The Mirage on the Brink of Oblivion (The Epic of Aravinda Book 3) (25 page)

She found herself at the base of a massive heap of rubble, a strange mix of obsidian stone, black sand, and chunks of plating. No doubt this was the remnants of the obsidian tower she had sent her ship careening toward, when there had been a gravity pocket sitting just above it. Before the unthinkable occurred.

Durazha looked up to the sky, now splashed red and pink by the rising red sun of Agnira. No sign of the gravity pocket above the planet. No sign that it was ever there, at all.

She stood up and examined her carapace. Surprisingly, it had weathered the damage well, suffering only a few fractures here and there but otherwise still functional. It had probably saved her life. But that didn’t change anything. She had utterly failed.

“Razakh, you fool!” she screamed into the rubble. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but if your pathetic awareness still clings to this world, I hope you understand what you cost me, not to mention what you cost my entire faction!”

She felt as if her blood were bubbling in her veins.

“I don’t know how much power you were drawing from our Anuttam, but it is gone! Without its power, my entire faction is probably being blown to pieces as I speak!”

She stumbled around the rubble in rage.

“WHERE ARE YOU?” she wailed. “I want to find you and stab a
real
blade into your skull, a physical one, not the weak energetic implement you sliced me with. Where are you, peon?”

Durazha lumbered around, pulling chunks of rubble aside but finding no sign of her father.

“We are powerless now, because of you! We have nothing! Nothing! No ships, no faction!” Hopelessness washed over Durazha, and she covered her eyes and fell onto the rubble, letting it screech across her carapace. “We are finished, and I don’t know what to do. I only wanted to control our dominion! To conquer the weak. Is that so much to ask?”

A light rain began to fall, making a tinkling sound on her carapace. She looked up, squinting her eyes in disbelief at the clear water as it fell from the sky.

It hadn’t rained on Agnira in millennia.

She looked over to the smoldering mountains along the horizon. The lava pools had lost their orange glow, and the volcanic plumes behind them had thinned considerably.

A cool wind kicked up, and she shivered at the thought.

“How is this possible?” she whispered.

A small patch of grey clouds hung above, and as the rain fell a bit harder, a thought struck her.

“The Chintamani!” A grin flashed across her face. “Of course! The stone was on the ship when we crashed into the obsidian tower.” She glanced around, noticing that most of the sky was clear except for the patch of clouds above the rubble. “Could it be the cause of the rain? Could it affect the planet so quickly?” She looked back down to the field of dark rubble she was standing on. “It must be in this heap somewhere, and I
will
find it. It may need a heart to heal, but it only needs
intention
to harm. And when I find it, I shall use it to subdue this world, as it was millennia ago. Yes, I will find it. I will rebuild.”

She studied the mound of dark rubble she was standing on, thoughts racing through her mind as she moved aside one chunk of stone at a time.

“Yes, I shall find it. I shall find it. I shall.” As she repeated the words over and over, her digging grew frenzied. “I shall find it, father. Yes, I shall.”

And in her frenzied state, the fact that the heap of rubble was as large as a Vakragha cruiser was of only minor concern to her.

…

Far above a shimmering blue world within the fourth band of the western spiral arm, a battle was raging.

Still floating out in the middle of Avani’s southern ocean, Darshana, Vivek, Yantrik, and Officer Tak watched in awe as dozens of shimmering points of light flew in formation in the darkening sky above them.

“Are those
Confederation
ships?” Vivek said.

“My, my,” Yantrik said, “looks like Asha and Zahn might have been able to help us, after all. And check out the moon! The dark patch that was approaching it is shrinking.”

They all turned, noticing that the space near the moon that had been void of stars just a few minutes before was slowly shrinking, like a gap in space closing up again.

“Astounding,” Darshana said.

“Why are they flickering red?” Vivek asked, pointing upward.

Darshana turned and noticed a group of the lights swarm around some unseen enemy. A few green beams shot out, but the lights avoided them. All at once, the points of light flickered in red, and then swept through the area before moving on to another patch of the sky.

“Someone is destroying the Vakragha ships,” she said.

Officer Tak looked back to them, concern filling his eyes. “It’s possible that the radiation from their weapons is harmful. I recommend we head back to Ashraya. We can’t help Nirupak anymore. The subterranean gate is destroyed.”

“Hold on,” Yantrik said, raising his hand. “That’s a classic Confederation starburst pattern. And see where the dark fissure once was?” He pointed back up to the full moon, a smile spreading across his face. “It’s gone. My friends, the Confederation fights for us!”

“What about the gravity distortion?” Vivek asked. “What if the fissure already tweaked the moon into a dangerous orbit?”

“Possible but unlikely, my dear,” Darshana said. “Although significant, the fissure’s mass was still small compared to our moon. I’m sure the observatory is already measuring the changes, but now that the fissure is dissolved, they should be minor.”

The officer twisted his face in confusion. “What do you mean?
Who
fights for us?”

Darshana turned to Yantrik. “Are you sure they’re friendly?”

“Definitely Confederation. I’d recognize that starburst configuration anywhere.”

“Then we need to get back to Ashraya City. I think the time has come to tell the public what happened to me. I want the world to know that the Confederation saved us. They must know the truth, that they don’t need to be afraid.”

She looked up to Tak, who only blinked in stunned silence.

“Tak, let’s go home.”

He only nodded and turned, whipping the airboat back toward Ashraya to the north.

And while Darshana had no way of knowing, as they sped back to the islands the first rockturtle of the season reached the surface of Ashraya’s beach, its tiny fin protruding from the silver sand before crawling up to the surface.

More turtles dug themselves out of the sand.

Popping up one by one, their silvery shells blended in with the sand as they scampered toward the ocean. Completely unaware of the tragedy that almost befell them, they raced toward the crashing blue waves of the bay, instinctively knowing that it was their home.

Although they were mere hatchlings, most reached the water within minutes, embracing the joy of the ocean. Not all would survive the dangers of the sea, but those that reached adulthood would remember this place, returning to that same beach years later, stronger and wiser. Thus was the way of growth.

…

With a gasp, Oonak once again found himself lying on his bunk within the royal stasis cube, a place he hadn’t seen in what felt like months. He propped himself up and looked around, appraising the purple support beams of the bunk matrix with new eyes.

He leaned back onto the bunk and pressed a small button. After a few seconds, a robotic arm appeared and pulled his bunk out above the sorting hall and gracefully lowered him down to the floor.

Gradually, Oonak sat up and stepped out of the bunk.

His legs felt weak, and he wondered if he’d perhaps been too diligent in his Mirage duties. It had been too long since he’d focused on his physical body.

His stomach gurgled so loudly that anyone nearby would have heard it. “Definitely too long.”

He walked past dozens of bunk rows to a container at the far end of the room. And for the first time in days, he ate. The ambrosia was powerful, but it could not replace food forever.

Feeling refreshed, he closed the container and set out into the hall. Behind him, he thought he heard the sound of the robotic arm spring to life again to retrieve someone else.

He didn’t have time to see who it was and made his way to the right, following a network of paths past rows of the long, cubic buildings. His walk became a run as he neared the far end of the chamber where the guests were kept.

Oonak stopped. Ahead, the door into the next cube was open. With hesitation he took a few steps and turned.

Inside, a narrow hall led straight ahead, and standing in the center of it was a young man with blond hair and a young woman wearing a familiar maroon uniform.

A wide smile filled Oonak’s face as he ran over to them.

They embraced him with open arms, hugging him tightly. Oonak had no words left, and none of them spoke for some time. Somehow, their impossible mission was over. They had struck a fatal blow to multiple Vakragha factions, and for a few moments they all basked in the relief that they had survived through it all.

BZZT. BZZT. BZZT.

Oonak glanced down to his wristcomm, reading a short message rendered in crisp white text.

“The Confederation congratulates us on completing our mission successfully.” A feeling of bewilderment mixed with surprise in Oonak’s heart. “I can’t believe it. The Confederation says our battle groups have detected Vakragha attack fleets all across the galaxy, but they’re in shambles. Their gravity bending ability seems to be severely weakened, almost as if separate factions feed off of each other…” He trailed off for a second. “Anyway, the Confederation battle groups are making headway, pushing them back into their dark dominion.” A wave of emotion threatened to overtake him, and he wiped a tear away from his face.

Oonak put his hands on their shoulders.

“How about I get you back to Avani, Zahn? And where should I drop you off, Asha?”

She smiled shyly, slipping her palm into Zahn’s. “Someone once told me to trust my gut, my head, and my heart. And in this case, all three of them agree. Ashraya sounds wonderful.”

Zahn blinked in elation. “You remembered.”

“Like you said, they all have something valuable to say, and I feel congruent about staying. That is, if we actually get a break from all these Confederation missions. I’d say we’ve earned it.”

Oonak smiled. “As would I.”

A tear trickled down Zahn’s face, and Asha’s eyes widened in concern. “Are you okay, Zahn?”

“Yes,” he said. “For the first time in years, I think I am.”

He spread his arms and embraced both of them, tears filling his eyes.

A short time later, they reprised their familiar stations within Navika. Even the jagrul flew up to Asha’s shoulder and nibbled on her ear, and she couldn’t help but laugh.

Zahn chuckled. “I wish I had my photodisc, because you guys are adorable.”

She squinted back to him. “You try holding back a laugh when this thing gets to you.”

“Are you two ready?” Oonak called down to them from the command chair. He was oddly comforted by his old station. Seeing all of Navika’s data once again overlaid on his vision was soothing, like he was putting on an old uniform that fit him perfectly. “Liftoff in 10. Stay sharp.”

Gradually, he lifted off, kicking up dust all around the ship, and soon they were cruising over the familiar ruddy mountain ranges of Tavisi. In a blink of his eyes, he made the floor transparent once more, and Asha’s gaze drifted down to the landscape below.

“Look!” Asha said, pointing to a grassy cliff that overlooked the sea. “There’s the lookout point where the sunset suite was. Or is, I mean.”

Zahn turned around. “Oonak, what do you think will happen now? Shouldn’t we have stayed and helped them reorganize or find a new Empress?”

“Zahn, after all we’ve been through, do I really need to explain Spacefarer code to you again?”

Asha turned around. “Well, that’s just it. Seems like a lot of what the Confederation does ends up violating the code in the end. Even your
presence
on Tavisi disturbed their society. And now their Empress is dead. After all that’s happened, I can’t help but feel that they’ve been thrown into chaos.”

Outside, the blue of the sky grew darker and darker until they were wrapped in a blanket of stars once more.

“Not quite dead, Asha,” he said, his eyes darting around as he spoke, no doubt processing the wealth of data Navika was showing him. “And don’t worry. I have word that a new empress has been selected, and unlike Amaraloka, I think she will find a balance, perhaps even restore the ecosystem after all.”

“Already?” Zahn said.

“Have you so quickly forgotten the time dilation? Within the Mirage,
days
have passed since we defeated the Empress, and I have it on good authority that the Royal Committee for the Environment is taking Jyana’s findings seriously. News of her research is spreading, and her memories are being shared like wildfire. The game is changing, Zahn.”

“And to think I was surprised that the Empress preferred to stay out of the public eye.” Asha shook her head. “Now it makes perfect sense. Less exposure, less chance a secret will get out.”

“Perhaps,” Oonak continued, “but we know all too well how difficult it is to keep secrets in the Mirage for long.”

“What about the Kiss of Life?” Asha said. “If Durazha had it on the ship, isn’t it still on Agnira? Shouldn’t we go back to retrieve it?”

Oonak furrowed his eyebrows. “No. I’ve received no new objectives from the Confederation, so I would surmise that they’re sending a reconnaissance ship first to ascertain the status of the planet. And with the size of that tower, the stone is probably buried under hundreds of meters of rubble.”

“Yeah,” Zahn nodded. “And like you said, Asha, we’ve certainly earned some time off by now.”

Concern passed over Asha’s face. “And even if one of the Vakragha on Agnira somehow survived all that, they would be powerless now, right Oon?”

“Yes,” he nodded. “They would be without a ship or a way to communicate. Even if Durazha somehow survived, she would be trapped on that world. And to her, that might be a fate worse than death.”