. But still, there was that nagging feeling of something amiss within him; that cold darkness she had touched when they shared each other’s bodies that lingered with
her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by reaching the top of the never ending stairwell as the dark metal door was latched firmly in front of her. Stepping aside, she allowed Aen to pass by and effortlessly open the door that had stood unused for so long. As they entered the next room, there was a dim red glow from the emergency systems that slightly illuminated the room. They now stood in the control room of the Lyarran expeditionary force; it was a room Iana remembered from the logs of Ameia and a room that she knew, Aen would know all too well. As she looked over at her companion, she saw that he was falling back towards the wall with his hands clasping his head and a dull scream beginning in his throat. She was about to rush to him when there was a loud thud that rattled the whole complex and the lights came on along with all the monitors as
well.

“
There, that should do it
.” Caretaker’s voice droned over the comm network. “
We have
power
.”

—

Stepping through the door, Aen saw a room that stirred something within the foggy veil that was his memory. A few steps later, that slight stir became a stream of unrecognized memory flashes that hammered his consciousness one after another in a relentless assault. Grasping his skull in an attempt to shield himself from the attack, he felt his legs weaken and buckle as he staggered backwards and a howl of pain rise as he reacted to the onslaught. Aen felt pain like never before; physically he could take whatever was thrown at him like it was nothing but this was something else; something
foreign.

Then the images that had started so fast and furious began to slow and become clear. The room was different then when he first viewed it bathed in red; it was lit up by monitors and dull white lights recessed in the ceiling. The floor moved as a representation of the galaxy swirled beneath his feet. And in the center of the room was a lone chair that his skin could almost feel the texture of from this distance. He knew this place and it was familiar and inviting; a semblance of it being home filled his senses. He watched as monitors scrolled through historical Lyarran texts while others cracked human defence network codes and ran programs that sorted through the billions of data transmissions occurring each second on the planet. Another held a representation of the planet viewed by a satellite on the night side with the city lights shining like stars on the surface. This was Earth before the Husk arrived, and it was the first real memory he had from this time since he had awakened in the
ice.

Then he felt the hand of someone on his shoulder; not a memory of contact, but something from reality summoning him back from his past. With no pain at all, the memory faded and his sight returned with the vision of Iana crouched before him with a look of concern in her eyes. A quick look around told him he had been out of it for a bit as the power was on and the lights; without the monitors and floor display; were now shining brightly. As he returned her gaze, she began to look relieved and the tension fell from her body
language.

“I know this place.” Aen mumbled. “This is where I learned about what lay beyond the planet; this is where I learned about all the things I could never have known. This was
home.”

“For a time, yes it was.” She smiled back at him. “Caretaker prepared you for the arrival of the Husk here. And until you located the Amarra, this place and the village above became your
home.”

“The village?” Aen stood up quickly causing Iana to jump backwards to keep her balance from the surprise. “I remember a village; well sort of. Is it
still….”

“It is empty now.” She answered before he could finish. “With the shield that had protected the monastery from both invaders and the cruel mountain winters removed by the Ifierin, it has been abandoned and is buried deep within the snow; at least that is what Caretaker tells
me.”

“
Indeed
.” It interrupted. “
In fact, the great temple within the crater is buried past her peaks in the snow and only the roofs of the village buildings above are kept clear by the winds. Come spring, the village becomes more accessible while the temple itself remains beyond reach. I have turned on the heating system of the temple so you may chose to go above ground rather than remain in the cold confines of the base. I believe it may be more aesthetically pleasing to the two of you than
this
.”

“And this power being restored to the temple above will not attract any unwanted attention from our hosts?” Aen asked rubbing his temples to chase away the remnants of the
headache.

“
The humans were unaware of anything being within that structure before and it was operating at full power, not the basic life support systems I have activated now
.” It chided him. “
The quartz walls of the building are lined with a polymer coating that prevents any readings to be ascertained by any systems then or now created
by
…..”

“We get it.” Iana cut it short as she was quickly becoming annoyed with its ramblings. “So activate the security transport pad and let’s get out of this
place.”

“
Ah, but unfortunately I cannot as that is yet another system removed by the Ifierin forces as they dismantled the facility
.” It said apologetically. “
I am afraid the only access
is
...”

“Don’t you dare say I have to be teleported by Aen each damn time I want to go back and forth!” Iana yelled. “I don’t think I can take that trauma every
day!”

“I was about to say the only access is the emergency ladder that leads to the base of the altar in the temple
.” Caretaker finished his previously interrupted
thought.

Iana sighed in relief, but was still wary that her companion seemed more off than usual. She moved slowly to the access chute; the whole time watching Aen out of the corner of her eye. It was obvious he had some kind of episode that sent shockwaves through his entire form, and the recovery from that event was going to be anything but quick. He was slow in following; a look of startled confusion plastered on his face as he continued to rub his cheeks in an attempt to refocus his resolve. It occurred to her that Aen had seen the ghosts of his past for a brief moment and now was dealing with the
fallout.

Pushing past her concern, Iana crawled up the ladder until she was stopped by a hatch. She felt around in the darkness at the top of the passage for the latch that her fingers soon discovered, and in a moment freed the door and pushed upwards. Emerging from the caverns below, she let her eyes adjust to the dimly lit room and begin to make sense of the shadowy layout. Although draped in darkness, it was immediately recognizable; this was where she had delivered the message to Sara and Krista Foster. This is where they finally found out the truth about all the horrors that had befallen
them.

Unknowingly, she made her way to the exact place she had placed that data player; the altar at the center of the room and at the feet of the giant representation of her former self. Up through the darkness her eyes strained to see the face of the creature she had been not long ago; an attempt to keep holding on to what had been lost. It came to Iana that hers and Aen’s paths had some symmetry to them in that they both grasped to keep what was obviously no longer theirs to do so. And as she made this connection, the darkness gave way to a bluish light beside her as her companion had joined her from
below.

“If I didn’t know you as I do, I would say you have a rather large ego to build such a monument.” Aen said, breaking the silence that had kept the room in peace for some time. It was then she had noticed that he hadn’t made a sound as he rose from the passage, yet every step and movement she made echoed on the marble
floors.

“I hate these statues.” She said honestly, “The drawback of being in the position I am …… I mean, was in. Part of the propaganda machine of the Guild I suppose; to make these reminders to the people of what they truly were
serving.”

Aen stood beside her, and the light from his eyes glowed in the shadowy blanket allowing her to see farther upwards. The shadows parted from the statue’s face and the two quietly stared at the being carved in the stone. It had a peaceful effect on her; as if the smile on its face gave her soul a bit of happiness in this time of hectic
change.

“It makes you wonder though,” Aen broke the silence after a long few minutes. “The fact that the Guild that had raised you to the throne is behind all this, then what dark master do they now serve? What is there in the shadows that we aren’t seeing
yet?”

Iana didn’t answer the questions, but it was something she too had been pondering for some time now. For as long as she had been alive, the Guild had raised her in the followings of the Prophets and pledged the entire religion of the Empire to their teachings. But now, things had changed and she had stood as the last semblance of what had once been. Now that they believed she was gone, Iana wondered how long until the demons in the darkness finally stepped
forward.

—
Sol System; Mars Docking Station

Lyxia watched intently as her shuttle began its docking procedures with the Mars station; taking in the view of the rust red planet beneath her. From the orbit of the space station, she could see the sands shaped by the never ending wind that plagued the surface. Within view was the large and impressive dead volcano the humans called Olympus Mons; to her it resembled the size of the Temple of the Divine Light on Ryas in both height and width. For a natural feature of a dead planet, it was fantastic to see from above and provided just the break in tension that she
needed.

A dull thud echoed the shuttle’s hull and the hiss of pressurization told her they were now connected to the main port of the Terran system. From here, no ships except human transports were allowed to venture to Terra Sol; in fact, Lyxia believed that when her ship - the Dark Light - had finally set off for home a few years back that it was the last non-human vessel to be in orbit around the blue planet. And when she left, this station was just beginning to be constructed along with the outer ring of cannons. Humanity let their fear drive them to create this mighty defense network in a short time, and in her experience she knew that there was no telling how deep those fears would be now; even after five years in the wake of the
Husk.

Pressure doors popped their seals, then slid open as access was granted to the interior of the station. As the door opened, Lyxia half expected an armed escort to lead her towards the office of the human Council, but instead found Sara Foster standing alone in the causeway to greet her. Her face showed the strain of the recent events, but she still managed a half-hearted smile to greet her fellow Council. The two quickly embraced in both friendship and consolation, but held their emotions in check though they remained so close to pouring
forth.

“Thank you for coming.” Sara said, pulling back from the embrace. “With all that’s happened it is good to see you
here.”

“Well Fleet Com isn’t too thrilled,” Lyxia smiled back. “But I think there are answers here to what drives this madman and I aim to find
them!”

“You don’t think that this is a human doing this, do
you?”

Lyxia paused; it was a possibility that it was a human behind all this, though the evidence they had pointed to quite the contrary. The way he moved, the way he spoke, and the ways he got into places that no being should be able to, easily dismissed human
involvement.

“No, but I think he may have spent time here; or at least accessed files on human history.” She replied after thinking it through. “There are so many questions that need answering instead of running around hunting for ghosts and I believe if I can put a few pieces of the puzzle together we can catch this bastard and make him
pay!”

Sara nodded in acceptance and motioned for her friend to follow. As they turned, the sound of boots on the floor startled her and she turned to see Lyxia’s armed escort. The sight of the Ifierin made the real reason for the visit hit home hard; they were at war with an unknown force and the Council would be protected at all costs wherever she ventured. For a minute, Sara felt a tad bit embarrassed she didn’t have an armed detail as well. Until now, she didn’t realize she needed it. Looking over to Lyxia, she then noticed that the familiar uniform had been replaced by intricate armor. This was not a social visit at all, and no matter how much hospitality she could offer, the slightest threat here had the potential to grow into something
greater.