Episode #1 - "Torn": Star Chasers (Volume 1) (9 page)

    
“Told, yes indeed, quite... I’m sure.”

    
Ty’s face hardened. He almost spoke his mind but stopped just short of it. “Look,” he managed, we came a long way and we are very tired.”

    
“The inn is two down and one over, second on the right. They have rooms there if you are looking for a place to bed.”

    
“You’re not him, are you?” inquired Shilastar.

    
“Well now, you’re trying my patience!”

    
“It was Llai who sent us.”

    
“Stop there, stop there,
was
indeed, quite, quite. I don’t know who or what you are, and don’t tell me because I don’t want to know. Yet, I can tell you this: If you seek a person, perhaps he is not on Paliy 4; maybe you should look elsewhere. Now be off, go, go, go, hurry along now, and leave me be.”

    
“Paliy?” asked Shilastar dazed. ”Not on Paliy, where else could he be?”

    
A sudden calm came over Ty as the voice of reason spoke again in a flashback. The number 22 was twofold important, it was also the year of coming of age on Paliy worlds. Shilastar was twenty-one and with two turns around two suns, she was twenty-two. Four is where you begin and then on to three. Four for three turns Paliy System Time to Protectorate Universal Time. Would that be his twenty-four to her twenty-two then or his eighteen to her sixteen? No, no, he told himself, shaking off the nonsensical thoughts.

    
“Yes, yes, quite,” stated the man, showing them to the door. His face and eyes now held a unique light within them that had been lacking before. He smiled as he pushed them out the door, and Ty thought he saw the other winked at him.

    
The two lingered outside the door, feeling curiously spent, even with all they had endured thus far. All thoughts left them, and they methodically paced on to the inn that had been pointed out to them. It was only as they reached the inn, that they realized they were missing several things. Backtracking, they found the basket and the bag placed outside the door now just off the step, perhaps exactly where they had left them.

    
The barkeep and the innkeep greeted them graciously. A slow night was at hand, and they hoped the two would drink and eat plenty. The warmth faded when they only requested a room and two bowls of something warm to go with it. They were shown to a single room with a single bed. Although confronted with a new dilemma, they were too exhausted to argue. Sleep found them very soon.

    
Shilastar woke first to the bright light streaming in through an unsheltered window. She yawned, wiping the sleep from her eyes and groping about on the bed. She suddenly stopped and froze, her eyes wide and head erect, shuffling into the furthest corner of the bed she could find. Covering her mouth with one hand, she looked down at herself, finding she wore nothing more than a cover shirt. Ty was sprawled out across the bed in his underwear.

    
She immediately jumped out of bed and ran across the room, coming to a halt just before she entered the adjacent hall. She walked back nonchalantly, moving to the purifier in the corner, checking to see if Ty was still asleep before she removed the shirt and entered its confines. Dirt and sweat were soothed away. She stepped out, hurriedly donning her clothes, again watching to see if Ty stirred.

    
Finally, she moved to an oversized chair in the corner away from the window. She sat down, stretched back, and closed her eyes, leaning her head up against the fabric of the chair. It wasn’t as if she was tired or needed to rest, but slumber found her again in a few minutes. She awoke some hours later curled up on the seat of the cushioned chair. Chasing away the images of her dreams was a difficult task.

    
Ty sleepily watched her as she opened her eyes slowly and began to uncurl. He felt guilty for the way he was stretched out on the bed, bringing the covers around himself quickly. “All right, all right,” he grumbled, sitting up. “I’ll help you, but only until we find him, or for as long as it doesn’t interfere with my plans.”

    
“You will?” exclaimed Shilastar leaping out of the chair.

    
“Yes, I will, but don’t get so excited about it. It’s just only then...” retorted Ty, trying to maintain a sense of separation.

    
“Really?” asked Shilastar in disbelief.

    
“Don’t push it...” spoke Ty seeming angry. In truth, however, he was somewhat intrigued and wondered where all this lead.

    
Shilastar hid a cunning smile. She had him, or so she hoped. “So you know what we must do next?”

    
“I think so, well, I’m almost sure. Let’s eat first. I’m starved. What’s that smell?”

    
“I don’t know,” admitted Shilastar, now noticing the aroma.

    
Ty moved to step out of bed, but realizing he was only half dressed, he slid back in. Shilastar looked away, she had seen enough before. Ty eyed her twice before he stood and dressed. For his own good, she urged him toward the cleanser, leaving the room under the guise of finding the source of the aroma.

    
She stepped back in the room a few moments later, realizing that the odor issued from their room and not from the hall. She was inspecting the basket when Ty stepped out of the cubical. Quickly jumping back in, he peeked out, a little miffed that she hadn’t even glanced at him. Shilastar was rummaging through the basket, inspecting the fresh portions of goods set in it, not even questioning their presence.

    
The two breakfasted on a hearty feast, which could have served as several meals. They didn’t say much while they ate. They both had much to mull over. The day was young and they had a great deal to do, but they still weren’t quite sure how to do it.

    
Shilastar tidied up after the meal, returning the emptied vessels to the basket, organizing the disorder in the room. Something on the floor caught her eye. Picking up a necklace, she scrutinized it, recognizing at once the tiny interlaced figure eights of the chain and the dark metal of the teardrop-shaped medallion at its center. “This is mine!” she burst out and whirled around to face Ty. “Where did you get this?”

    
Ty fished through his pockets before he responded. “Your father gave it to me.”

    
“When?” demanded Shilastar.

    
“I don’t know, I don’t know. Wait, wait! Don’t look at me that way, let me think.”
Was it before we went to Ttuirre or before we went to the ruins?
“Before we went to the ruins... He said you forgot it and you would need it.”

    
“I’ll be...” said Shilastar befuddled, placing the necklace around her neck without further comment. “Ty, what are we going to do?”

    
“Let me think, I had it before. Now what was I... ?” He stopped, realizing he was talking out loud.

    
“What did he mean not on Paliy?”

    
Ty lifted his eyebrows at her words. They sparked a return to his previous train of thought. “Exactly that,” returned Ty. “He said not on Paliy 4.”

    
“Oh, now you sound just like him.”

    
“Not quite,” chortled Ty, having some fun with Shilastar.

    
“Oo!”

    
“Whoa, settle down. Just a joke.” Ty launched into a guarded explanation of how planetary systems worked, unsure of the level of techno-jargon she could comprehend. “Paliy is a planetary system, consisting of twenty-two planets. Thus, Paliy 4 is but one of twenty-two.”

    
“And?” asked Shilastar when he finished.

    
“And, my dear Shilastar, it’s not just this little world we need to think about. There is a whole lot more
out there
.”

    
“What does that even mean?” Shilastar started to cry, stopped. “I’m so sorry, Ty. It’s just...”

    
“I’m sorry,” began Ty, “I didn’t mean for it to come out harshly.” Ty stopped talking, and wiped the tears from her face, “Maybe we should stay here for a day or two. You shall have your period of sorrow and then we can press on if you wish.”

    
Shilastar’s expression grew sadder still, “No, not just yet.”

    
“Then what do you propose we do?”

    
“I thought you knew?”

    
Ty had to think. “I’m not sure I can do it, I never have, I mean, one thing is for sure: We can’t take all this. We have to choose only what we need, nothing more.”

    
Both looked at the basket; and after salvaging what remained, they went to the duffel sack. Shilastar began to unfold its contents onto the bed, after she had tidied the sheets. The two sleeping covers she encountered first, as they had been the last thing they had extracted from the bag. Folding them neat and small, she placed the tiny squares on the bed. Two containers were also found, which they had emptied previously. She tucked the few miscellaneous items back into the small wrap.

    
Shilastar smiled when she untangled an umbrella from the far interior. “See,” she said showing it off to Ty, “a traveler always has to have one of these to keep away the chill of the rain.”

    
“Lest it take away your life,” reminded Ty with a smile.

    
“Ty, look,” she blurted excitedly, finding something odd. Ty grinned and placed it among the other belongings. The bar of soap reminded him of Triist. A few spoons and plates tucked inside a cooking set was the next thing they found, and then at the far bottom of the bag, was a thing so peculiar, Ty had to snatch it up and claim it for his own.

    
“Ty?” asked Shilastar quietly.

    
“What?” snapped Ty loudly.

    
“Have you decided yet?”

    
Ty glared at Shilastar, “I’m thinking, if you let me,...”

    
“Sure, I’ll let you all right.” Shilastar walked off.

    
“Wait, Shilastar, where are you going?”

    
“Downstairs.”

    
“Wait, we’ll go together. I can think better outside with a fresh breeze on my face, and the sun in my eyes.

    
“How will we get there?” asked Shilastar with a touch of emotion that could have been construed as naivete.

    
“I’m still not sure if I can do it. I’ve always jumped alone, though in theory it doesn’t seem that difficult.”

    
“What are you talking about?” she asked again.

    
“I’m really not that good at this,” Ty said. “I know now maybe I should have taken more care in my studies, but.”

    
“I’m confident you made the right choices. I have faith in you Ty,” chimed Shilastar. And that was all it took.

    
“Let’s go downstairs and take a walk.”

“
Ty?” called Shilastar in a raspy voice.

    
“You mean I did it?” asked Ty. “Yes, dual jump!” he shouted.

    
“It’s so dark, Ty?” Shilastar choked out.

    
“You can breathe now.”

    
“Breathe?” asked Shilastar, as if the thought had not occurred to her.

    
“Yeah, breathe. We’re out...”

    
“Out?”

    
“Out.”

    
After a pause, Shilastar finally inhaled. “Whew... Oo, yuck, what is that?”

    
“The air is lighter here, take it easy...”

    
“But the smell?” Shilastar paused again. “What is that horrible smell?”

    
“Smell?”

    
“Yeah, smell. You tried breathing?”

    
“Yes,” replied Ty, “I have. Clear air to me.”

    
“Why did it take so long? And why is it still black and cold?”

    
“Just wait.”

    
“Wait for what?”

    
She didn’t have to wait long. The sky, grey low-lying masses of clouds mixed with an upheaval of swelling black, groaned and flashed. A rush of heat burst by and receded as the light faded into the distance, and then the sky returned to utter black.

    
Shilastar shivered, feeling even colder now with the whimsical shift in temperatures. Ty noticed and began rooting through the sack. He pulled out the two sleeping covers, and draped one around Shilastar and the other around himself.

    
“Welcome to Paliy 3,” lightly stated Ty.

    
“Ty,” Shilastar whispered with awe, “have you been here before?”

    
“Only in practice.”

    
“What do you
mean
‘only in practice’?” Her voice was sharp.

    
“Lessons.”

    
“Lessons?”

    
“You don’t think you can jump about without having a fore-knowledge of the place you are going to, do you?”

    
Shilastar admitted, “I thought maybe you could just go anywhere you wanted.”

    
Ty sighed as another blaze of fire lightning curled back the chill. Shilastar edged closer to Ty. “No stars, nor sun, nor moon?” she asked.

    
“Nope. Only dark forsaken cloud cover. The light show offers the only illumination.”

    
“Why did we come here? Where are we going to go?”

    
“I’m not sure, quiet and let me think.” Ty hastily appended, “Come on, I think you’re right. There are some things out here best left unseen.”

    
“What do you mean?” Shilastar wrapped her arms around herself protectively and started to edge toward Ty but the ground beneath her feet fell away.

    
“Well, I only knew of one settlement and one arrival point... Shilastar? Is that you moving beside me? Shilastar...”

    
A trickle of light groped its way across the heavens as Ty sought to filter out the shadows and take in his surroundings. He almost took a step but decided against it. He waited for the energy to return, moving his head left and right, up and down. As it swept by again, he was looking down. “Shilastar?”

    
Afraid to move or shout, fearing she might lose her grip, Shilastar kept quiet. Ty bent down to ensure he was seeing right. The light flashed by, and he saw, in part, the perimeter of the precipice they were atop. He slunk to his knees, pausing for the next breathe of sight from fire flashing above.

    
“Give me your hand,” Ty coaxed.

    
“I can’t move,” she whimpered.

    
“Yes, you can, just do it carefully...”

    
“Ty, I can’t die now, it’s too early... I’m afraid, there’s nothing but darkness down there.”

    
“You’re not going to die. Now place your hand in mine!”

    
“Ty, I can’t...”

    
“Shilastar, if you chose not to move, that’s your problem. I’ll see you later. Let me know when you’ve decided you want help.”

    
A long pause followed, and Shilastar began to panic, thinking Ty walked away. She wailed and lost her grip, but Ty was pressing his body against the stone and reaching for her. His cold fingers grabbed her arms. The shout died from her lips as Ty pulled her up to the summit with him.

    
She huddled there for some time, calming herself. Llai’s chastising weighed heavily. Did she really have all it would take to handle what was ahead? She wasn’t even sure if she could trust Ty. How long would he stay with her? It was her choice to make, it all was up to her now. Finally, she managed to stand. The burden was solely on her.

    
As they looked on they began to see shapes and images in the gloom. It was a bizarre, but they finally accepted it. While Ty scanned the heavens, Shilastar stared downward and outward into the ebony hues all around them. Traces of color seeped into her eyes, an eerie off-toned luminescence, predominantly from one spot in particular.

    
She pointed it out to Ty.

    
“It’s probably just a bright eliotrope,” he started to explain but knew better. It was just as he pictured it and it was where they must go.

    
The two performed a truer survey of their surroundings. They were atop a shaded prominence in the midst of a sea of black. “Why here?” asked Shilastar. “Wasn’t there any other place you could have brought us?”

    
“It was the only place I could recall,” replied Ty in all honesty.

    
“You couldn’t have taken us there?”

    
“No, I couldn’t. Now let me think, there is a way down, or at least I think there is.”

    
“What? Can’t you just jump us over there?”

    
“Shows how much understanding you have,” Ty snapped. But he quickly reconsidered his words, “Okay, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean that. I’ll explain it to you later, if you remind me. For now let’s...”

    
“Ty?” Shilastar interrupted. “What is
that
?”

    
She pressed her body up against Ty’s, feeling a little safer as a fire-shrouded beast settled from the sky. The thing scorched and soured the air. She burrowed her face into her sleeve, but did not turn her head away. The new light lifted the darkness and she took in their surroundings. Fires churned and sputtered, and then the beast came to a rest.

    
“Class two lander,” answered Ty uneasily.

    
“Lander?”

    
“Yes, the energies in the sky interfere with normal entry procedures, and adaptations had to be made. This is not the only such planet, but it is one of the few left unchanged. Magnificent, isn’t it? What a sight!”

    
“That was a machine?”

    
Ty regarded her, puzzled. The ship and its guiding light slipped beyond a ridge.

    
“Did you find the trail?” she continued. “Let’s get down from here! I don’t like it, and I want to go as far away from here as soon as we can.”

    
“The trail?” It hadn’t even occurred to Ty to look. He kicked at the ground, a mistake, for it was hard and unforgiving. Shilastar laughed aloud as he stumbled before her.

    
Ty shrugged the pack from his shoulder to the ground. “Fine, fine. I’m sorry.” He began reading his thoughts aloud both for her benefit and his own. “The problem with a jump is that the closer and the further you go, the longer it takes, toward infinitum, or at least that is what they say. I’ve never tried such a close one, Shilastar, and I was told never to try.”

    
“Never to try it? Why not?”

    
Ty didn’t think she would understand, so he was running off at the mouth more for his own benefit. “I’m not sure. I don’t think it is a good idea. There is another way, I know there is, or I wouldn’t have remembered this point. Or would I? What was it now? Why was I drawn to recall this...” A picture flashed before his eyes, and he didn’t like what he saw.

    
“You said that you had never tried two, either. Right? Maybe they just didn’t want you to know.”

    
“Didn’t want me to know what?” yelled Ty. “There are things you don’t understand. The knowledge is open and free for all. No secrets, Shilastar. The arrival and departure points are marked and mapped, clear for all...”

    
“Then why aren’t there more like you? Why does everyone run about in ships?”

    
For a moment Ty thought Shilastar understood the workings of things he had thought beyond her intellect, but as he reached further with his thoughts, he plainly could see she didn’t. “I told you my reasons were to outrage my father, and I did. Oh, if you could have seen...” Ty cut short, leaving the remainder in his thoughts.

    
“You told me but that was long ago and you left out most of the details, you never shared your secrets with me, Ty. I have shared mine with you. What is it like to be birthed with such power? Is it a thing that you control? Or is it something that controls you?”

    
Ty furrowed his brow and looked at her, trying to make out the outlines of her face in the dull light. “What secrets have you bared to me, Shilastar? Tell me one now!” Ty was angry and defensive, his natural instinct. He didn’t know why her words infuriated him.

    
“Ty,” she protested, “I mean... I meant...”

    
“That’s it! It’s to the city and then I am gone!” Ty was weary of her tears and sorrows. “Find someone else then. I don’t want to help you. Secrets. You want to talk about secrets? Tell me this. You haven’t even given me one good reason to stay. Give me one Shilastar, just one! Damn it!”

    
“Ty?” she cried out.

    
“Turn your tears on someone who cares!”

    
“How can you say that? You made an oath to me and to Phaylio.”

    
“To your father, and not to you,” corrected Ty. “Share one secret with me, Shilastar. Just one. I dare you. I’m more in danger because you know about me than because I know about you. What more do you want?”

    
“No,” responded Shilastar her voice distant and grey. “You do not need to know any more.” She quickly retreated back in her thoughts and into gentler, brighter words. “All the time I knew you, I never thought you were any different from me. And then I find, I find out you are what my father bred me against all my life—you are one of them. How do you think that makes me feel?”

    
“One of who?”

    
“Them,” Shilastar said reverently. “The Mynd.”

    
“Did you ever think, Shilastar... did you ever consider my comings and goings? Obviously, Phaylio did; an error on my part, for look where I am now.”

    
“And just where are you? You can leave at any time you know... Just go, see if I care!”

    
“I can’t,” admitted Ty.

    
“What do you mean you can’t?”

    
“Well...”

    
“The truth, or so help me, I’ll hit you!”

    
“The departure point is next to the city.”

    
“Next to the... city? City, did you say?”

    
“City, I said city. What did you think that was? It’s the only one I know of here.”

    
“Only one city?”

    
“Were you listening to anything I said before?”

    
“Yes.”

    
Ty didn’t have to think anymore, the fire returned to the sky and the ship was lifting off again. This time, he did not linger on it, but he did think the short visit abnormal. The plateau on which they stood was more of a platform, resting some five or six feet below a second larger platform.

    
They had to climb down quickly while the light lasted. Off the mountain of rock they came to a narrow stone bridge, arriving at its foot just as the darkness returned. Ty grabbed Shilastar’s arm and yanked her to a halt, waiting until their eyes adjusted before proceeding again. The rock of the bridge was smooth, and he had seen its gray translucence before. “We cross on hands and knees,” he told her. “I’ll go first. You follow close behind.”