Laura Jo Phillips (35 page)

“I wish I knew where all of this stuff was coming from,” Summer said as she slid the katana into the sash. 

“I wouldn’t worry about it too much,” Maxim said.  “Perhaps one day you will find the answer.  In the meantime, what would you like to do now?”

“I think I need to eat,” she replied a little shyly.  She’d been eating like a horse ever since she’d gotten free.

“Of course,” Maxim replied.  “I am a bit hungry myself after that.  You stretched my skills wonderfully, and I thank you for it.”

Summer shook her head as Maxim took her hand in his and began leading them out of the training room.  “What bothers you?” he asked.

“What if I actually need to use that skill sometime and its not there?” she asked.  “Since I’m walking around with the thing on my hip, eventually someone is going to think I know what to do with it.  Or, what if during this raid I actually have to defend myself?”

“I do not think it is something you need to be concerned about,” Maxim told her.  “I think that the moment your life is threatened, your hidden talent will come to the fore and protect you.  Just as when I swung the bokken at you in the practice room.  Before that, you didn’t know how to hold it.  Then, suddenly, you were dancing with me as though it was something you have done since birth.”

“Yes, that’s true,” Summer said, brightening a little.  “But, I sure would feel better if I knew I could count on that.”

“We still have a day and a half before we reach Li-Hach-Cor,” Ran said.  “We can experiment.”

“That’s a great idea,” Summer said, smiling at Ran.  “Only, maybe we could find a training room that doesn’t have a viewing window?”

“If you wish,” Ran said with a grin. 

“Actually, I think it would be a good idea to surprise you with a sneak attack now and then,” Maxim suggested.  “That way we could see what your reactions would be in a sudden, unexpected situation.”

“That sounds good,” Summer agreed.  “Only, we need to get another one of those bokken for me to carry around.  I don’t want to accidentally hurt someone with the real thing.”

“Of course,” Maxim replied.  Summer was very pleased with the plan and her step lightened considerably as they neared the cafeteria.  Until they passed by the windows and she saw how many people were in there.  And noticed that many of the faces were familiar from the viewing window of the training room. 

“Um, maybe we can eat later,” she said.  She’d had more than enough public attention for one day.

Maxim followed her gaze and understood her at once.  “There is no need for that,” he said.  “We will use one of the private dining rooms.”

“Private dining rooms?” Summer asked.  “Where are they?”

“Just a bit further up this way,” Maxim said, leading them beyond the cafeteria to an unmarked door.  He opened the door and guided her into a waiting area.  Maxim pressed a call button beside another door and then turned back to Summer.  “In general we all like to eat in the cafeteria for social reasons,” he said.  “But there are times when a more private setting is desired.  For that purpose, there are several private dining rooms.  The food is the same as that in the cafeteria though.”

“I think the cafeteria food is good, so that’s fine with me,” Summer said.

The door opened and a small, thin man dressed in white from head to toe stepped into the waiting area.  He bowed low and held it for a long moment.  “Greetings, Lord Commander,” he said. 

“Greetings, Roberto,” Maxim replied.  “Is the Star Room available?”

“I am pleased to say that it is, Lord Commander,” Roberto replied.  “If you will follow me?”

He bowed again and then led the way through the door and down a long, dimly lit hallway.  Summer noticed that they passed several doors, all with a name stenciled on them.  Roberto stopped at one, opened the door and stepped out of the way, bowing them through.

Summer stepped into the dimly lit room and gasped in surprise.  The room was large enough to hold a round dining table with six chairs set around it, as well as several upholstered chairs set here and there with small tables between them.  But Summer barely noticed any of that.  What caught her attention was, strictly speaking, the decor. 

The walls, floor and ceiling were all covered with a gigantic holographic image of their current location in space.  It was not a stationary image, but rather a projection of their real position as seen by optical scanners on the ship’s hull.  The data was actually collected and used for more serious purposes than decorating a dining room as a mini planetarium, but someone had thought it would make for interesting decor, and it did.  Summer felt almost as though she were standing in space as she gazed around the room in wonder.

“This is magnificent,” she breathed softly.

“It does not bother you?” Maxim asked.

“No, not at all,” she said. “Why would it?”

“Some people tend to have a bit of vertigo when they enter this room,” he explained. 

 “Happily, I am not one of them,” she said.

Ran gently insisted that Summer take a seat at the table, as she was so enthralled with the view that she hadn’t moved since entering the room.  Maxim ordered for her when she indicated with a wave that he should do so.  But when the food came, Maxim had to threaten to turn off the projections if she didn’t eat her food.

“All right, all right,” Summer laughed as she tore her gaze from the ceiling and walls.  “I’m sorry guys,” she said as she shook out her napkin and put it in her lap.  “Its just so amazing.”

“There is no need to apologize,” Maxim told her.  “We wanted you to enjoy it, and your pleasure is our pleasure.  We just want you to eat your food as well.”

“No problem, my appetite is back now,” she said as she picked up her fork and started eating.  Her eyes kept straying to the stars and planets on the walls as she ate.  She had never seen anything so beautiful. 

“This is a wonderful gift,” she said softly.  “Thank you all so much.”

Maxim, Loni and Ran all paused uncertainly.  “This is just a small surprise,” Maxim said.  “Not a real gift.”

Summer looked at him, then Ran and Loni, her head tilted to the side as she considered them.  “A gift is something that one gives to another that is meant to bring happiness and joy.  It does not need to be something one wraps up in pretty paper, or something that is purchased with money.  This was a gift that you gave me, and I will always remember it as such.”

“You give us too much honor,” Loni said.

“No,” she argued gently.  “I give you as much honor as you deserve.”

Maxim’s heart was filled with warmth and happiness as he turned back to his own meal. 

“May I ask a question?” Summer said, the hesitancy in her tone catching all of their attention.

“You may ask anything of us that you like,” Maxim said. 

“The other day, when you told me that your home world, Ugaztun, was destroyed, you did not say how.  I was just wondering, what happened to it?”

“Are you sure you want to hear this?” Maxim asked.  “It is not a pretty story.”

“Yes, I would like to hear it,” Summer said.  “If you don’t mind telling me, of course.”

“No, we do not mind,” Maxim replied.  He picked up his glass and took a sip of wine as he considered where to begin. 

“Our ancestors lived on a planet which they called Ugaztun, as we have told you.  The people were strong in magic and used it for many things, including exploration among the stars.  It was soon discovered that we had a sister planet.  The inhabitants of that planet were very much like those of Ugaztun, yet very different.  The main difference being that we were mammalian, and the people of Narrastia were reptilian. 

“The two peoples clashed from the first meeting, beginning a war which was to last for centuries.  Like us, the Narrasti were adept at controlling the forces of Air, Earth, Fire and Water.  We were evenly matched, too much so, such that neither side could gain a serious foothold against the other.

“Then, the Narrasti developed a method of harnessing their magic in such a way that it meant the destruction of our world, Ugaztun.  Whatever had been done could not be stopped, so we did the next best thing, which was copy what they had done and send it to their world so that they, too, would face destruction.

“After that, there was nothing to be done other than try to create enough pods to evacuate as many of our people as possible before the end.”

“And both planets were destroyed?” Summer asked.

“Yes,” Maxim replied.  “All that is left of them now are two gigantic asteroid belts.”

“What kind of magic could destroy an entire planet?” she asked, horrified by the thought of such power being used in such a manner.  

Maxim shrugged.  “Nobody knows the answer to that question,” he said.  “Even then, while it was happening, that was a question everyone wanted an answer for.  But none of those who survived and reached Jasan knew the answer, nor have any been able to understand it in all the years since.  It is a question who’s answer has been lost in time.”

“I don’t think its possible,” Summer said without knowing she was going to say it.

“You don’t think what is possible?” Maxim asked.

“I don’t think its possible for the magic of a world to be used against that world to such an extent that the world is destroyed,” Summer said.

“Why not?” Maxim asked.

“I don’t know,” Summer said.  “I don’t even know where the thought came from, but I think it’s true.  Think about it for a moment.  When you wield magic, you are using the four elements, Earth, Air, Fire, Water.  Those are elements of power which come from the world itself.  It doesn’t make sense that you could use the power of a world to destroy that world.”

“Yes, but we did not use the magic against our world,” Maxim argued.  “Nor did they use their magic against their world.”

Summer started to argue further, but changed her mind.  What was the point?  It had all happened so long ago.  Three thousand years!  The civilizations of Earth were in their infancy then.  Some didn’t even have the written word yet. 

Summer froze as a memory popped into her head.

“Maxim, where exactly are those two asteroid belts?” she asked. 

There was something in her voice that caused Maxim to glance at her sharply, but she only stared back intently.

“What was once Ugaztun now orbits the star commonly referred to as Zeta Reticuli B,” he said.  “What was once Narrastia now orbits Zeta Reticuli A.”

Summer gasped, dropped her fork onto her plate with a clatter and rose to her feet in one fluid motion.  She began pacing the floor, her brows drawn down in concentration.  “Can you tell me exactly how long ago it was that the planets were destroyed?” she asked.

“Three thousand, two hundred, sixty four Standard years,” Ran replied.

Summer took a long deep breath, spun around and stood looking at all three men.  “Okay, here is the big question,” she said.  “Assuming magic was used to destroy both planets, what kind of magic would it most likely have been?”

Maxim shook his head.  “Nobody really knows, Summer,” he said.  “It has been speculated that, if enough males with strong Earth magic combined their energies, it might be possible to crack a planet’s core.”

“All right, lets say that happened.  The planet’s core was cracked.  Would that cause the planet to explode in a brilliant ball of fire?”

“I don’t think so,” Maxim replied uncertainly.  “Ran?”

“No,” Ran said.  “The gravitational forces, and the heat from the core would most likely sterilize the entire surface of the planet.”

“When the planet cooled, would it be an asteroid belt?” Summer asked.

“No, it would probably solidify once more into a planet,” Ran replied.

Maxim frowned.  “Summer, it would take an extraordinarily large amount of external force to cause a planet to explode as you describe, and also break it into pieces.  But Ugaztun and Narrastia did not explode.  They broke up into asteroid belts, yes, but as the result of strong magic of some sort, not as the result of explosions.”

“No Maxim, I think you are mistaken,” Summer said hesitantly.  She did not want to argue with Maxim when things had been going so well between them.  But she had to tell them what she knew.   

“I think that those two planets were destroyed by an external force which caused them both to explode simultaneously.  I am just a little uncertain about the locations.”

“I don’t understand,” Maxim said.  “How could you possibly know such a thing?”

“When I was a child we traveled a lot,” she said as she began pacing once more.  “Between my Mother’s research and my Father’s military duties, every school break and holiday was spent on some new planet.  When I was twelve, we spent a couple of weeks on Sheara 3.  Father was overseeing a Joint Forces Command College symposium at the base there, and Mother was working on her latest book.  That left me with a lot of time to wander around the base looking for something to do.

“I came across this little museum that had a lot of local artifacts related to space and the stars.  There was a scroll there, very old and very beautiful.  The writing looked more like elaborately drawn scrollwork than letters.  Next to the scroll were translations in several languages, including Standard.