Still Falling: Book 1: Solstice 31 Saga (28 page)

Barcus remained silent, letting her finish.

“I'm sorry.” She rested her forehead on his. “I meant it though.”

“It isn't over. It will just be different,” he said.

“How do you know?” she asked seriously.

“There are no happy endings, Po. Because nothing ends.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

Close to the Edge

“Chen’s ghost in Ulric’s HUD was a mystery until we realized it was Em using yet another method to manipulate these people. But these prophecies remained a mystery. How can this be coded? It can’t.”

--Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Emergency Module Digital Forensics Report. Independent Tech Analysis Team.

<<<>>>

It took the efforts of both Po and Olias to convince Barcus that it would be easier and safer if Po did not dine with them. She would become very scarce, in fact. Olias would see to their needs when they arrived. Barcus agreed that it might be the best way to avoid bloodshed. The table was drawn away from the wall and set for four. Barcus would send them away. Quickly.

For the first time, the braziers at the four corners of the southern entrance bridge were lit. Barcus was amazed at how fast the ice on the bridge melted as well as the short way to the gate door that was now open. The braziers must have had heating coils as well.

“Barcus, I have been watching these men all day and have come to an interesting assessment,” Em said as she walked into the light and warmth of the braziers. She even held out her hands to warm them.

“These men have no idea where they are or where they are going. The Keeper, his name is Ulric, has been drinking steadily for the last hour and seems very nervous. The Tracker’s name is Grady and is about as formal with this Keeper as we are with each other.”

“Why are they here? Do you have any idea?” Barcus asked.

“The Tracker has referred to a prophecy on several occasions, usually while cursing.” A window opened, showing the men talking. Several parts were cut together in the view.

“Damn you and your bloody prophecy.” Cut.

“You and your filthy prophecy will get us killed.” Cut.

“Damn prophecies and the fools that follow them.” Cut.

Then a different scene showed, “I can smell the chimneys, Ulric. Chimneys, not open fires. What will you tell them? You have to tell them something. Should I scout ahead?” Grady said.

“I have no idea. We will be fine,” Ulric said. “Do you smell that?” His eyes widened a bit. “Fresh bread!”

“You think she sent us all this way for fresh bread? Bloody hell...” Grady fell into mumbling.

***

Barcus was sitting on a stone bench sipping a mug of hot tea as the men approached.

They could see The Abbey from over a kilometer away with the braziers lit. Barcus watched them slowly approach but didn't get up from the bench. He sipped his tea. He knew Par was out there in the darkness, weapons targeted on these men.

“Good evening, my Lords.” The words felt awkward for Barcus. But they had convinced him to use them. “Out for a bit of a ride tonight I see?” There was humor and goodwill in his voice.

“Greetings, my Lord...” Ulric began, but before he could continue, Barcus interrupted.

“Please call me Barcus, just Barcus, and come in. You must be cold and hungry. Olias! Come help with their horses.” Olias came out and took hold of the reins of both horses as the men looked at each other. The men dismounted.

Grady spoke in common tongue. “Hello, lad. My name is Grady. What say we leave the grownups to talk?” He glared at Ulric and followed Olias in, walking his horse.

Ulric said, “Somehow, you knew we were coming.”

After a pause Barcus said, “Somehow, you knew we were here.”

“I'm Ulric. Do I smell bread?” With a smile and a slight bow to each other, they went in.

***

The horses were settled in quickly, and Olias showed the men to rooms above the stables that had been prepared for them. They were modest in size, but private. They washed up and left their things.

Olias waited for them out on the balcony until they were ready. The moon was high, and the snow made the scene brighter and more haunting at the same time. The hulking ruin of the northern tower loomed above.

“Follow me,” was all he said as he skipped down the stairs and back into the willow courtyard, where he waited for them to catch up. Once they did, he knocked gently on the gatehouse door and entered.

Barcus was sitting in one of the armchairs, reading about beekeeping. He rose to greet them, leaving his book on the chair.

Grady took Ulric's cloak to hang on a peg as he looked all around the small room.

“What is this place?” Ulric asked as they began to sit. Olias exited, and Grady sat opposite Ulric.

“We call it Whitehall Abbey. I have no idea what it’s really called. It was a ruin when I found it this autumn, still is, I suppose, except for this bit here.”

“How many are you?” Grady asked.

“There are only three of us.” He answered with reluctance in his voice.

“How did you come to be in this place?” Grady continued. Ulric had spotted the whiskey on the shelf by the door.

The question was never answered. Just then, the door opened and Olias entered. He had a large tray that he set down on the table and began transferring crocks and baskets to the table.

It was to be a simple dinner. Stew with bread, butter, cheese and stewed apples over biscuits for dessert.

“May the High Keeper bless you, my Lord. I could smell that bread baking a mile away,” Ulric said as he ripped off a chunk from the loaf.

Grady didn't even seem to notice Olias.

They dug in.

Ulric spent the entire meal describing how horrible a cook Grady was. And how he had been nearly driven to voluntary starvation by sawdust flavored hard tack. The conversation was cheerful until Grady asked about the apples in the dessert as he took his last bite.

Olias immediately said in common tongue, without thinking, “I got them from the larder at the inn in Greenwarren.”

The looks on their faces revealed that they had been there.

“It's dark days above the gorge,” Grady said. “I've seen things, dark things.” He held his cup out, and Olias refilled it. “This was once the most beautiful countryside in the entire world. I would spend my summers here in peace.” His eyes focused on Barcus. “Have you seen the High Keeper’s mercenaries?”

“I've seen what's left of them,” Barcus replied. “They are not the only thing out there. It's why we've holed up here, to hide, to be left alone.”

Just then, they heard the gate door close.

Olias chimed in with common, “There was a Telis Raptor! It ate one of our goats!” Olias was stopped there by the look Barcus gave him.

“Bloody hell,” Grady cursed. “No wonder you are inside walls. I was wondering.”

“So where are you from, Ulric?” Barcus asked as the dessert dishes were cleared away by Olias. Po never appeared.

“A city very far away. You'd never believe how far.”

“Try me. What city?” Barcus asked.

“It's called Buffalo,” he said almost absently.

Barcus froze. Grady noticed, but Ulric continued. “The winters were just like this there. So much snow.” He emptied his cup. “It was the lakes near there, just as it is here.”

“He is drawing a knife,” Em said in his head as she opened a window that showed the knife in Grady’s hand just below the edge of the table.

“How long have you been a Keeper, Barcus?” Grady asked, measuring him.

“I am no Keeper,” Barcus answered.

“You do understand it is forbidden to live within a fortification,” Grady said as he looked at the book Barcus had been reading.

Barcus said nothing.

“Where is she?” Grady asked. “The woman you are hiding? Why are you hiding her?”

Barcus did not expect that question or his own reaction. Instantly Barcus was on his feet, his handgun drawn, pointing at the center of Grady's chest. Ulric's eyes had gone wide. Grady simply sat up a bit taller and looked directly into the muzzle of the gun.

“Say the word.” It came, though, as a whisper through clenched teeth as Po advanced slowly through the center of the curtain between the rooms. First the muzzle of the AR, then the rifle as she followed in a perfect advancing stance, just as Barcus had taught her. The LASER dot was on the center of Ulric's body.

“Say the word,” she repeated.

“I feel I should apologize in advance here. But you need to understand that since coming here, everyone I have met has tried to kill me except Po and Olias.” Barcus moved back a bit as he spoke.

The initial shock faded from Ulric's face. Grady remained still except for an eyebrow-raising glance at Ulric that clearly said “this is all your fault again.”

Risking getting shot, Ulric pushed back from the table and grabbed his empty cup and moved to the sideboard saying, “Well if I am going to be murdered, I refuse to die thirsty.” He lifted a bottle of bourbon and started pouring.

A shot rang out and the bottle exploded in Ulric's hand, the bullet impacting the stone wall just behind. He flinched, his hand going to his neck and coming away bloody.

“You shot me!” he whined.

“Sit down, Ulric. They're serious.” Grady still had not moved a muscle.

“All right. I give up. I don't care anymore,” Ulric said.

“Did you ever care?” Grady snapped.

“Why did you even follow me here?” Ulric was talking to Grady.

“Follow you? You couldn't lead yourself to the bottom of the ocean if you were drowning,” Grady quipped.

“I got us here didn't I?” Their volume was increasing.

“Only because Cassandra pointed your teetering ass in this direction,” Grady said a bit louder.

“Don't you even say her name, you ungrateful bastard. I never knew why she liked you.” Ulric drank deeply.

“She liked me because I was the only one left willing to put up with your horseshit. She LOVED me for it, knowing that I actually cared enough to even try to keep your drunken ass alive. And now you've gone and gotten us killed.”

“Let me kill them just to shut them up,” Po inserted. They both fell silent and looked at her because her tone was so serious.

“Tell me why you came here,” Barcus said quietly.

“She said we had to come here,” Grady replied.

“She said I had to come here, not you,” Ulric corrected. The argument was about to renew when Po bumped the muzzle of the suppressor to his temple.

“Why did this Cassandra ask you to come here?” Barcus was more menacing as his voice got lower.

“She had a vision about a way off of this planet. We had been here so long. Her longevity treatments were due when we crashed on this godforsaken planet. She only lived another thirty-one years. She died three days after the sky fall last autumn. Was that you? Your ship? Stumbling into this godforsaken orbit?”

He said nothing.

“She told me to come here. She said I'd know what to do. So I will drink.” He emptied his mug, spitting out a piece of glass. “I loved her. I always trusted her. She said I'd know what to do, so what I think I should do is go to bed. It's been a long day.”

With that, he stood and walked again to the sideboard and picked up another bottle, looking over his shoulder and shielding it from Po with his body.

He walked out. They let him.

Em had Ulric in a window for Barcus as Ulric stumbled up to his room above the stables.

Grady stood and gave them a formal bow saying quietly, earnestly, “My Lord, I give you my oath that we will do you no harm, any of you.” He slowly laid his belt knife on the table. Then slowly, he added two boot knives Barcus had not spotted. Nodding, he followed Ulric.

Behind Po and Barcus, Olias was heard behind the curtain. “What did he mean by “crashed on this planet”?” Olias asked as he walked through the curtains, carrying a loaded crossbow.

CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

The Telis Tail

“The speed of Po’s learning to read, use of the plate, the med kit and the firearms should have been noticed. Especially, when contrast with Olias. This observation is beyond the scope of this team but is worthy of note.”

--Solstice 31 Incident Investigation Testimony Transcript: Emergency Module Digital Forensics Report. Independent Tech Analysis Team.

<<<>>>

Barcus woke alone on the next morning.

“Em, status.”

“All is well,” she said. This was not her typical method of giving her morning status.

“Where is everyone?”

“Po is in the kitchen, where she has the larger oven working. It is the one where she cleared the chimney. Olias is still sleeping. He was awake most of the night in case our guests needed anything. He left Grady's knives on a small table outside his door like you asked.” A tactical map opened in his HUD showing all the locations. “Par and Ash are in the garage. Grady is 2.3 kilometers to the northeast, close to the quarry. Ulric is still in bed.”

Windows of Ulric and Grady opened.

Grady was just drawing his bow. He loosed his arrow and remained still.

Ulric was clothed, face down on the bed, snoring. He closed that window.

Grady slowly walked up to a small deer lying in the snow, another arrow nocked in case it got up. He touched the tip of the arrow to its eye. It didn't blink. He replaced the arrow in its quiver and hung the quiver, the bow and his small pack from a nearby tree and took a small knife from his pack.

Barcus closed all the windows, saying. “Em, keep me informed.”

“Yes, Barcus.”

***

He got dressed and went to the kitchen, where Po was already busy kneading bread dough.

“Good morning, Barcus. Did you get any sleep at all?” she asked.

“Some. More than I expected.”

“Grady went hunting. He said there would be fresh venison for dinner. Somehow I believe him. I got to speak with him early this morning over tea.” She finished a loaf and set it aside, “He has no idea why he is here, beyond watching over Ulric.” She started on the next braided loaf. “Ulric was a Lesser Keeper, in the south, in a small village. Grady would do specific work for that village back then, decades ago. He would guide Ulric on trips to odd places. Summers in the north sometimes, winters in the south other times, to the Citadel a few times.” She wiped her hands on her apron. “He was looking for something or someone. Maybe it was you all along. That's what Grady thinks. He's content with that. Such an odd man.”

“I need to have a long talk with Ulric when he wakes up.” Barcus grabbed a bowl for some oatmeal.

***

Barcus was on top of the wall, planning the last of the repairs, when he saw Grady below, dragging a small deer.

He stepped off and lightly landed on a large rock atop the rubble outside the wall. He knew they needed to eliminate this pile to be secure. The sound caught Grady's attention, and he stopped to rest.

“Here, let me help,” Barcus said, as he took the cord from him that he was using to drag the deer. Barcus tied the front feet and then the back feet together and slung the deer over his shoulder like he was carrying luggage.

They walked slowly as it began to snow again.

“My knee says we are in for a blizzard,” Grady said, giving his leg a shake.

“Good work, getting the deer,” Barcus remarked.

“Game is good in these parts. Did you really kill a Telis Raptor? They go where the game is best,” Grady said.

“Yes. But it was almost the end of me,” Barcus admitted.

“The way Po tells it, the beast tore you up good – you instead of her.” Grady was watching him.

“Grady, I apologize for what happened. I don't know what to say. For what it's worth, I would not have killed either of you.”

“Lie to yourself boy, but don't lie to me. No offense. But if you thought that girl was in danger, you'd kill me faster ‘n you could lace your boots.”

The boots Barcus wore had no laces.

“No need to apologize. Best forget. Ulric likely will. Usually does.” Grady paused, then continued. “He has no idea why he came here. He is sure it was to see you.”

They entered through the south gate, walking directly to the open air kitchen and then into the butchery. Grady stopped in his tracks.

The Telis Raptor hung, there in the cold, dangling from some of the many S hooks in there.

“Bloody hell.” He started to walk slowly around it. “You neglected to tell me how big it was, lad.” He lifted the tail and looked at the wicked barbed blade that grew from the end of it. “In the south, a tail-spike that big is worth a boot full of silver. And your boots are big.”

With the ease of practice, Grady had the deer hung, skinned and quartered in no time. He carefully extracted the tenderloins to take to Po separately.

Barcus watched as he worked.

Grady washed and wrapped the rest in butcher’s cloth and stored it in the meat locker.

Knife still in hand, he lifted the tail of the Telis and looked to Barcus. “Let me do this for you,” he said.

Barcus nodded.

Grady peeled the skin of the tail back about twelve inches, exposing the first tail joint. It took a few minutes of careful cutting before the bones separated. He held up the tail spike by the bone, and it looked like a curved short sword.

“Mind if I finish this for you? Telis Raptor bone is as hard as Ironwood,” Grady said.

“Not at all,” Barcus replied.

“Wonder if Po will boil this for me for a day or two,” he said to himself as he walked out.

After a quick lunch, Grady spent the afternoon in the stables and blacksmith shop with Olias. Their horses needed some long overdue attention.

Even the afternoon hammering didn't wake Ulric.

***

“Barcus, Ulric is awake. I have sent Olias to show him where the privy is located and to bring him some water,” Em reported.

“I am so glad I fixed the water that fed this end of Whitehall.” Grady, Po and Barcus looked at each other as the sounds of vomiting echoed.

“How long has he been in there?” Barcus asked.

“The better part of an hour,” Po said.

They heard loud gargling and spitting from the privy as Grady poured a large mug of tea and waited. An awkward door slamming open and then closed preceded Ulric's form teetering around the corner into the kitchen pavilion.

“Morning,” mumbled Ulric repeatedly, taking the offered tea and moving to a bench under the cover that looked out past the cauldrons, at the area that would one day be the herb garden. For a long while, he said not a word.

“I feel sorry for you people. When you wake up in the morning, that’s as good as you will feel all day,” Ulric said.

Barcus knew he had heard that expression before. It was an expression from home, a quote of a famous person from the past.

Po had made toast while she was moving about. She buttered it and brought it to him on a wooden plate.

He looked up at her. “You shot me in the neck,” he stated.

“I'm horribly sorry about that, my Lord,” she said, handing him the plate of toast.

“That's all right. I probably deserved it. I guess I'm forgiven if I get toast with my tea. Thank you.” He took a bite that was inappropriately big and looked back to watch the snowflakes growing large as they fell. Po walked back to Barcus and Grady.

“Grady, we have a decent bath if you want to take him over for a soak. Olias is warming it up now. It would make him feel better,” Po said.

“A bath?” Grady sounded incredulous.

“Olias will show you where it is,” Po said, as Olias rounded the corner, adding, “I have started another laundry cauldron if you have clothes you'd like washed.”

“Thank you, but we are already stressing your hospitality. I can do our laundry,” he said humbly.

“As you wish, sir. In the meantime, I have laid out britches and tunics that you can wear. They should fit well enough.” Po averted her eyes then.

“Please call me Grady, Po. ‘Sir’ makes me itch.”

“Very well, Grady,” she said.

Grady smiled at her immediate cooperation.

The snow really started coming down as Olias showed them the way to the bath suite. There was no wind but gigantic flakes that were accumulating fast.

“We need to configure some canvas walls along this open end during the winter,” Barcus gestured.

“Canvas? You mean like sailcloth?” Po asked. He nodded, “We may have some in the storeroom already,” Po said.

An inventory window popped up in his HUD showing the amount and location of the “tent cloth.”

“I think I remember seeing it. I will go have a look.” Barcus headed for the storeroom where he now knew it was.

“Em, what is your assessment of our visitors?” Barcus asked.

“I think they are harmless if that's what you mean. I think Grady would be very useful if he were to stay. Ulric? That has yet to be determined.”

“Stay? You mean stay here for the winter?” Barcus had not considered that as an option.

“We have enough supplies, more than enough in fact. Plus, Grady can easily supply fresh meat. Ulric may be able to answer a lot of questions about this planet and this society. He has been here a long time. I believe that he is from Earth originally.”

“The way this snow is coming down, they may not have much of a choice,” Barcus said.

***

Ulric had scrubbed himself nearly raw everywhere after he got in the tub. Grady had already lathered up and shaved Ulric's head for him and his face down to the goatsbeard he liked, holding onto his last Keeper vanity. Grady left with his filthy clothes.

Now he just soaked in the fresh, clean, warm waters. It was the best bath he had taken in years. He was relaxed, and his hangover was almost gone. His eyes drifted closed for a few minutes.

When he opened them, she was there, sitting in the water at the other end of the tub. Her back was to him. The full moon tattoo, artfully obscured by clouds, was clear and more detailed than his memory.

“Grady did a passable job. Considering he used a hunting knife. Excellent edge for that knife, adequate edge for a razor,” she whispered.

He closed his eyes, but he knew she wasn't gone because she lived in his mind. She was his insanity.

“How many times did I shave you? And I never cut your throat,” she said.

“I freed you.” He clenched his eyes closed. He could feel her drifting closer.

“You ran.” Her whisper came from directly in front of his nose.

He felt her go.

He sighed with relief before he heard in the far distance, “But I found you...” The cello began to weep a sorrowful tune.

He opened his eyes, and he was alone.