Lodestone Book One: The Sea of Storms (24 page)

The Chandara’s involvement was
still a real mystery. Keris must have duped it or influenced it or
threatened it somehow. In any case, none of that was important now.
She had her first real evidence of the woman’s betrayal.

Feeling a sense of grim
satisfaction, she backed up through the cover of the long grass and
made her way back to camp.

~

By the time
they were ready to break camp, Shann had decided what to do. She
would take Lyall to one side and tell him in secret about the
events of last night. Maybe they could even put together a way of
trapping the Keltar as a way of exposing her. Then with her out of
the way, the three of them could get back to the real task of
rescuing the tributes from Gort. She could see the look on that
woman’s face when she realised she’d been outwitted by a
mere
child
. Then
Shann imagined the joy on the faces of Roanol and the others when
she came back to free them.

The sight of Keris jolted her out
of her reverie. The woman came around the wagon and headed straight
for her. Had she found out somehow that she had been followed last
night? Shann steeled herself.

Keris strode up and stood right
in front of her. Shann found the tall woman’s looming presence
intimidating. “Give me your equipment.”

“Wh–what?”

Keris held out
her hand. “
Give me your
equipment
,” she
repeated.

Shann scrabbled
around, gathering up the broken shards of her courage.
“
No!
”

Keris let out a massive sigh and
closed her eyes. She opened them again and Shann flinched inwardly.
“When was the last time you checked the condition of your cloak–or
the staff, for that matter?”

“I…well, er…”

“I thought so. What do you think
will happen when the Prophet’s men catch up to us? These are not
dumb raleketh. There are trained Keltar among them. If your cloak
fails or your staff breaks, they will not hesitate to kill you. Now
let me have your equipment.” Shann felt numb as she went to her
pack and meekly handed the items over.

As she did so, Keris’ severe
manner seemed to dissipate. She softened her tone. “I will let you
have these back as soon as I can. Try not to worry. When the time
comes, just remember your training. I will do my best to watch your
back.”

Shann watched her retreating form
and felt a pang of guilt. Quickly, she shoved it aside, recalling
the image of the woman speaking into her Ring, communing with her
superior in Chalimar. She had to tell Lyall.

He was standing near the front of
the wagon, talking to Alondo. Shann started towards him. She would
have to get him alone. He would no doubt be sceptical at first, but
he would know what to do. She was just a few steps away when Boxx
suddenly appeared ahead of her. It was carrying the strange machine
in its upper forelimbs. It stopped and carefully set the device
down in front of Lyall. Lyall and Alondo had stopped their
conversation and were regarding the creature curiously. It
straightened up and addressed them in its thin high
voice.

“It Is
Time.”

~

Boxx touched a tiny switch set
into a recess in the base of the device, and the line of lights
came on, all glowing red. A light began to form in the air above
the intricate mechanism–the image of a woman dressed in a kind of
white coverall. Shann gasped in spite of herself. The woman turned
to look behind her, and voice emanated from the machine.

“Is it
working?...Keris...Keris, can you hear me?”

Keris, who was standing behind
Shann’s left shoulder, stepped forward. Bewildered, Shann moved to
let her past. “Yes, I am here,” Keris spoke in a strong, clear
voice.

“Thank goodness. I’m
sorry, but I do not have much time. Things are becoming chaotic
here and power is erratic.”

Lyall spoke up. “Pardon me, my
name is Lyall. We did not know whether we would hear from you. The
Chandara said that it would be more than a whole turn before your
next contact.”

“I see you have found
friends willing to aid you. That is good. I am sorry for the
confusion. I ought to have mentioned that the Chandara do not count
in the same way that we do. Have you located one of the towers I
spoke of?”

“I believe so,” Keris declared.
“We should arrive there later today. However, we are now being
pursued by soldiers loyal to the Prophet. They are hard on our
heels.”

“Then you will need
to make haste. I will tell you how to use the vacuum displacement
transporter. Once you have transferred to the tower on the opposite
side of the world, then you should be safe. Boxx?”

The creature lifted its head.
“Yes?”

“Please, would you
remove the access module?”

Boxx reached out with its front
foreleg and found another small recess in the rear of the machine.
There was a light hum, as a small panel slid out. Boxx reached
inside with the three fingers of its front foreleg and extracted a
flat object in the shape of a scalene triangle. It was made of a
translucent substance. Encased within it were multicoloured
workings, the significance of which Shann could only guess
at.

“The module Boxx will
give you will enable you to travel between any of the four towers
situated on our world. Enter the base of the tower and make your
way to the top. You may notice that the tower has some…peculiar
properties, but don’t let that worry you. At the top you will find
a large globe. Look around it and you will find a hole in the wall,
the same size and shape as the module. Insert the module and wait a
few moments. The module has its own internal power source and a
door will appear. Retrieve the module again and enter the globe.
Once inside, you will see a raised platform with four prominent
levers. They correspond to the four towers of Kelanni; two on your
side, coloured red, and two situated on the other side of the
world, coloured blue. Pull the blue one on the left to the down
position; then wait. You will know when the transport is complete.
Then exit the globe. You will find yourself atop an identical
looking tower, but you will be on the other side, not far from
where the instrument that will neutralize the Prophet’s weapon is
concealed.”

“Will this module give us access
to the instrument as well?” Keris asked.

“No, the instrument
is too dangerous for us to risk it falling into the wrong hands.
For that you will need a different kind of key. Boxx is a crucial
part of that. When you get to the other side, I will–”

The image fizzed and the light
was extinguished. The red indicator lights at the base of the unit
winked out. The four Kelanni stood speechless. Finally Alondo
asked, “What happened?”

Keris frowned. “The message was
shorter than last time. She said something about the power failing.
I don’t know…”

They were all
thinking the same thing, but no-one wanted to vocalise it.
Would they ever hear from her
again?

Lyall stood erect. “Well, we have
our instructions. Let’s pack up everyone. We need to stay ahead of
the Prophet’s soldiers.”

Boxx picked up the apparatus
ceremoniously, and waddled off towards the wagon. Keris followed
Shann to where the graylesh were grazing and when Shann turned, she
saw that the woman was holding out her cloak and staff. “Here,
you’ll be needing these.”

Shann accepted
them. “Thank you.” Her eyes met those of the Keltar. She did not
know what to think. She had been so sure that the woman’s story had
been a pack of lies. All she had to do was to uncover enough
evidence to convince Lyall of that, and all would be well. Now it
looked as if Lyall’s faith in her had been justified. She was
certain that the sight they had just witnessed was beyond anything
even a Keltar could manufacture. If the tower contained similar
wonders, then the woman’s credibility would be enhanced even
further. Yet Shann knew that the woman did intend to betray them.
She
was
secretly
communicating with her overseer in Chalimar–Shann had seen it with
her own eyes.
What are you up to?
She needed more information, more evidence of the
woman’s true intent, before she could confront
her.

Far off on the eastern horizon
the tower beckoned, eager now to reveal its innermost
secrets.

~

The unnamed
tower lifted itself up over the Eastern Plain, a definitive
statement in stone. Keris, clad in full Keltar gear, inspected the
entranceway
at the tower’s base; a sliding
metal door left carelessly half open by its final occupants, as if
in hopes that someone might one day take up residence there
again.

It was an odd experience. The
deserted tower was identical to the one that dominated the Dagmar
manse, where Keris had spent her youth. As a little girl, she had
been told not to play anywhere near there. This was a different
tower, in a different part of the world. Yet it still felt as if
going inside would be an act of disobedience to her parents, that
she would be punished when they found out.

Boxx was standing on its hind
legs, waiting patiently. Shann was just behind it, wearing the dark
cloak, and holding the staff in both hands. Keris noticed that the
girl’s knuckles were white with tension. Alondo had brought his odd
musical instrument with him, although Keris couldn’t imagine why.
She was going to make some acerbic comment, but then thought better
of it. There were more important things to worry about.

Keris took point, checking the
interior briefly and then moving inside. Motes danced in the
sunlight which streamed through the opening. There were no windows;
the space beyond was swathed in gloom. Keris allowed a moment for
her eyes to grow accustomed to the reduced light and checked for
signs of life; nothing, no movement nor any signs of recent
occupation. She squatted down, tracing a finger in the undisturbed
layer of dust. Finally, she drew herself up, signalling for the
others to follow.

Boxx, Shann and Alondo entered
the structure, casting their eyes about them.

“It Is A Vacuum Hole Tower. Tall,
Like The Great Tree,” Boxx stated in reverent tones.

“Cosy,” Alondo
observed.

Keris ignored both of them,
moving beyond the pool of light. There was a rapid clicking sound.
Keris whirled around to see Shann’s hand on the wall. An instant
later, light flooded forth from somewhere above her. There were
rectangular glowing panels, the likes of which she had never seen
before, set into the ceiling at regular intervals. A number of the
panels remained dark.

“What did you do?” Keris
demanded.

Shann stammered, “I…I just
touched this thing on the wall here.”

“Well, don’t touch anything
else,” Keris warned.

Shann glared at her
resentfully.

Off to one side, a set of stairs
spiralled upwards. Keris headed towards it. There was a noise and
movement from the direction of the entrance. Keris turned again to
see the silhouette of a cloaked figure standing at the opening. The
figure swept inside, and Lyall’s features became visible in the dim
artificial light. “They’re coming,” he announced. “One of the
Keltar, and about half a dozen soldiers; they will be here
shortly.”

Why only
one?
The thought flashed up and Keris
dismissed it immediately. No time to speculate now. “Well there
seems to be no-one here. Let’s get to the top.” She turned and led
the way up the spiral stairs.

The first
flight led to a floor with various rooms and cubicles. Some doors
were closed; others were carelessly left open as if the last
residents had left in a hurry. The doors that were open afforded
strange views of oddly shaped chairs and banks of instrumentation
that reminded Keris of the mechanism that the woman from the past
used, to communicate with them. She was starting up the second
flight of stairs when she saw Alondo entering one of the chambers.
She stopped and snapped at him, “
What are
you doing?
”

Alondo was wide
eyed like a little child. “
Look
at this stuff.”

“Forget
it
. This isn’t a sightseeing trip. The
Prophet’s men will be on us if we don’t hurry.
Now get a move on!
”

Lyall came up behind him and put
an arm around his shoulder. “Sorry, old friend. There’s no
time.”

Alondo looked as if someone had
just confiscated his favourite toy. He followed Lyall dejectedly.
Keris resumed her passage up the stairs, holding her diamond tipped
staff at the ready. She led them up a second set of spiral stairs
and then a third. Part way up the fourth, Shann spoke up.
“Lyall?”

“What is it?” he called from
behind her.

“This tower, there’s…something
peculiar about it.”

“What do you mean?” he
asked.

“Just blip the bronze layer in
your cloak once.”