The Cartographer (18 page)

We found Calypso propped back in a chair with a book in hand. When we stepped into the room I only saw the top of his head as he seemed to be fully engrossed in his readings. I was surprised to see he was reading The Call of The Wild. It was a book we covered in our seventh grade English class. It seemed that Jack London had made his impression upon the universe.

Calypso lowered the book and smiled. “I have enjoyed learning more about your planet. I took interest in your planet prior to your arrival, but ever since you came aboard, my interest has increased.”

His smile faded when he saw the grave look on my face. “Is something wrong?”

“
Yes sir, it appears that—
”

“Kedge wants to travel back in time to save Mars,” I blurted, preventing Gard from stealing my moment.

Calypso's face froze in a caricature of incomprehension. I could have easily had told him that a three headed pink unicorn was in my room singing the Star Spangled Banner. The disbelief surrounding him was palpable.

“Surely you're joking,” he countered.

“
No sir, he is not joking. It seems he has had years to formulate a plan to return to Mars and it may be entirely feasible for him to complete this particular mission
,” Gard interrupted.

Calypso was silent for a long time. So long, in fact, that I had to resist the temptation to poke him to make sure he was OK. Finally, he clasped his hands in front of him and fixed me with a steely gaze.

“How does he plan to do this?”

I told him the entire story, including the part I have yet to play. While I told the story, Calypso's eyes remained locked on mine and I became squeamish under his intense gaze. He listened intently and never gave off the impression that he was angry, but I didn't take any comfort from it. A twinge of remorse poked at me. I basically volunteered to be a traitor. When I finished he returned the book to his bookshelf and ordered a drink from his Sustanant.

“Let me guess, Nathan. You believe that Kedge's intentions are valiant and you are compelled to assist him. Am I correct?” he asked without turning around.

I shuffled my feet nervously. “Y-yes,” I stuttered.

Calypso took a sip of his drink. “His offer is generous. Peace in exchange for the opportunity to correct the wrongs of the Lumagom. The irony of the situation is not lost on me.”

He turned and smiled. The planet-sized weight I carried on my shoulders, like the mythical Atlas, rolled off my shoulders and out the door.

“I agree with you. We should bring this matter before the Council of Five.”

“Thank you,” I said.

His smile faded. “Don't thank me yet. I believe you may find I am your only ally of the Five.”

Captain Jasper's voice interrupted us from Calypso's communicator. “
Calypso, we are approaching Caelum. Kale is requesting your presence on the bridge
.”

“Nathan, would you like to see Caelum?” Calypso asked.

“Hell yeah!” I answered.

“Great, let me take you to the observation deck.”

The observation deck sat four floors above us and down a long corridor that was best described as a tube. At the end of the tube stood a large open room, shaped like an octagon with a clear view of space surrounding us in panoramic splendor. The planet ahead was massive. There were no tape measures nearby or anything, but I had to guess it was as big as Jupiter. The surface of the planet was mostly green, splashed with shades of brown intermingled with specks of blue that were no bigger than a baseball. It appeared to be similar to Earth, but instead of a snowy ice cap along the north pole, it was beige, as if a vast desert covered the top of the planet like a beret.

We came into view of an orbiting space station and the ship slowed as it approached. Calypso explained that the ship was too big to dock on the planet so we had to dock at the space station and hop a shuttle to the planet. The crew of the Argus stayed behind to conduct routine maintenance and repairs. Satou and Wraith (with the assistance of Gard) also decided to stay behind to assist with repairs to the Navetta as well as maintenance on the Cirrus. That left Calypso, Kale and myself as the only people to take the shuttle back to the planet, which was fine with me because they were two of the five people I needed to talk to anyway.

The shuttle offered a panoramic view of the planet as we cruised to our destination. We drifted closer to the surface and I admired vast forests thick with ancient trees. We hovered over them and I caught a glance of a building in the distance. From our initial location, it appeared to be nothing more than a brown Lego brick floating above the jungle. Once we approached I realized that it was the top of an expansive stone structure that looked like some ancient temple from Egyptian lore. Massive stone columns flanked a set of stairs and the entire structure looked like it had been carved from the mountainside behind it. A landing pad sat about 100 yards in front of the building and Kale set the craft down upon it. Without saying a word, I followed them from the shuttle to the tarmac.

We proceeded toward the stairs and my mouth dropped when I caught site of two enormous stone statues, nearly hidden by the columns bore down upon us. The statue on the left seemed strangely human with the exception of small fins extending from its ankles and the extreme angularity of his facial features reminded me of elven folklore. It stared at the heavens and clutched an enormous trident, pointing it towards the jungle behind us. The one on the right reminded me of Lianne. Her fierce feline features gazed across the tarmac as she held an oblong shield and scimitar menacingly in front. I surveyed the statues with admiration, almost trance-like, until Kale's voice jolted me to attention.

“These are the symbols of Caelum,” he said with a hint of pride. “The statue on the right represents the Caelumites, or
surface dwellers
. The statue to your left represents the Aquanauts, or
ocean warriors
.”

We passed between the statues and the impression of their eyes following me, like some of the creepy paintings my mother kept in our den, gave me the willies. They looked so realistic for a moment I wondered if the statues would come to life and strike me down with their mighty weapons. Once we ascended the four billion stairs (there really wasn't four billion, I may have exaggerated some) a set of stone doors slid aside, kind of like the doors at Wal-Mart back in Carlsbad. I followed my party without thought until the doors closed behind me with a dull thud. Blackness engulfed us briefly before my eyes adjusted the transition from the bright outside to the gloomy interior.

Calypso led me into an enormous chamber surrounded by smaller stone columns. On each column hung a metal torch that burned with an eternal flame, like an oversized electric candle. The torches tossed eerie shadows in the corners and added a gloominess to the room that matched the demeanor of the two people I traveled with. Everything in the room seemed to be carved from stone, including the table that stood in the center of the room. It was shaped like a pentagon and flanked by three figures. The first person I saw almost caused me to run screaming out of the place. I swore on my unborn children that Bigfoot waited at the head of the table. The only difference between him and the tabloid photographs was the bright orange fur, and that this beast was no bigger than six feet, which made him slightly less imposing than those on the cover of Cryptozoology Weekly. The second person resembled the humanoid statue outside. Except for stone brown, the torches cast their light off the bluish hue of his skin. The third person I recognized as an Orgellian, but he was about a foot taller than the others aboard the Argus and built like an NFL tackle.

I approached the table sheepishly, well hidden behind my two companions. Kale brushed me off and Calypso let out a chuckle as we reached the table. Apparently he thought it amusing that I attempted to hide inside his clothes while he still wore them.

“It is OK, Nathan, you can come out. We are not going to eat you,” Bigfoot roared with laughter.

Even normally humorless Kale joined in with them. My face boiled with embarrassment and I folded my arms and shuffled my feet in shame. They sat at the table, but since there were only five chairs I had to accept stand up duty.

“Let me introduce everyone,” Calypso offered. “The one who isn't going to eat you is Varooq, the head of our Universal College.”

Bigfoot gave me a polite nod and the irony had not been lost on me that someone who looked like a mythological beast was in charge of education.

Motioning toward the Orgellian, Calypso continued. “This is Embeth, who is in charge of the Defense Fleet.”

Embeth said nothing, and he seemed more of an “action” type of guy rather than “words”.

“And this is Hark-Kalech,” Calypso said. “He is in charge of our Science Unit.”

“Greetings Nathan Chambers of Earth. Word has reached me that you are Calypso's new Cartographer,” he rumbled while studying me intensely. “You are a little…young…are you not?”

Sweat started running down my lower back. I usually dealt with nervous situations by tackling it with cold, calculated thought back on Earth, but I had no idea how to react to these people. Most of my classmates were, for a lack of a better term, dumber than I was but when it came to the Consortium it seemed it was me who wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer.

“I g-guess,” I stammered.

There was no laughter in response to my nerves, only a curious exchange of glances. Calypso, not surprisingly, came to my defense.

“Listen to what he has to say. Once he is finished you may want to reevaluate your opinion.”

All eyes turned to me and I wanted to melt into the floor and disappear forever. Their eyes, full of curiosity and intrigue, burned into me like a hot drill. Even though the room was enormous, I suddenly felt claustrophobic.

“Um, well…I guess I will start with my initial scouting mission. The Lumagom attacked us.”

Not one surprised look passed between them. It was obvious they had been briefed on the events, and just wanted to know what I knew.

“I bumped into Kedge Mal'Dineen and he offered a truce. In exchange for peace he wants access to the universal map.”

“Bah, I will never allow the map to fall into his hands,” roared Varooq.

Hark-Kalech stood up. “Wait let us hear him out. There may be more to this story than we believe.”

He motioned for me to continue and I did.

“Yes, there is,” I confirmed. “He wants to travel back in time to prevent the destruction of his home planet.”

They exchanged confused glances and Calypso stood. “Kedge is a Martian survivor.”

“Mars?” Embeth rubbed his chin in deep reflection. “That planet was attacked by the Lumagom centuries ago. How could a human have possibly survived for that long?”

I revealed everything Kedge told me. After I finished, their collective looks of disbelief and rumblings of dissension caused my heart to sink. They didn't believe me. I was just some stupid human kid brought into their ranks as a matter of convenience more than necessity. I felt disappointment rising, but before I could say anything Hark-Kalech spoke.

“Wait a minute,” he shouted above the roars of dissent. “Everyone calm down. We are at a crossroads right now and have a real chance to choose the path that leads to true peace.”

“What are you saying Hark?” Kale asked incredulously. “Are you implying that we turn over our most important tool to the enemy and give him the chance to change the past and risk altering the future? What if saving one planet causes a ripple effect that destroys the universe?”

“You are a fool if you believe the universe can be destroyed,” Calypso growled. “The universe is infinite. There is no power capable of destroying it. I agree with Hark and vote to allow Kedge to try to save his planet, but with conditions.”

“What conditions are those?” Embeth barked.

“I insist that a member of the Council goes along,” Calypso replied. “To keep an eye on him.”

Everyone paused and exchanged glances. They seemed to weigh the merits of his suggestion.

“That is an excellent suggestion,” Varooq eventually chimed in.

Kale relented and slowly nodded. Even he couldn't deny the benefits of a member of the Council overseeing such activities. They seemed pleased with Calypso's suggestion but I still held personal reservations.

“I'm not sure Kedge will go along with your suggestion,” I responded. “He still seems to hold a grudge towards the Consortium.”

“I will volunteer,” Calypso said. “Perhaps he would be more at ease if a member of the Explorer's League goes? Since we are explorers more than warriors that may set his mind at ease.”

The rest of the Council agreed. Despite my protests, the Council would not agree to Kedge's proposal without sending one of their own along for observation. They made it perfectly clear that altering the past was not something to be taken lightly and they insisted on their involvement. I just hoped Kedge agreed and didn't kill me on the spot for suggesting such a thing.

The Council convened and I made my way back to the shuttle with downcast eyes. Kale decided to remain behind, reducing us to a party of two. I held onto my reservations like a child's blanket while Calypso remained silent during the return trip. I couldn't read his face, but perhaps he mulled over the impact of travelling back in time, or maybe he was just wondering what color underwear to pack.

Kedge wanted me to steal the map and bring it to him, not blab his plans to the Council. He underestimated my powers of persuasion, though, and I thought I had forged a win-win situation for all. I wasn't sure if he would accept the Council's terms, but I prayed he would. I'm sure my life depended on it.