The Lodestone Trilogy (Limited Edition) (The Lodestone Series) (97 page)

The scene shifted slightly so that Rael could now see three more captives lined up: Lyall, Alondo, Patris. Of Keris and Boxx there was no sign. The first creature moved forward so that his revolting pink face filled the screen. “Open up now, or one of these will be next.”

“Oh no,” Rashid let out. Rael glanced at him, but he was not looking at the screen. His eyes were fixed on the console, his hands moving frantically over the multi-coloured panel.

Rael took hold of his grief with both hands and thrust it away in a deep dark place. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s the elevator,” Rashid said. “It’s headed back to the surface.”

“What?”
Rael exclaimed. “Stop it and bring it back down.”

“What do you think I’m trying to do? It’s not accepting my commands.”

“Why not?”

Rashid’s brow knitted. “It’s not a software problem. I think the mechanism is…physically jammed. This is what happens when maintenance doesn’t do its job. Who are those people? They’re not Kelanni.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Rael said. “They mustn’t be allowed to get in here.”

Rashid’s attention was still fixed on the control panel. “Well, I don’t know what I can do to prevent it. The elevator is already at the top.”

Rael’s eyes turned back to the screen as the lookout recorded the first hu-man and his thick-set companion crowding into the elevator. The third creature–grizzled, with odd reddish hair on his scalp and face–had been left to guard the captives.

“Is there another way out of here?” Rael asked.

“Only the elevator at the loading dock. It’s not working–I told you that.”

Rael grabbed the older man’s elbow. He could feel the hardness of bone as if he were a skeleton beneath the sleeve of his robe. “Then we have to destroy the four components. Now.”

Sympathy passed across the custodian’s features. “That’ll be difficult. The casing is made from synthesized lonsdaleite. It’s nearly twice as hard as diamond.”

“You have a material harder than diamond?” Rael shook his head. “Never mind. Where is the other elevator now?”

“About halfway down. It’ll be here any moment.”

“They can’t be allowed to get their hands on those devices,” Rael declared.

Rashid shook his head. “I knew those things were going to be trouble from the moment Annata stashed them here. I only allowed it because…because everything was falling apart, and she said it was the only way to ensure our race’s long term survival. Now she’s gone and I’m left to clean up the mess she left behind. Look, if you want to destroy all record of the technology right now, then the only way would be a reactor overload.”

Rael’s eyes widened. “You mean…blow this place up?”

“I’m afraid so. If you’re sure that’s what you want. I am nothing more than an advanced AP–I have no conscious existence as you understand it. You, however, would be killed, I’m afraid.”

Not just me.
They were too far underground for any conceivable blast to reach the surface, but it might well be felt up there. Rael had no illusions as to the fate his friends would suffer when their guard realised what had happened. On top of that, the device that Annata had concealed here would be lost forever. And the Prophet would still be building his weapon. He could only hope that Keris and Boxx were still alive and free somewhere.
It’ll be up to you now.

Rael met the older man’s curious stare. “Do it. Do it now.” Rashid bowed slightly, then made off around the circle of consoles. Rael hurried after him. A third of the way round, the old man settled at a new set of controls and began making adjustments. There was a commotion from the circular walkway far above. Boots resounding on metal. Distant voices. They were here. “How long?” Rael pressed him.

The alarm began to sound once more, only this time the note was higher–more urgent. Rashid let his hands drop. “Reactants are set. Critical mass will occur in twenty dahns.”

“Thank you,” Rael said. The cage lift was descending towards the chamber floor.

Rashid suddenly seemed even older. “How long…how long since I was last activated?”

“More than three thousand turns,” Rael answered.

The old Kelanni looked as if Rael had struck him with a blunt instrument. “Rashid…the real Rashid, I mean. He is dead, isn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Then I am all that is left of what he was.”

Rael tried to find some words of comfort but could find none. In the end, he simply nodded.

The old man looked up at him, his eyes pleading. “I don’t want to die.”

Rael thought of his mother and brother. Of Hannath and Meira at the observatory. Of Solvi, his childhood friend. Of Lyall, Alondo, Keris and Patris, who had journeyed from Drann, across the Sea of Storms. Of Boxx and its remarkable people. And of Shann. Shann the courageous. Shann the annoying. Shann the strong. Shann the impatient. Shann, the girl in a pink dress who had led him by the hand through a golden pasture, who had dressed his wound and then kissed him. Which of them was truly her? All or none? He would never know.

The cage had reached the bottom and disgorged its occupants. But now they had grown insignificant; tiny, scurrying creatures lost in a vast mechanical forest. About to be stepped on. Rael felt suffused with a strange sense of calm, as if his life had suddenly been brought into focus. And with clarity came insight. “I think Rashid would understand. And he would approve of his…Artificial Personality.”

The two of them stood side by side to face the approaching hu-mans. Rael heard the creatures bark out a challenge. He watched as they stood and looked at each other, then levelled stubby instruments that appeared to be weapons of some kind.

A searing light. But strangely, there was no pain. And then he was standing in the midst of a grey expanse. In place of Rashid, there was Boxx, looking up at him. “Follow,” it commanded.

Rael had no strength left in him for questions. He bent down, picked up his coat and the tattered remains of his shirt, and stumbled after the Chandara.

As they emerged from the fog bank, Rael saw the pitched tents and the parked avionics–just as he remembered them. He spotted Lyall and Shann, and a surge of relief washed over him. Somehow, he was alive and back with the others. His mind struggled to make sense of it all. He had seen, felt, touched–everything. Had it all been an illusion? Yet it was as real as anything here.

Shann came running toward him with Lyall close behind. She stopped short and her eyes ran him up and down.
Haunted expression. Torn clothing. I must look a sight.
“What happened to you?”

You did.
Rael had no idea how to answer her.
You are no more or less real than that other Shann. How can I be sure that you are not just another illusion?

“No questions,” Lyall reminded her.

Shann surged forward and threw her arms around the boy. Her touch felt unreal, otherworldly. Rael stiffened. She released him and stepped back, looking upset and confused. Rael’s heart felt like a stone weight in his breast.
I don’t know who you are. I don’t know who any of you are.

Keris had appeared next to Lyall. She was watching the exchange with cool detachment. Finally, she broke the silence. “Boxx, has Rael passed the trial?”

The little creature stood on its hind limbs and looked up at her. “Rael Has Passed.”

A collective sigh of relief passed around the gathering. It seemed to touch everyone except him.

Lyall stepped forward. “Time enough for congratulations later. Rael is exhausted. Shann, help him to a tent and see to his needs, would you?”

The girl hesitated for a moment, then came forward once more and supported his arm. Rael allowed himself to be led away toward the sweet release of sleep.
Please…please don’t let me dream.

~

Lyall watched the backs of the two young people as they headed toward the makeshift shelters. Over by the avionics, the three drach observed the proceedings, but made no move to approach.
Two down. Two to go.

Keris let out a deep breath. “I’m not sure I like the turn this is taking.”

The former Keltar had a talent for turning victory into defeat. However, it was vital for all members of the group to feel they had a say, especially in Keris’ case. It was her tendency to act on her own that had caused problems in the past, culminating in the crisis between her and Shann during their journey through the Pits of Kharthrun. Tension still hovered in the air between the two women, like a brooding perridon. But he had the respect of both of them, so he had been able to serve as a bridge whenever it mattered, holding the party together.

He also had to admit that her skills and experience were a valuable resource–one that any competent leader would be foolish to ignore. He turned toward her, waiting until he had eye contact. “What’s troubling you, Keris?”

Keris flicked her head, indicating the tents. Her long raven hair shifted, then settled about her shoulders once again. Her dark eyes were hard and intense. “Alondo and Patris are both still flat out. The boy looks as if he’s been in a battle for his life.”

“We only need two more to qualify to operate the components of Annata’s instrument,” Lyall pointed out. “There are three of us who have still to undergo trial–you, myself and Shann. We are on track for a successful outcome.”

“Yes but success in this phase of the operation is no good if we end up with a bunch of invalids,” Keris pointed out.

“No-one appears to have been injured, at least as far as I can tell. Still, maybe it would be wise to ask Boxx to look them over when all of this is finished.”

Keris pressed her lips together. “Their injuries may not be physical, but I can see them a mile off. Each of them is not the same person they were when they went in. And there’s something else.”

Lyall waited while she collected her thoughts. “Patris, for all his annoying traits, is highly capable–intelligent, resourceful and probably the most cunning of all of us. He’s a survivor. I would have put money on his ability to withstand any trial that could be devised for him. Yet somehow he failed. The boy, on the other hand, has little experience of life and even less of battle. Yet he came through.”

“Not every test is a test of battle, Keris.”

“Well, I hope that mine is.”

“Why do you say that?” Lyall asked.

Keris looked him squarely in the eye. “Because I know that’s a test I can win.”

~

When Shann returned a short while later, Keris was surprised to see her accompanied by Alondo. The musician appeared better. Shann was giggling in response to some witticism that he had whispered to her out of earshot. From the way the girl kept glancing her way, Keris had a strong suspicion that she was at the point of Alondo’s barb, but she let it ride. She was just relieved to see him back to a semblance of normality. If Alondo could bounce back, then there was hope for all of them.

At the sight of his old friend, Lyall grinned for the first time in a long while. “I see you’re back with us.”

Alondo smiled back faintly. His voice was quiet. “For the most part.”

A flicker passed over Lyall’s face as if he were recalling Keris’ words. With an effort, he turned to Shann. “How is Rael?”

Shann’s face grew grave. “I…don’t know really. I made up a blanket for him. He just lay down staring into space. I tried to talk to him, but he didn’t answer. I’m worried about him.”

Lyall nodded thoughtfully. “He’ll be all right, I’m sure. Just give it time.”

It was now mid-afternoon. The wind had dropped, the drizzle had left off and the dense clouds had belatedly begun to part, revealing patches of azure sky. There was the promise of a clear, settled evening over the Plains of Akalon. Time to move forward. Keris turned to the Chandara. “Boxx, who is to be next?”

“You Are Next, Keris.”

Keris nodded.
Good. Let’s get this over with.

Lyall addressed her. “Do you need to make any preparations?”

Keris felt the weight of the flying cloak draped about her shoulders, the slight pressure of the diamond bladed darkwood staff at her back. “No. I am ready.”