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“And you can land a ship this size on them?”

Joss nodded. “It has been done in the past.”

Dax rolled his eyes. “Oh, that makes me feel
so
much better…”

Ava stuck her head in the door. “What’s going on?”

“You really don’t want to know,” Waroun replied.

“Try me.”

“We’ve got to land the ship on some sort of floating glass thingy out in the middle of the ocean.”

“They aren’t actually made of glass,” Joss put in. “They’re made of water.”

Dax’s head began to pound. “This just gets better and better.” He glared pointedly at Joss. “Explain that.”

“It’s pretty technical, but the bases are essentially made of water, held in place by a colloidal matrix.” He smiled reassuringly. “They’re quite strong—even the storms don’t affect them, though they do rock a bit when one hits them.”

“And we can set the ship down on one without squashing anyone or breaking anything?”

“Normally, no—they’re populated with cities or industry—but I, well, I own one that is under construction near Mirolar. I’ve been out of touch for some time, but it may be complete enough to land on by now.”

Dax had seen something similar in his vision. “But they can be destroyed, right?”

“I suppose so,” Joss replied. “But it would take an enormously powerful disruptor to do it. I’ve never even heard of such a weapon.”

“If my vision was correct, and I believe it was, then someone now has that ability. I saw ‘glass’ buildings being fired on by ships, and they sank into the sea.”

Joss’s tentacles wilted, and his skin lost some of its iridescent quality. “Ships? Why, there are millions of Aquerei living on those bases! I can’t believe anyone would do such a thing!”

“War is hell,” Waroun said grimly.

“What else haven’t you told us, Joss?” Ava asked. “You won’t say which side you’re on, you won’t—”

“I believe I just took a side,” Joss said faintly. “The New Age must begin, and soon. With technology like that…” Clearly stunned, he turned bleak eyes on Dax. “There is no hope.”

“Then tell your buddies we’re setting down on that platform,” Dax said. “And while you’re at it, tell them to get the hell out of the way.”

***

Ava knew that if anyone could pull this off, it would be Dax. She’d never been on the bridge while he was at the helm before, but simply watching him made her feel more confident. He handled the controls with the deft skill of a man who knew exactly what he was doing.

She only wished she could have felt more confident about their mission. All they had to do was take the stone to the temple and place it in its niche. The “oracle” would take it from there. Of course, first they had to land, and then they had to find the temple, making their way past who knew what kind of opposition. The stone had to be kept hidden too. One glimpse of it would set off a chain reaction among those for and against the coming of the New Age.

Having heard of the conditions on Aquerei, Ava longed to put an end to the conflict as quickly and easily as possible, and watching Dax intensified that longing. He was the embodiment of strength and vibrant life; for him to die on an alien world, fighting the battles of a foolish race of aquatics who couldn’t get along with one another, was pointless and wasteful. If it weren’t for Ava and her father—whichever side he was on—Dax wouldn’t be here, about to risk his life for a people who would probably never hear of his courage, or his determination.

“I can’t let you do this, Dax,” she said, barely realizing she’d spoken.

“It’s a little late for that now,” Waroun said impatiently.

“No, it isn’t,” Ava said firmly. “We don’t have to do this.” With a glance at Joss, her expression hardened. “This is your fight, not his. I could give you the stone, and you could do this all on your own.”

Joss blanched like a fish that had gone belly up. “You can’t be serious.”

“I’m perfectly serious. Dax, you don’t have to do this.”

Dax never took his eyes from his task. “Yes, I do. The vision… it’s so strong in my mind… I can’t ignore it.”

She gritted her teeth in frustration. “Men,” she said with disgust. “Always willing to die for a noble cause. Well, I’m not risking you! I’ll go alone. No one will suspect me of having the stone. I could just walk right into the temple and—”

“Get yourself killed,” Dax said, cutting her off. “Do you think I haven’t thought about this? If there were an alternative, I’d grab it in an instant. But I have no choice, Ava. I may not be of this world, but something greater than all of us is at work here. I have to see it through.”

Her tears began to flow. “I can’t risk losing you, Dax.”

“Do you think I want to risk losing
you
?”

“No,” she replied. “I know you don’t, but I’m not Zetithian; I’m replaceable. Think about how important you are, not only to me, but to the survival of your species.”

“I can’t let that affect how I live my life,” Dax said evenly. “If I can’t be free to choose my own path, then I might as well be dead.”

“The Aquerei may be killing each other, but at least there are still plenty of them left.” Ava was beginning to wish she’d never walked onto the bridge. Her voice trembled with emotion. “And you mean more to me than all of them.”

“But think how you would feel, knowing that other lives were lost because we didn’t act; didn’t do what we were supposed to do. We may only be small parts of the cosmos, but we each have our own destiny. We were put here to do something… something important. Beyond that…” Dax paused, shaking his head. “I don’t understand it, but my understanding doesn’t matter. I can see the absolute necessity that we do this, and we do it together.” He glanced at her briefly before returning his attention to flying the ship. “We’ve had this discussion before.”

Ava drew in a deep breath. “I know. It’s just that now… well… you’re much too precious to sacrifice.”

“Then I’ll just have to stay alive.” He said this with such fierce intensity that Ava felt the impact of his words in the very core of her being. Her skin tingled as though a prophet had spoken, and her hair snapped with electricity.

“You’d better,” she said quietly.

“I’ll do my best,” Dax promised. Smiling, he angled the
Valorcry
toward the atmosphere. “And for the record, you are
not
replaceable.”

Her smile was automatic, but she didn’t comment—at least, not aloud.
If only I could believe that…

“So, Joss,” Dax said. “Where is this base you were telling us about?”

Chapter 21

Ava was unprepared for the effect the oceans of Aquerei would have on her. Sunlight danced on seemingly limitless expanses, while currents visible even from the upper atmosphere seemed to carve the planet into sections. But it was more than a fascinating view; it called to her on a deep, primal level. If she had waited just a few moments before voicing her concerns, her own resistance would have dissolved like salt scattered across a wind-tossed sea. She could no more have abandoned this world than she could sprout wings and fly.

It was beautiful, awe-inspiring, but terrifying at the same time. The vast depths beckoned, and she longed to explore them all, to discover their secrets and learn their ways, despite the inherent dangers. This world was her birthright. Dax was correct in believing that she would not leave it. She wouldn’t—at least, not willingly. Not until it was saved.

Following Joss’s directions, the
Valorcry
skimmed the air just above the waves as the base shimmered in the distance. Seen from space, it looked like a shiny dot in the middle of the ocean. Close up, it was huge; the foundation for a great new city.

“So you own this thing, do you?” Waroun asked Joss.

“I do,” said Joss, but he didn’t seem very happy about it. “Unfortunately, the way things have been going, the city may never be built. Right now, all it’s good for is a landing pad.”

“And to think, we’re giving you a ride home for free when we could’ve charged you a bundle,” Waroun lamented.

“You’re forgetting that I didn’t particularly want to come here—at least, not right now.” Joss peered at the viewscreen. “I don’t see anyone out there at all—no sign of any work being done, either.”

“Can you contact them?” Dax asked.

“I can try,” Joss replied. “But from the look of it, I don’t believe I’ll get an answer.”

“Well, at least there’s no one in the way,” Dax pointed out. “Where should we set down?”

“The northwestern corner,” Joss replied.

“It could be a trap,” Ava said. Gazing out across the deserted base, she felt as though an icy finger had touched her, sending shivers throughout her body. “It’s certainly creepy enough.”

“I’ve seen creepier places,” Waroun said. “You know, the kind with dark corners for the bad guys to hide in? We’d be able to see anyone coming long before they could get to us.”

“But if the opposition truly does have a disruptor capable of destroying the bases…” Joss stopped there, still visibly shaken at the very idea of such a weapon.

“I still don’t get why there’s a war at all,” Ava said. “What does it matter whether someone chooses to live in the city or under the sea?”

“It’s the same as any other civil war,” Joss said wearily. “One side decides it hates the other for some trivial reason, and after the first death, things get ugly and then continue on until no one really knows why anymore. They hate because they’ve been taught to hate. Until everyone realizes that on the deepest level, they are all basically the same, it continues.” He shook his head sadly, his tentacles flat and lifeless. “I wish for the New Age and the end of the hatred, but I’m afraid it is only a myth created by dreamers.”

“Perhaps it isn’t a myth,” Dax said. “Perhaps it’s only now, after much pain and suffering, that this form of enlightenment is possible.”

“Going through hell to get to heaven?” Ava suggested.

Dax nodded. “Something like that.”

Waroun blinked hard and stared at Dax, his big, bulbous eyes agog with incredulity. “Enlightenment? Since when did you go all spiritual on me?”

“I had an ‘event’ of some kind not long ago,” Dax replied. “It… changed me somehow.”

Waroun snickered. “That’s what happens when you lose your virginity. You’re never quite the same after that.”

If Ava hadn’t known the timing of it, she would have been inclined to agree with Waroun, but nothing before, or since, had been anything like it—unless Dax had kept it to himself.

Dax shook his head. “I don’t think that was it, Waroun—at least, not entirely.” He gestured toward Ava. “I think it had more to do with Ava and the stone than the sex.”

For the first time, Joss appeared hopeful. “If that is so, then perhaps the stones are not myths after all. We may be sorry we did this, but go ahead, Dax. Set the ship down, and may the gods of Aquerei preserve and protect us.”

Ava gazed curiously at Joss. “If you didn’t believe in the power of the stones, why did you bother to tell me about them?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Joss said candidly. “Perhaps the stone called to me, or I was simply overcome by astonishment.” He broke off there, his tentacles waving back and forth as if he had shaken his head. “To find the artifact that half of my world has been searching the galaxy for just dangling from the neck of a pretty girl on the beach was… miraculous.”

“It could be that the stone itself is setting events in motion to ensure its safe delivery to the temple,” Dax said. A moment later, the
Valorcry
settled gently onto the base, causing barely a ripple in the water that surrounded it. “But, either way, we’re here.”

***

“That’s not a boat, Kots,” Dax said as the droid opened the hatch to the hangar bay. “It’s a hovercraft. I knew we had this thing—I asked you if we had a boat.”

“Same difference,” Waroun said. “If it can hover on land, it can do it on the water too.”

Dax remained unconvinced. “But if it loses power, will it float?”

Kots beeped reassuringly and continued the extraction sequence. Pressing a control near the door, he sent the hovercraft,
Juleta
, floating gently to the surface. Dax couldn’t think of it as “the ground,” for the base he was standing on was so clear, he could see fish swimming beneath it, though they appeared to be several meters away. “Just how thick is this thing?” he asked Joss.

“The base was designed to carry the weight of an entire city,” the Aquerei replied with the closest thing to a smile Dax had seen since they left Rhylos. “I don’t think you need to worry about it sinking.”

Dax was actually more worried about the murky depths beneath it than anything else, and the way it rocked on the waves was making him feel slightly ill. “I don’t guess it ever holds still, does it?”

Waroun looked at him as though he’d gone insane. “What do you mean? I can’t feel a thing.” He slapped his flat foot on the surface. “Solid as a rock!”