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Eukara Vox -> RE: Book of Sci-Fi (10/7/2010 16:44:20)
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And through the woods we go...
by superjars, Master Samak, FleurDuMal, Eukara Vox
They sat there, backs to the boxes which represented their home asteroids. The boys floated, clustered around each other, listening closely to their group leaders.
"Alright men, we're going to break into our groups and spread out and then crash towards the gate. There will likely be casualties, but with a concerted effort, we should be able to reach the enemy gate. And as you go out there, remember what our forebearers used to say: the enemy's gate..."
"Is down!" the remaining boys called in unison, breaking into groups of fours and launching themselves away from the asteroid. Many of them had frozen their legs already to give themselves a protective shield between them and the opposing team, and as they reached the wall, they expertly bounced off and launched themselves downwards, shooting between their legs at enemy combatants who had taken similar stances and were heading their way.
The battle lasted only a few minutes, each side taking heavy losses as they sailed through the zero-gravity space towards each other. But in the end, the Scorpions, black red black, came out victorious. They had six boys left, plenty to hit the four required releases around the enemy gate and then one to go through. Four boys took up positions around the gate, pressing down buttons that would allow their teammate to go through.
Then suddenly, a bright glow appeared before the boy, stopping him in his tracks, coalescing into a bright portal of light. As they looked into it, they could see a beach overlaid with a beautiful blue sky. As the boys watched, a figure came walking from the beach, through the portal and through the enemy gate. And just like that, the game was over. The strange woman, an adult no less, walked forward a couple steps until the gravity of the corridor took hold and she fell to the floor in a heap of limbs. The boys just stared at her as the portal snapped shut behind her, returning the room to its normal incandescence. Eukara stood swiftly and gracefully to her feet, looking around the hallway in awe and wonder.
It wasn't too long before she saw the young boys gathering in the hallway behind her, all dressed in strange suits and staring at her with wide eyes and agape mouths. They were between the ages of eight and thirteen, all different sizes and nationalities, with small guns at their sides.
"Oh hey! Who are you?"
"What was that light you came through?"
"Are you one of the buggers?"
This last question caught Eukara off-guard, as she couldn't imagine such language coming from children. But she didn't have long to wonder about it as another, small boy piped up.
"Are you crazy? She look like a bugger to you? She doesn't look like an insect at all," he said matter-of-factly, stepping through the boys to face her, sticking out his hand towards her. "How'dya do? Name's Carts. I'm the leader of the Scorpion team, hoping to be half as good as Ender was back in the day. Who are you?"
As she looked down at the boy, reflexively taking his small hand in her own, Eukara was struck by how mature he looked, his small black eyes revealing a penetrating intelligence lurking right below their surfaces. "Why, hello. I am Eukara Vox, head librarian of - well, that's probably not very important. Where exactly am I? What is this place?"
"Why, this here's Battle School."
"You're standing right outside of one of the battle rooms, where we train."
"Yeah, you helped us to win our match."
"Well, no sense in standing around here all day. Men, let's show this lady to our barracks and we can answer her questions there. Hop to it."
The young boy who was seemingly in charge pressed a small button on a remote that he was holding and the black red black of their team lit up, guiding them back towards their home in the space station. The boys glanced at the strange woman as they quickly fell in line, heading in a jog following the light. Finally Carts, the last boy of the group, motioned Eukara to follow him and broke off on a jog of his own.
She found that she could easily walk briskly and keep up with the jogging boys, and this gave her time to look at the sights and sounds around her. One of the first thing she noticed was that there weren't many adults around here. In fact, during the entire trip, she didn't see a single one. She saw plenty of boys and girls jogging through the halls in many different directions, but there were not adults anywhere. Off to her left, she spied children of various ages playing games together in a room, seated at boards or standing in front of screens. A little further on, she spied a mess hall, with quite a few boys and girls eating away at their food. As she looked on, she could hear her stomach grumble, reminding her of how hungry traveling through these portals usually made her.
"Maybe we could--" she began, but before she got very far, the boy reached out and began pulling her onward, not giving her time to even finish her words. It wasn't long before the black red black lights stopped and she stood in front of a large room, every bed filled with a boy or girl looking expectantly towards her.
"Well, we're here, Scorpions barracks."
"Yeah, so what'cha want to know?"
Eukara stared around the room, eyes glancing from one to another, all in various stages of undressing or dressing, some playing on personal screens at their beds and still others rifling through the drawers under their bed.
"Well, um..." she began, her mind filling with questions: Who were these children? What were they doing in this place? What was she doing there? But all those questions flitted away as a portal began forming in front of her. Her magic had responded to her questioning and was sending her to her next destination. "I'm sorry, children, I must be on my way. Something is calling me away from here. If you see any other strange people, send them after me. Good bye!" With these words, she stepped into the portal and disappeared from view.
The boys and girls stared in awe, some of them muttering about the strangeness of the woman and the portal. For some reason, the portal didn't shrink or vanish as they stared at it. Several of the braver boys and girls started to move forward to examine the strange glowing light, but as they moved closer, a figure was spit out of it, tumbling end over end in a mass of limbs and cloth. As soon as the figure was through, the portal began to shrink until it vanished altogether.
As the children approached the figure, a loud groan emanated from within the tangle of robes.
"By all that's succinctly written, what in the worlds is going on here!" a voice called from within the robes as two arms appeared, struggling to push the cloth robes down around them.
After several moments of struggle, the figure righted himself (as the voice was obviously that of a man), revealing a sparsely bearded face and some mussed-up hair. A man known by his friends as Xor. The man ignored all those around him for several moments while he ran his hands over his robe and through his hair to put it back to its original, pristine glory. When he was satisfied that every hair was in its proper place and his robes were neat and tidy, he turned to face the others in the room.
"Well, hello my prepubescent humanoids. I seem to have appeared in some sort of orphanage or other child-rich environment. Could any of you kindly direct me to the developed adult who has been put in charge of this miniaturized social group?" he proclaimed to the group, looking about their faces with interest and propriety.
"Don't think you wanna meet any of them."
"They'd sooner push you out an airlock than answer any of your questions."
"Yeah, this is a military school, not an orphanage."
"Now, what exactly do you think you're doing here, mister?" the boy in charge, Carts, pushed to the forefront of the gathered boys and girls, cocking an eyebrow at this new arrival and sizing him up and down.
"Well, I'm sure that I don't entirely know what I'm doing here. I stepped into a spatio-temporal anomaly to attempt to proceed after my supervisory figure, and before I knew it, I ended up here, in this place, dumped unceremoniously on your floor," he explained, without the slightest sense that he may in danger and may want to keep some information to himself. "Wait, did you say this is a military school? Where exactly have I arrived?"
"This is Battle School, first line of defense against those who would threaten the earth."
"Yeah, we're training to be perfect soldiers, quick, efficient and ruthless."
"Oh? Very intriguing, very interesting," Xor stroked his beard in thought. "Well, did you happen to see an adult female come through here recently? I've been on her trail for a small bit of time, but the fact that I'm meeting you young fellows and not her, means to me that she is not here."
"Well, she left just before you came. Through the same glowy light thingy, even."
"Oh, that is certainly not a good sign for me, then. If the portal here has been closed, then I cannot follow her through that one. I must find another," the young archivist spoke, more to himself than the boys and girls staring at him curiously. "Hmmm... do you perhaps have a computer I can use?"
One of the girls nodded, ran to their bunk and pulled what appeared to be a small writing pad from a drawer under her bed. She rushed back and plopped the desk in Xor's hands. He stared for a moment at the strange device, examining its functions and looking at the screen. He was immediately drawn to image on the screen, an avatar, which strangely resembled himself, was standing in a field.
"Excuse me, but what, pray tell, is this image you have on your screen?"
"Oh, that? It's just a game we play around here. Supposedly some type of psychological testing thing, but it's actually pretty fun in and of itself. Only one person ever 'finished' it, and that was Ender," the girl piped up, a young one named Rose.
"How very intriguing, very interesting," Xor said, half to himself. "Would you mind if I played it for a spell. This avatar of yours seems to be quite the resemblance of yours truly and I would love to test out the farthest reaches of this adventure. The girl nodded to him slightly, boys and girls starting to gather closer around this strange man, who suddenly became immersed in the game. He stared intently at the screen, moving the avatar around within the world, finding a forest, rushing past a playground, and finding a hill to stand on top of. As he climbed the hill, breathing heavily as he went, both in the game and physically, he started to feel a strange tingling sensation in his body. When he reached the crest of the hill and stared out in the game, he felt a pull on his body, stumbling forward physically before being pulled into the game.
The children stared in amazement at the screen, which had dropped on the floor, the avatar turning to reveal that it was in fact the man in the blue robes. He waved to them, turned away and strode forward off the hill.
As the latest world receded from Eukara in a brightening flash of light, the librarian suffered a wrenching tug from everywhere at once. In an instant the flaring white of portal travelling inverted away into an utter darkness only the deep confines of space could hold, and Eukara felt herself gasp as she came to drift within its cold, ever-reaching expanse. And then she felt nothing more as her very existence abruptly disintegrated and dispersed outward.
The blackness and glimmers of space and stars blended, rushing beyond the stream of energy now left of Eukara. Bare moments passed before a ringlet of light tinged with blue and green intercepted this matter stream and sucked it into its path, now sending the particles speeding down a channel of light that twisted and curved through deep space. Parts of the tunnel disappeared and reappeared in segments, at times leaving only the top and bottom or the sides to compress and guide the molecules of basic matter, and there were areas where the path seemed to vanish completely before sucking back all of Eukara’s remnants into a conjoined passage. This took place in a place where time had little influence, and in the end the portal’s path and the entirety of space wrapped around it gave way to the brightest of lights.
The first action Eukara chose to take after her molecular structure began reconstructing itself at the new threshold was to finish her original gasp, but when she fully exited the portal she could do nothing but gasp as she flew bodily through the air and tumbled down a small set of stairs. From behind her came the noise of rushing water being sucked away, then a resounding boom, and then only an echo when the sounds cut short. Eukara opened her eyes.
She found herself lying at one end of an enormous rectangular room, surrounded by large columns to her left and right. Everything looked polished and dark, bracketed lamps reflecting off of each side. At the far end of the walkway a window gave large access to the depths of space beyond. Eukara examined herself as she stood, noting that nothing unpleasant had happened to her, if she didn’t include the unpleasant trip she just endured. Turning around at its memory, she stared up at what had launched her into this new place.
Built into a raised stone platform with wide steps leading up from where Eukara had tumbled stood a huge standing ring nearly thrice the librarian’s height. Made of dark grey material that looked both of metal and stone, this circle was the only thing on the platform, with the ending wall of the room not far behind it. Chiseled-out symbols encircled a more inner surface of the ring. They were hidden only by seven large reddish-orange crystals, carved in the shape of downward triangles and placed equally around the circumference. The glyphs almost reminded Eukara of something familiar, though she couldn’t quite know what. As she pondered over the ring, a soft vibration in the air passed behind her, and she turned.
Several feet ahead thin strands of pure vertical light began appearing and pulling together. In the next moment a large white cluster beamed down and the lights dispersed, revealing the most alien-like creature Eukara had yet to see. This extraterrestrial resembled the anatomy of a human yet barely passed her waist. It had large, slow blinking eyes of deep black from a bulbous head equally as large, but no prominent ears or nose. The rest of its body appeared abnormally thin and carried a dull sheen in the lighting, augmenting its grayish skin tone. The alien raised one of its arms towards Eukara, slender fingers slowly curling to point at her as it spoke.
“Greetings. We did not expect contact from Midgard, or even your galaxy, so unannounced.” Its head slowly tilted and blinked. “The energy signature we are detecting from you is unlike that of the Tau’ri we have dealt with in the past. Your clothing as well suggests that you are not among the people of the Fifth Race, nor of the Atlanteans. What are you?” The words came smoothly and without aggression, intelligence influencing the male voice.
“Well, um, I am Eukara. I do apologize for my arrival, but I can’t seem to control where my portal is taking me. It isn’t bringing me back to my Library, though I’m sure there is a reason why. Magic works strangely like that….” The alien blinked back at her. “Erm… I am sorry, but could you perhaps tell me where I am?”
A long pause passed between the two. “You are certain that you have no knowledge of us, or of this place?” Eukara nodded. “This is troubling… I am Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Fleet. You are on the last of our motherships in the Pegasus Galaxy, or otherwise. Currently we are in orbit around the planet Lantea, cloaked to the eyes of Atlantus. It is strange that your ‘portal’ was able to locate our ship—”
“Wait, what did you just say? The librarian stepped forward. “Atlantis? The Lost City of Atlantis? The books on Terra are true, then?” The Asgard blinked.
“’Terra’? You are not Alteran… Yes, this ship is within sight of the City,” Thor said, indicating to the window behind him.
Eukara took several tentative steps at first, and then sped up at the alien’s gesture. As she neared the glass a massive blue planet loomed into view. Atop the wide span of ocean on its surface Eukara could make out what appeared to be a floating metropolis of colossal size, with small areas branched out from its center. How unreal! The myth of Atlantis is actually true! Oh, I could spend years recording this lost civilization. If only my assistants were here to see this… She turned around. “How did you find it?”
Thor blinked again. “We have had a mutual affiliation with the residents of the City, as well as with those who remain on Terra, as you call it, for several years now. Your unawareness of this would imply again that you are not in association with the Tau’ri. What are you?”
Eukara walked back to the Asgard. “I’m very sorry. I really don’t mean to impose here. Where I come from I help to store knowledge of all the things a person can write down. If you can believe me, I don’t think I am even from this universe. All I am trying to do is get home.”
The grey alien stared at the librarian and then led her away from the window. “If you wish to return home, then you must exit the way you entered.” Eukara followed Thor’s gaze back to the large ring. Before she could raise a question he continued. “This device you see is known to the Tau’ri as a Stargate. Though it has other names, its purpose remains the same: It creates a gateway to the stars. Using astrological coordinates and the power-generating properties of naquadah within the ring, a Stargate can stabilize an artificial subspace wormhole to another Stargate billions of light-years away. By entering, you are broken down into the most basic components, transmitted, and then reassembled on the other side. And yes, from our analysis, you did enter this ship through our Stargate, but the wormhole connection was far from stable.”
Eukara nodded to herself as she looked at the strange ring in a new light. Thor then lifted his hand toward the gate, holding a small white stone. “If you will stand back, please, I shall attempt to activate the coordinates which sent you here, though I am unsure of the results.” Using his thumb, Thor drew a circle over the stone, and at the same time the inner part of the Stargate began to fill with a deep, watery-blue matter. When the circle was completed by both the Asgard and gate, a large portion of the bluish matter suddenly surged outward in a roar, slowing after several meters, hovering, then getting sucked back into the gate. In the end there appeared within the ring a pool of rippling blue energy, the boundary before the wormhole.
Eukara merely stood in awe at the wavering, pulsing radiance coming from the gate while the alien commented, “This is most uncommon. The wormhole’s vortex should have remained stabilized at the event horizon. I am uncertain why….” Thor trailed off as the gate’s matter rapidly began to fluctuate with growing violence, at times flickering and loosing part of its surface area before surging back together.
As Eukara took a worried step back the Asgard traced a path over the glowing stone in his hand. In moments the wormhole lost its intensity and resumed the calm rippling it first displayed, though a distant humming began building around the gate, its tremors felt through the floor. “Quickly, this is your way out,” Thor said as he turned to Eukara. “I have siphoned more energy to the Stargate in attempt to secure a connection, but it will soon fail. You must go, now!”
Without delay Eukara left Thor’s side in an all-out sprint, crossing the distance and climbing the stairs as the Stargate began to visibly shudder. She could sense that the gate was somehow connected with her portal. Barely over the growing crackle of energy, as she dove headfirst at the blue matter, the Asgard Thor called out, “Good luck, Eukara Vox,” and then she heard and felt no more, her very existence stopped and dematerialized.
As what was left of the librarian flew toward a sister Stargate a swirling of magic energy intercepted the wormhole and absorbed the subatomic particles, sending the now whole Eukara flying through a magical vortex of its own.
In the silence that passed there came the sound of flight nearing an end, and Master Samak suddenly appeared next to a window overlooking a massive blue planet. His gaze found the city-ship of Atlantis floating atop the wide span of ocean below and he sighed. Eukara was nowhere close.
Unable to stay the assistants before they scattered after their own leads on Eukara, the Fallen Fey had chosen to remain at the Library and await the arrival of Gianna, since she would need to be informed. The Time Fairie had not received their summons, as it turned out, but instead had entered the Library to drop off science fictional literature from her travels. Samak explained the Head Librarian’s absence and their request for her assistance in less time than he thought.
With her powers unrestricted, Gianna was able to work with Samak in perceiving a path to Eukara not yet closed to them, though the path itself was a unique one. Out of the two, the assistant firmly insisted he make the travel, knowing both that the pathway wouldn’t last long and that Gianna had an idea of her own to get to Eukara if this one failed. The energy of journeying into the ship Samak now leaned against took a greater tax on him than expected and, if he hadn’t known better, that alone would have alerted him something was wrong.
A stream of light began to beam down behind him, reflected from the window. By the time he turned around the light had dissipated and a grayish alien barely passing his waist blinked slowly up at him. The Stargate still remained on the other side of the room.
“Greetings. I am Thor, Supreme Commander of the Asgard Flee—”
Samak wearily raised a hand. “Please. I am aware of the extinction of the Asgard race. Do not begin to mislead me. I know what you are.” He stared into its black eyes. “Vos ani Anquietas.”
The alien paused, and a very long silence passed between them before it spoke again. “That may be, Fey resembler, but do you know what you are? Of that we know.”
He ignored the question. “Why do you impersonate the Asgard? Please, manifest into something else.” At that the grey being became engulfed in a blinding substance of light, and the light extended out so that when it faded a tall man appeared instead, wearing close-fitting robes of white, shining unnaturally.
“We have done this to honor the race that sacrificed their existence for the safety of the other Four Great Races. In this way we seek to remember them.” Master Samak nodded ever so faintly, his stare lowering to the floor. “But our appearance should never have been discovered, by you or the one preceding you. We are unseen to all in this universe, as we choose to be.”
“I know—”
“And because you know, and because you and another were able to disregard this, it has allowed us to intervene at least this much in your cause.” Samak looked up with uncertainty, about to speak, but the man raised his hand. “We will not interfere with the lower planes of existence, but since our highest law does not apply openly to this circumstance, I can reveal to you where Eukara has gone.”
The one in green stepped closer, searching the face of the Ascended being, but saw nothing that betrayed his answer. “Where is she?”
The man stepped away and began walking toward the Stargate. “She has left through the Astria Porta, through a connection which very nearly destroyed the gate itself.” Samak followed after him. “Her passage was interrupted by some interference—her ‘magic’, as she referred to. We do not know what became of her, for she then passed out of our sight...”
“…And out of this universe,” Samak finished. The Ancient only nodded.
The Fey left the man’s side and climbed the short steps to the Stargate, lifting a hand to brush over its surface. As his fingers touched the gate he could immediately feel the lingering presence of Eukara’s magic, somehow stretching away from his location. He then heard the man say, “Good luck, Fallen One,” and whirled back around, but the Ancient had already left him.
Master Samak stood there for a long moment, looking over the room and then up at the Stargate nearly thrice his height, and then vanished.
"Put your phaser down, Scotty!”
”But she appeared out of nowhere! The transporter system is not even activated! How do we know if she's hostile or not?”
”She's unconscious, how hostile can she be in that state? Call for McCoy.”
Eukara stirred to the conversation, hard floor under her back. The fact that the portal still hadn't taken her back home did not surprise her anymore at this point, she only hoped the portal would not be so eager to confuse her senses during the misplacements.
Her eyes opened to a spacious, bluish grey, round room with a big screen at the far end of it, filled with passing stars. Or is it a window? The sight mesmerized her only for a second before she noticed the people around her, all dressed in closely-fitted suits of yellow, blue, and red. Lights blinked to her left and right, to where she saw a beautiful woman deftly running her fingers over a vast set of controls, but not without casting a curious look to her direction once in a while.
A soft swoosh sounded behind her and a set of steps closed in. With an expression combining concern and bewilderment, a man with blue eyes kneeled beside her.
”Are you alright?” he asked, clearly evaluating her state. The woman to her right cast another look at her before turning away and tapping her earpiece as if to catch a faint signal beyond the confines of wherever they were.
”Yes, I think so. Thank you,” Eukara answered and moved to get up. The man offered her his hand to help her stand. She smiled to thank for the courtesy and he politely nodded back before turning to address a younger-looking man in a yellow suit.
”Since she does not seem injured, I'd like to return to the sick base, Captain. The land crew we just beamed up is in bad shape and need to be attended to, especially if you wish to have the report from them today.” He glanced quickly to Eukara as if to check for her reactions to hearing this but saw none.
”Certainly, Doc,” the captain answered. The doctor bowed to Eukara, turned on his heels and left with the soft swoosh after him.
Addressing her words to the captain, Eukara inquired where she was, ready for receiving an answer that would probably not tell her much.
”You are on Federation's starship Enterprise, currently steering away from the outer borders of the Klingon territory. May I ask who you are and what is your purpose here?” A man with pointed ears to the captain's side raised his eyebrow, analyzing their uninvited guest.
Eukara's eyes shifted back to the stars wheeling on the other end of the room and wondered what worlds and what stories hid behind each of them, where therein lay this ”Federation,” why the captain had put such grave weight on the word ”Klingon,” and what business would an elf be doing on a hightech spaceship. She turned back to face the captain,
”It seems I am here by accident. The portal that is supposed to take me back home, on Lore, has...misfunctioned lately. As a librarian, I explore the imagination that can create...”
”Fascinating,” the elf mused.
Or is he one? He seems so emotionally...cold.Her voice trailed off, obscured by the thoughts. The captain stared straight back at her for a moment, his face beridden by curiosity, before he shook his head,
”Ma'am, if your world is not known to Federation yet, as I think is the case, I'd be delighted to ask you a few questions about it later. And our technician would love to learn more about your ”portal” as soon as he gets over the shock of you beaming up here by yourself. Now, however, we are in danger. If you'd like...”
”Captain, the Klingon Ambassador is sending a signal, and he does not sound patient,” the woman with the earpiece interrupted. The captain frowned.
”Connect it as soon as we've guided our guest away from the command deck. We'll have a war on our hands if the Ambassador thinks we bought an outsider to the negotiations.” He cast an expressive look at Eukara's clothes and raised his right hand to guide her to the door, ”This wa...” when the portal suddenly opened where she was stading and sucked her away from the starship.
Fleur breathed heavily under the slowly awakening stars. As soon as she had seen Kastio making his rather freakish disappearance through a jar, she knew she needed space and privacy to find her own way to Eukara's trail. She had slithered her way out of the Library the exact same way she had entered and ran for a mile until she knew no one would see her.
Putting her shoes back on would have been a good idea, though, as now her feet were bleeding. She raised her eyes away from them and met the twinkling lights above.
If she really is travelling through worlds, through space and time, who else could help me to find her except the ancient spirits who weave and span through both? she thought, her mind searching for the old prayers she had learnt as a child, the prayers she had tried to forget. She felt waves of heat creeping along her skin as she began to chant,
”Oh, you Ancient Spirits of Stars, Fires of the Worlds, Sacred Dragons of the Infinity, please head your daughter's call and grant me passage through the Rifts of Dimensions. For I need to find the Guardian of the Stories, the Guardian of the Sacred Legends, that is Your history, too!”
The stars above her blinked once in unison, and as her skin rushed into gooseflesh they turned into a whirlpool that sucked her up into space with a whisper in her ears,
Welcome to the final frontier, child.
And then she poofed in front of a monstrous face, infested with swollen spots that ran across the creature's forehead like mountain ranges and with furious eyes dwelling down at their roots like some forgotten, deep glades.
Little use for my stealthy skills now, she thought, as the monster was merely inches away from her and she was frozen on the spot, sitting on some cold, bluish platform. Her skin felt burning still, and she feared the consequences if that monster would smell the blood covering her soles.
But then the face turned away with a growl and vanished. She blinked and found herself gazing at stars flying by her like rainwater.
”Another!” exclaimed a voice behind her.
Fleur jumped up and turned around to meet a man pointing a funny-looking weapon at her. She backed away from it, her eyes frantically trying to spot any place suitable for taking cover, but saw none. There were too many people.
One of them, dressed in so tight a yellow suit that she could've counted his muscles through it, motioned the one pointing the weapon at her to calm down.
”Please tell your friend that you really need to get your ”portals” fixed before you poof onto a Klingon ship. They are not so understanding towards uninvited guests.”
”My friend...is Ms Vox still here?” she splurted out quickly.
”We did not catch her name before she disappeared the same way she appeared, but if you are looking for a missing librarian, we had one on this deck not fifteen minutes ago,” the man answered.
”Captain, I don't think the Ambassador saw her. She was too close to the screen to be included in the transmission.” Fleur sweeped her gaze quickly over the woman on the far left as she spoke.
”Finally some good luck,” the one addressed as Captain answered, turning to the woman.
I could do with some luck, too Fleur thought. At that moment, she saw that the man in front of her had lowered his weapon and was gaping at her. Or at what was behind her. Stars in the shape of a dragon.
Fleur jumped through the screen. The phaser flashed behind her, but stunned nothing.
The spectacular sunset created such a moment of peace in Pulickel, but then again, his time there on Senisran had shown him a few things he never thought possible. So he waited, soaking in the late evening rays of the planet’s star for the ceremony to start. Still unsure about how he felt regarding the Goggelai ceremony by the locals, he was participating nonetheless. So much depended on this moment. Peace treaty, relations and research... all for the taking if they would just sign the damned treaty.
Even he had to admit that the ceremony site was a spectacular sight. The Parramati knew how to throw a party, though he had to question their dressing. For such a solemn occasion, their garish body paints on snout, eye sockets, ears and cheeks was a bit much. And that was the tip of the iceberg, for the clothing, though primitive by human standards, was nevertheless as bright and ridiculous as the paint. And who knew how long Pulickel’s eyes were going to have to look at all the colours that assaulted the senses. His young Torrelauapan companion, Ascela, indicated it would end when it was time. A lot of help that had been.
He looked over at Fawn, but knew complaining would be a lost cause. She was so engrossed in the spectacle that he knew she was happy. So Pulickel sat stewing in his own disgruntlement. The music wasn’t making things any better. Fawn was enjoying herself, he observed, as she seemed to be holding back the need to dance with the locals. Thankfully, he was immune. He was resigned to being the only reasonable person recording this ceremony.
Pulickel perked up slightly as the howling stones were brought out, the center of this ceremony’s attention, but quickly groaned in frustration. That was not worth waiting for. Same green volcanic glass as the other stones, same ambiguous shape, same boring stones... Even when he and Fawn walked among the stone circles as the big people, stone masters, sat near the stones, in quiet contemplation, they were just... green glass to him.
It was well after midnight when the music suddenly ceased and one of the big people took center stage. A brief, more pointed flair of music sounded before silencing. Then, starting with the smallest stones, they were brought to the center and suddenly joined. Stone after stone, once brought, joined the growing pile of glowing green glass. And, each one, once joined would move on its own accord to fit into slot that was seemingly made just for it.
As Pulickel stared at the mass before him, a flash of light appeared in the circle as the growing humm from the rocks got louder. None of the stone masters nor Parramati regulars flinched, but Pulickel and Fawn did. Flabbergasted, they watched as a blonde haired woman in strange clothes righted herself and looked around. When she turned her back to them, Fawn actually choked on her breath. The woman... had nearly transparent wings that resembled a Terran dragonfly.
She looked very lost, yet resigned at the same time. Fawn stood and waved, desperate to get her attention. Eventually, the woman saw her and walked towards them. She sat down carefully, her face slightly perturbed.
“Before you ask, yes, I just appeared out of nowhere. No, I have no idea why except either my dead Master is playing a joke on me from the afterlife or my magic is really messed up. I am not from this universe, nor dimension. I am Eukara Vox, librarian, teacher and hopelessly frustrated woman wanting to be home.”
Fawn and Pulickel alternated opening and closing their mouths while Eukara spoke. Neither quite knew what to do, for they knew this wasn’t part of the ceremony. Pulickel merely pointed at the glowing rocks and indicated that Eukara be quiet. She shrugged and watched. The humming that began when she appeared began to get louder, until it was felt in the teeth and bones. Then suddenly... they all heard a howling.
The howling was followed by the last small pieces reverently placed on the heap. They found their niches in the surface, causing Fawn and Pulickel to gaze upon the now gloriously huge solid mass of glowing green glass. They waited... and waited...
“So, what is that?” Eukara asked, watching carefully.
Fawn shook her head, though never taking her eyes off the structure. “We... don’t know. We just know it is the solution to our problem at the moment.”
“Odd that something not of your make would be a solution to your problem.” She pulled her quill out and drew a notebook in the air, causing it to materialise. Pulickel watched, mouth agape, as she began to take notes.
“How?” he managed to say before getting up to inspect the green monstrosity. And he thought the Parramati were strange.
As he inspected it, Fawn called out a warning that something was coming out of the stone. He stepped back, hopeful, and was surprised to see... another woman? “What the heck is going on?”
Eukara looked up and saw Fleur. Her heart cried out as she finally found a familiar face in the world with her. She stood and ran as fast as she could, nearly tackling Fleur in a hug. Fleur gasped, her eyes huge as Eukara touched her, but after a few moments relaxed. She understood, and even hugged Eukara back. Their reunion was cut short as they were moved out of the way for something else to come through the green glass. A large transparent red egg slowly began to appear, as if the glass was giving birth.
“Mistress Eukara, you have no idea the confusion your disappearance has caused. We have all tried finding you with our own abilities, following whatever trail you left behind. It is such a relief to catch up to you.” Fleur nodded for emphasis.
Ignoring the ruckus behind them, Eukara stepped away from the green glow, one arm still around Fleur, as if making sure she was real. Aware of Fleur’s reticence with touch, Eukara hoped the woman would forgive her when it was all over. “I want to go home, Fleur. I want my quiet study, my books and scrolls and the mess that my library always is in.”
“Then let’s leave this place.” Fleur took a deep breath and looked at Eukara. “Ready?”
“Now that I have one of my friends with me, it should be easier.” Eukara extended her hand, palm out, and summoned a portal. It appeared easily, causing her to sigh happily. Behind them, Pulickel, Fawn and two of the Parrameti young climbed into the egg. Nothing happened for a long time, until the opening closed, trapping the four inside. The stone masters approached the egg in alarm, but then staggered back.
But Eukara and Fleur saw none of this, for they both stepped through the portal, bound for the Library, for home.
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