Awakening on Orbis (8 page)

The metal was warm in my hands. I rolled it around and ran my fingers over the OIO symbol. “So what does it mean, then?” I asked, trying to sound open to her ideas.

“The person who made that —”

“I thought that guy Tinker made it.”

“He did. He knew the Scion would be forced to wear it some cycle. Tinker is a believer, and he worked with the Nagools to create something that would enhance the Scion’s abilities while allowing the Citizens to believe that he or she was under its control. That’s why Tinker was so freaked out when he met us. He recognized his work and knew who I was. Who
we
were.”

“But what does that mean?”

“There are many, many forces at work here, JT. This is bigger than me; this is bigger than
you.
”

I stood up again. “You make me sound like some self-centered fool.”

Ketheria didn’t reply.

“I’m not just thinking about myself, Ketheria,” I argued. “Did you ever think that we might just be tokens, meaningless gambits for them to use?”

“Pawns in their game?”

“Yes!”

“Now
you
are a cliché. This
is
our game, JT. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. You
are
the Tonat. There is no choice. This is your life now whether you accept it or not.”

“Well, I won’t.”

“Max will understand,” she said. “Would you like me to talk to her?”

“Max! Are you reading my mind right now, Ketheria? That’s not fair. Get out of my head.”

“Max is worried about losing you.”

“Stop it, Ketheria. I don’t want to talk about Max.”

“She’s smart. More than you give her credit for. She knows what the life of a Space Jumper will be like, and there is no way that life can include her. It’s Max that’s being selfish here, JT.”

“Don’t say that!”

“I’m sorry, but it is true.”

“I’m leaving,” I announced.

“Will you come and visit again?” Ketheria asked me as if my being upset had little relevance. She opened her book again, and this time she made a mark in it.

“What’s that for? Why are you doing that now?”

“I explained that to you already,” she said. “Are you going to come back?”

“I doubt it,” I snapped. “Your goons here won’t let me in, and why do you have Space Jumpers guarding your room, anyway? They’re supposed to be banished. If Queykay finds out, he’ll surely notify the Council. He’s a member, you know. They could cause a lot of trouble, Ketheria.”

“Many things are changing, JT.”

“Yeah, well, I’m not one of them.”

I stormed out of Ketheria’s room and past her Jumpers.

“See ya, popper,” one of them joked.

I spun around. “What does that mean?” I yelled, and shoved him. The other Space Jumper slammed the butt of his rifle into my stomach. I heard them both laughing as my body and mind were torn through space and time yet again.

The stink and decay were familiar to me now, so I knew I had jumped to Murat. The nausea returned, too; I felt my stomach tighten and push toward my throat. I was once again in an alley. I leaned against an abandoned transport — one wheel was missing, and the engine had been ripped out. I figured it wasn’t going anywhere, so I just lay back and closed my eyes. The cold metal felt soothing against my neck, and I took this private moment to catalog the recent events in order to establish some direction in my life.

It was obvious to me that the awakening was changing Ketheria on a deeper level than I had even imagined. She seemed so different to me now. I felt like the Rings of Orbis had taken my sister from me. It was one more reason to hate it here. It was almost as if she was on
their
side now, but I couldn’t figure out when that line had been drawn. And where did that leave me? Ketheria had always been on
my
side. I felt more isolated than I had on the
Renaissance.

My problems with Max were not making any of this easier. How could I keep my promise to her now? Could I really take care of Ketheria if I was no longer part of her inner circle? The fact that I was being shut out of Ketheria’s life simply dumbfounded me. What if being the Tonat was the only way I could protect my sister? But if I became the Tonat, I was certain that I would lose Max, and I was not prepared to do that.

Sitting against the cold machine and feeling sorry for myself certainly wasn’t going to help me. I knew that much. I needed a plan. What could I use to my advantage? Well, I could move freely about the ring, while Space Jumpers had to stay in the shadows. Maybe there was some way to control this spontaneous jumping. I also had my arm. Its robotics had come in handy more than once. And there was my alliance with Vairocina. That relationship was very important to me. But best of all, I could get inside their precious central computer whenever I pleased.
My side
was looking pretty good. It was time to learn what they knew.

“Vairocina?” I said.

“Yes, JT?”

“Can you determine my location?”

“Yes. You’re in Murat. What are you doing there?”

“Long story. Do you know about the place where the Keepers do their charity work on Orbis 4?”

“I believe it’s called the Center for Relief and Assistance. It’s 3.7 kilometers from where you are now.”

“Great. Which way?” I asked, getting up.

“Up ring. It will be on your right near the center of the city but, JT, I would like to talk about the information you asked me to find.”

“Oh, sure, but can it wait, Vairocina? I need to talk with a Keeper right now. We’ll chat when I’m done.”

“Certainly.”

I may not have decided to be the Tonat yet, but I was certain I could garner valuable information while they tried to convince me. Drapling’s defenses were down. He wanted me to become the Tonat so bad, I could almost smell it on him. I was going to leverage his desire to get something from
me
to get what I wanted from
him:
information.

A large, scarred metallic orb drifted over me. Six bluish lights crawled along the orb’s surface and scanned the area around me.
Security?
The searchlights converged on the ship’s belly and focused on me for only a moment. The orb then rotated and drifted away. I figured Vairocina must have sent it, so I followed my makeshift escort.

Murat’s buildings grew taller as I marched toward its center. Instead of building out, Murat had built upward. I began to notice a larger, more modern city beneath the refuse. Skyscrapers fashioned in the images of those you might find on Orbis 1 poked through the city’s poorer framework. I followed a narrow canal of green silt, which seemed to flow in and out of the city, and stopped just inside the densest part of Murat. Next to me, a metal and glass pod cracked open and a gangly alien unfurled himself. I looked up and saw more pods mounted above that one, each attached to the same narrow beam that arched up and over my head. I could see more aliens lumbering inside the dull, well-worn pods. They were roughly the same size and shape as the nurture pods we had used on the
Renaissance.
In one capsule, I saw a female with two small children. I could not even imagine having to
live
inside one of those things.

I moved away from the pods and squinted through the mountains of oxidized metal framework that formed a forest of trading chambers and makeshift shelters. There was no sign of the Center for Relief and Assistance, so I kept moving.

“Vairocina? Can you tell if I’m close to the Center yet?”

There was a pause before she replied. “You need to walk about six hundred meters and you will find it on your left.”

“Thank you.”

As Vairocina predicted, the slanted glass structure appeared like a distress beacon amid the chaos of Murat. A steady stream of aliens flowed through the Center’s pristine doors, and I stepped into the flow.

Inside I found more aliens, sitting at O-dats, while three Keepers emerged from light chutes located behind a large oval counter. I watched as each Keeper retrieved a new Citizen and then left with him or her through the same chute. I searched for an empty O-dat, but they were all occupied, with at least two or three aliens waiting their turn. How many aliens did the Keepers help? I decided to find out for myself.

“Excuse me,” I said to the Saliman standing in front of me. I could always spot a Saliman because they had big hornlike ears that pointed backward. “Are you a Citizen?”

“Lot of good it does me,” the alien grunted, waving one of her thick pink forearms in the air for emphasis. “The First Families have the system so rigged, I was better off as a knudnik.”

“What will the Keepers do for you?”

“Keepers? Don’t confuse the Descendants of Light with the Keepers. They may look the same, but they are definitely two different breeds. Watch out for the DOL,” she said in a gossipy tone, and then glanced at the Keeper standing a few meters to her right.

Another alien had been eavesdropping on our conversation. “Get your pass and get out of here,” he said.

“Pass?” I said.

“Through the wormhole,” replied the Saliman. “It’s the one good thing about the DOL. They love to see you go.”

“And I’m going to keep them happy,” added the other one. I turned toward that alien. His face was almost as wide as his shoulders. It was a Roshilon. His eyes blinked at me as they struggled to peer around his big bony face. “There’s no way I can afford to live on these rings, and there is absolutely no way I can afford the tax to travel through that wormhole. The DOL arranges your passage for free. It’s the best assistance this place can offer.”

“Is everyone here leaving?” I whispered.

“If they’re smart, they will.”

The Saliman squatted in front of the terminal and reached up with his short arms. I stood back, digesting what the aliens had told me, when I heard my name.

“Johnny Turnbull!” Drapling called out to me. “What a pleasure. Are you lost again?”

I saw the Saliman glance at me over his shoulder.

“No,” I said. “I was hoping we could talk.”

“Absolutely,” Drapling cried. “Follow me.”

“Get your pass!” hissed the Saliman.

I followed Drapling through the light chute, then emerged to find him waiting next to a tall green crystal anchored in the wall. It was one of many that lined the polished stone hallway.

“This way,” he said, motioning.

I followed Drapling down the hallway and across the glossy floor. Below my feet, buried about ten centimeters under the clear floor, I could see rows and rows of loosely arranged hand-fashioned copper slabs. These plates were separated by globs of rust-colored grout, just the sort of sloppy brick-and-mortar job one might find in Murat.

“What are these?” I asked, pointing at the floor.

“Keepers who have served their purpose beyond all expectations,” he replied.

“They’re graves?”

“This is much more honorable,” he replied.

“Walking on them is honorable?”

“They’re still serving the greater good. I find that honorable, don’t you?”

No! How is spending eternity as a paving stone honorable?
I stepped away from the tombstones, tiptoed along the grout, and followed Drapling into a room near the end of the hallway. He sat in a sloped chair made from some sort of greenish, silky material. There was no place for me to sit.

“How is Ketheria?” he asked.

“She says she’s fine,” I replied, walking past amber lights embedded in the floor.

“I take it you do not agree.”

“Tell me about the Tonat, Drapling. I may have been hasty in my decision.”

Drapling stood up. There was that pause again. He was thinking about the proper response, but at least I had his attention.

“What would you like to know?” he asked carefully.

He was stalling. I could feel it.

“Have there ever been other Tonats?”

“Of course.”

“Is the Tonat always a sibling of the Scion?”

Drapling got up and slid along a narrow table near the back of the room. I watched as he lifted a thin carafe and poured an opaque liquid into a fragile fluted glass. He placed the glass on the table before answering me. I knew this entire charade was just a way to give him time to think about his answer.

“That is hard to say,” he finally responded.

“Well, is it a condition of their relationship?”

“We are all connected in more than one way, Johnny. Even you and I are connected within this universe. OIO tells us —”

“Just answer the question, please,” I interrupted.

“I am confused as to the point of your question. I should inform you that I have not met any other Scions. Your sister is my first. A Scion is a rare and extraordinary individual, but unfortunately most do not live long. Your species has destroyed many.”

“You mean humans?”

Drapling nodded but said no more. I think he was waiting for my response to his doomsday claim, but I didn’t take the bait. “Not every Scion has found his or her Tonat in time. I believe Ketheria is unique in having a Tonat who is also her brother, although you seem indifferent to her safety.”

“I care for my sister more than you know. Tell me more about this
connection.
”