The Crystal Clipper (5 page)

David comes crashing into Ishtar's cave, his lungs near exploding. Ishtar and Dorinda have been eating by a small cook fire. Alarmed, Ishtar jumps to his feet and spills his plate of food in Dorinda's lap. “David! What's happened?”

David's voice barely breaks through the panting and wheezing. He leans forward, hands on knees to force out the words. “Two men - ambushed me -”

“Take a moment. Calm yourself.” Ishtar leads David to the bench and urges him to sit. David takes large gulping breaths, but his words still come out spastically.

“I was following the path - Judiah cleared for me. I saw this glow - just ahead. I followed it - and it led me to a clearing. I saw the Palace across the valley -”

One final deep intake of breath and David's voice relaxes enough to speak fluently. “A volcano and all these people around performing some sort of ritual. They sacrificed one of the men to the volcano, but instead of fire, there was all this electro-magnetic energy. I don't even think I could explain what actually happened.”

Ishtar grimaces. “No need to. I have seen the ghastly ritual.”

“Who are those people? Why are they making sacrifices? Who -
what
- are they making sacrifices to?”

Ishtar hesitates, a ruminating expression on his face. He looks questioningly to Dorinda, who is efficiently wiping the food stains from her skirt. She nods her approval.

“All of those people,” Ishtar begins his story, “once inhabited this island, free and proud, with hope and promise for a bright tomorrow. But now they are slaves to the serpent ruler, the Glass Snake as we call him, because his promises have all shattered like fragile crystal.”

David is thinking that this entire situation is incomprehensible. A dozen questions whirl in his head at once:
Serpent ruler? Who would worship a snake? Is he actually made of glass? What is his power over these people? How did he get it in the first place?
But he asks none of them, rendered momentarily speechless by both fascination and fear. Dorinda pours a soothing drink and offers it to David. He accepts it with trembling hands and sips it gratefully.

“Like all sacrificial rites, this one is merely a ploy to subjugate the people to stay in the Palace and do the Snake's work, too frightened to rise up and mutiny against him.”

“But I didn't see any glass snake or whatever it is,” David says, finding his voice again. “Just some high priestess or something.”

Ishtar walks to his worktable, retrieves a small silver chest, then joins David again by the fire. From the chest, Ishtar removes a set of drawings.

“Few have actually seen the monster. With Jaycina as the Glass Snake's mediator, the people were enticed by the promise of a life of abundance instead of austerity. They worked slavishly to build a new city, with temples of learning, healing and worship, a City of Light where all could bask in the glow.”

David peruses the intricate renderings that Ishtar has unfolded for him, and points to a specific spot on one of the drawings. “This is the Palace I saw. But it isn't like any ordinary castle. It's not stone. There's no turrets.”

“You're right. It's far from a traditional structure. The Prism Palace is made of the finest, strongest crystal formations in the earth, skillfully sculptured and constructed. It is a wonder of architectural technology, a miracle of science and spirit combined.”

“Why do you call it the Prism Palace?”

Ishtar refolds the drawings and places them back in the silver chest. “Prisms display dazzling reflections of the light spectrum,” he explains knowledgeably. “They can be illuminating or deceiving.” His erudite tone then shifts to intimacy. “Were you not enraptured by the heavenly aura of the Palace? Did you not want to immerse yourself in it and become one with it?”

David nods. He had felt those very things, but they had defied description.

“You saw its divinity, my boy, what it was created for. And then, at the volcano,” Ishtar's tone is now angry, his face hard, “you saw its perversion, the evil that permeates the Palace under the Glass Snake's reign.”

David shudders slightly and closes his eyes to blank out the memory of the sacrifice he witnessed.

“We, too, thought our lives would be transformed. Dorinda, Saliana and I. Instead we were betrayed. Jaycina used her wiles to entice us all into pledging loyalty to a new idea, an ideal, and a benevolent leader we had never seen.”

“But you? Didn't you suspect - “

“Suspect it was too good to be true?” Ishtar's short laugh is an ironic one. “Yes, but my ego had the better of me. This was my opportunity to build the city of my dreams, to use all my knowledge as a scientist, my skills as an architect, and my creative vision as an artisan.” Ishtar stands up and emotes theatrically, self-deprecatingly. “The rewards would be tremendous! Yes I, too, was blinded by the light of false promises. And because I was a fool, those wretched people are forced to slave in the mines, removing all the minerals, the gold, and the crystal for the perpetuation of the Glass Snake's power.”

“But just what
is
his power?” David presses Ishtar for an answer, still not grasping the totality of it. “How can he control hundreds of people like this?”

Ishtar stares into the fire intently, his face reflecting the bittersweet memories of triumph and then defeat. “When the Palace was finally completed, we were all exuberant. A grand celebration was held that lasted for days. As a token of our allegiance and appreciation, we offered our personal crystals, not knowing they would be used against us.”

“I don't understand what you mean by personal crystals,” David says. “How can they be used against you?”

“Each of us has – or had – a gemstone given to us at birth which recorded our bio-codes, our genetic information, and all our lifetime memories. As we grew and developed, the gemstone, or personal crystal, would be imbued with all the knowledge and skill we acquired along the way. Everything we were, and would become, was recorded in the crystal. When we offered them as a token of allegiance, we had no idea that the information they contained was transferred into the Palace's Chamber of Records. When we were given our crystals back, they were completely devoid of any useful data.

“After the celebration, we all attempted to return to our homes on this side of the Island, but found they had all been destroyed. It looked as though an earthquake had hit, completely turning over the landscape.

“We were in total darkness. No light, no power, no energy and no resources in the earth to restore the light. Then we realized we had unwittingly rechanneled all of the sources of electrical energy on the Island, diverting it into the volcano and causing a seismic calamity. It is from the volcano that the Palace draws its energy source, the only source of power on the Island. With all of our sophisticated tools and equipment gone we have no means to divert it back to us for our use.”

David's entire body expresses incredulity. With shrugged shoulders and pleading hands he asks the impossible, the incomprehensible. “What about the moon? The Sun? Don't tell me the Snake has turned out their lights, too?”

Ishtar nods, a solemn expression weighing heavily on his face. “In a sense he has, my son. An evil imbalance of power creates an imbalance in the universe. Until order is restored, we will not see the sun or the moon on our side of the Island.”

David paces, trying to absorb it all. Head shaking, hands questioning, he debates it with himself. There are still so many unanswered questions, so many ill-fitting pieces of the puzzle. Then, bluntly, he asks Ishtar, “Why are the other people slaves and you aren't?”

Ishtar's lips are tight but trembling, his tone and his words contrite. “Because of Saliana, my daughter. She has something that the Snake covets even more than all the riches that can be mined from the earth. She has the gift of life in her song. Her beautiful voice can heal the sick, and literally bring the dying back to life. The Snake believes Saliana can make him immortal. He keeps her prisoner in the Royal Tower so she can sing for no one but him.”

“And she agrees to sing for him so that her father can remain free,” Dorinda says, breaking a long silence with sympathy for her friend.

“Yes. Free from the physical slavery of the mines, but never free from the slavery of guilt.”

“Hush, Ishtar,” Dorinda says, gently. “Feel guilty later. Now we must tell David of our plan.”

David looks blankly at Dorinda. “What plan?”

Dorinda, ever the prepared one, hands David a plate of food. “Our plan to rescue Saliana,” she says, a firm smile of determination lighting her friendly face.

“Dorinda, David is here to find his sister and return to his home,” Ishtar says, a faint hint of hopefulness shading his words.

“Yes, Ishtar, but perhaps in rescuing Saliana he shall also rescue his Sally.” Then she peers steadfastly into David's eyes. “You are at a crossroads, David, and the choice is yours,” she says, finally revealing her identity.

“David stops eating, a fork held in mid-air. “It
is
you! I know it's you!” He noisily sets down the fork and plate. “You're the hologram, the Gypsy. You know where Sally is.”

“Yes, I confess, I did see your Sally in my globe, but I don't know precisely where she is. Somehow she has gotten caught up in the madness of the Glass Snake's evil plans for Saliana. I don't know any more than that.”

David stiffens apprehensively, and points aimlessly toward the outside of the cave. “You mean she could be there? In the Palace?”

“I feel it is possible, yes.”

“Then let's go,” David says, hastily moving to leave. “We've got to get her out of there.”

Ishtar restrains David with a strong hand on his arm. “No, David. Wait. We cannot help. We cannot go with you.”

“Why not?”

“Everyone's electro-magnetic codes, including Dorinda's and mine, were recorded in the master memory banks of the Crystal Chamber when we gave Jaycina our personal crystals. If either of us were to cross the perimeter we would immediately be detected by the security devices.”

David considers this for a moment. “What about me? Could I get in? Would I be detected?”

“No, you're an unknown quantity,” Ishtar says, seemingly amenable to the idea.

David is encouraged. Then, remembering his ambush, he has second thoughts. “I don't know. I don't think I could do it alone. I was almost caught by those two guards.”

“Yes, that is strange,” Ishtar says, obviously still irked by the incident. “You must have wandered off the path somehow.”

David shakes his head emphatically. “But I didn't. I walked exactly where the path was cleared.”

Ishtar expels a breath, dismissing the problem for now. “I'll speak to Judiah when I see him tomorrow. Perhaps we can devise a plan for you to enter the Palace and let us both succeed in rescuing the people that we love.”

“I cannot believe you were unable to capture an unarmed boy.” In her private reception room in the Prism Palace, an irate Jaycina confronts a very nervous and groveling Judiah. The brick red polished nails of her spidery hands tap impatiently on the carved ebony arms of her chair. She throws a deadly gaze at Judiah whose knees threaten to buckle under him. “Perhaps you are not worthy of your commission in my secret service.”

“I beg your forgiveness, High Priestess.” Judiah's hands clasped together pitifully, causing Jaycina's eyes to narrow with disdain. “The men who failed shall be properly punished. But, believe me - I, myself, could not be there to capture him. If he had seen me I would no longer be of any use to you.”

“You're worthless to me now,” Jaycina hisses the words.

“An unworthy wretch I am, to be sure, High Priestess. But I believe I will redeem myself when you hear of my most astounding discovery.”

“It best be monumental.”

“A ship, High Priestess. A magnificent sailing ship.” Judiah gestures broadly and dramatically. “Sent from another world. With powers beyond your dreams, beyond anything that exists in the Prism Palace or the Glass Volcano.”

Jaycina is intrigued, her posture attentive. “What kind of power?”

Seizing the moment, Judiah emotes with newfound confidence. “Crystal power. Unlimited crystal power. Three towering masts of solid crystal, surrounded by rings of pure gold.”

“Where is this ship?” Jaycina's interrogation is direct now. No threatening undertones. Pointed questions requiring keen answers.

“Moored off the west shore of the Island.”

“How did it get here, and when?”

“The boy, David Nickerson, sailed to the Island in that ship.”

“All alone? Impossible.”

“Yes, I thought so, too,” Judiah speaks quickly before Jaycina's menace returns. “Until Ishtar and I read the ship's log. It is written there. He is the official captain of the ship, Moon Singer.” He dares now to take a small breath of relief.

Jaycina stands in one smooth, sudden move causing Judiah to flinch and emit a small but audible gasp. But the High Priestess turns her gaze away from the weasely little man, pondering this divulgence. Finally, “Hmm. Moon Singer. A foolishly romantic name for a sailing ship.”

“Begging your pardon, High Priestess, but isn't that the song Princess Saliana sings?”

“Moon Singer…yes. Yes.” Jaycina pauses for reflection again. Then, sharply to Judiah, “Are you saying that Princess Saliana is singing about this ship?”

“I believe,” Judiah suggests warily, “that it was her singing that called the ship here to the island.”

“To escape, perhaps? With Ishtar?”

“Exactly,” Judiah replies, adrenaline pumping up his words again. “The boy plans to enter the Palace undetected and rescue Saliana. We can capture him then.”

Jaycina's puts her hand up as if to halt Judiah's suggestion. “No. Let him succeed. Once he is here, I will take care of him.” Her eyes glow, seeming to relish the possibilities of the situation.

“As you wish,” Judiah says obediently. “And the ship Moon Singer?”

“Leave it moored where it is. I will tell you when to seize it. And do not come back to the Palace or attempt to see me until I send for you.”

Jaycina begins to leave the room, but Judiah brazenly scurries alongside her like a rat, pressing his limited luck dangerously further. “But how will I keep you informed, High Priestess?” he dares to protest.

Jaycina turns on her heels and glowers at him. Judiah seems to shrink into the floor. “I will find out everything I need to know, once the young Captain David Nickerson is inside the Palace. Then, be prepared for the greatest test of your allegiance to our great Serpent Ruler.”

Judiah hiccups nervously, coming unstrung. “I will be prepared,” he says and bows, twice, three times.

Jaycina's pomegranate lips widen in a surreptitious smile. She pivots around and, with a flourish, closes her cape around her, exiting regally.