A rich indigo dusk was falling above the forest clearing, and Cyborg was just at the point of starting to worry. The T-Ship was in full working order, its systems were running sweetly, even its paint job was shinier than ever. He had spent the whole day working, downing tools nearly an hour ago after doing everything it was possible to do – and there had still been no communication from any of the others. Yet Robin had obviously intended that they all be back by nightfall.
He stood at the edge of the clearing, scanning the gathering darkness. His personal instruments were reading nothing useful, and Cyborg decided it was time for an aerial sweep, even if it did mean the others would find an empty landing-zone when – if – they got back. He turned decisively and began walking back to the ship.
"You don't need to be in such a hurry," said a voice from behind him.
Cyborg whirled, astonished. There had been nothing on his instrument readings! He looked for the source of the voice; even with his augmented vision it took him a second to locate the still, pale figure standing just back from the tree-line. His radar, infra-red, and multi-frequency audio arrays whirred back into life. There was definitely something there now, but the readouts were not quite like anything he had seen.
The – woman? (he guessed) – was almost as tall as him, clad in a pale robe that shone faintly in the twilight, and standing eerily still. Her face was wholly hidden behind a veil. For a moment he wondered if he was seeing a ghost. But he knew there were no such things – and she was real alright.
"Mind telling me how you pulled off that trick?" he said, quietly, but hopefully with enough menace to let her know he wasn't about to be frightened by a scary ghost lady.
"There was no trick, Cyborg."
"Or how you know my name?"
"It is not a secret, is it?"
Cyborg frowned, unsure.
"Your friends are safe," the veiled woman continued, in a voice that lacked guile. "They are spending this night in the forest. Instead of remaining here alone, would you like to keep company with me a while?"
"Now just hold on a second: how do you know my friends are safe?"
"I see and hear all that betides within these woods; I am the genius loci."
"The what now?"
"Come with me. We will go to a place where we can talk in greater comfort."
# # # #
Somewhat against his better judgement, but lured by mystery and the chance of finding out something important, Cyborg followed the veiled woman through the trees until he was out of sight of the clearing. Then, all at once, he found himself standing at a strange threshold.
Between walls so thickly ivied as to appear like hedges, their true nature revealed only by glimpses of stone amongst the green, a portal opened onto a kind of garden. It was the type of entrance-way which should be closed by gates of wrought iron; but gates there were none, and Cyborg was afforded an unrestricted view of what lay beyond the portal. A grassy courtyard stretched before them, roofed over by the branches of the trees, not so densely as to exclude the moonlight which fell in vivid beams to dapple the lawn below, but sufficiently to lend the place a sense of spacious enclosure akin to a Gothic cathedral. In the shadowed undergrowth inchoate glimpses of fur could be seen rising and falling rhythmically where forest animals were sleeping soundly with their mates. The air was sweetly scented and pregnant with soft sound: a gentle night breeze was blowing, and the leaves seemed almost to laugh in their sleep on the boughs. The leaves' quiet mirth was not disconcerting, quite the opposite: it was the sound of contentment.
The veiled woman led him through the courtyard towards a secluded space where a copse of smaller trees grew thickly enough to keep out the moonlight.
"None of this showed up on the suborbital scans," he murmured, mostly to himself.
"That is because it looked like something else when you performed them," replied his companion. "Do come in."
The room they entered was nothing less than an arbour within a palace of living wood, a stately chamber formed from the woven branches of the surrounding trees, which, if Cyborg had been able to identify trees at sight, he would have recognised as a tallish species of myrtle. Within, torches of oil and brushwood were burning, casting a warm and welcoming light. Silk-upholstered benches, fashioned of wood so dark and fragrant that it seemed almost as though it were still alive and rooted, stood inside. The woman motioned for Cyborg to sit down. He did so. She sat gracefully on the bench facing him.
"Would you like something to refresh you?"
On a stone plinth next to the bench stood a gleaming metal plate covered with nuts and berries, and a goblet made of the same metal filled with clear liquid. Cyborg scanned the liquid. It was water of great purity. He scanned the goblet. It was copper; not an alloy, but the pure element. There was nothing unusual about it, except for its presence there.
"Nothing to eat or drink, thanks," he said, setting the goblet down again. Credit me with some common sense, he added silently.
"You really don't need to be so cautious, Cyborg," his hostess remarked equably. "There is no treachery in this place, only hospitality."
"Well, thank you for your hospitality," Cyborg replied.
"You are welcome. And now, perhaps, you would indulge my curiosity somewhat? Visitors are infrequent on this planet, and I would very much like to know what brings you here."
"You mean you don't know? And there was I thinking you had all the answers already."
"I see and hear all that betides within these woods, but events beyond them are beyond my sight, and the minds of visitors from outside are not always open to me. Besides, I would like to hear from your own lips what your purpose is. You have not come here to harm the forest or its creatures – already I feel sure of that. But why have you come here at all?"
"It's a bit of a long story. I'll try to explain. My friends and I are from Earth. We're called the Teen Titans: we try to help and protect people who need it. We were travelling back to Earth from Kahra Beta, where we'd been on a mission. Then, without any warning, we were attacked by an alien ship…"
# # # #
Shrieking alarms, flames, the crackle of dying circuits; the clash of five surprised voices; and afterburn flaring in eyes from the ray that had touched the T-ship like the finger of God.
"Report!" shouted Robin above the chaos.
"Defensive systems are down completely," said Raven. "They knew exactly where to hit us."
Another beam smashed the T-Ship and the central command position was lost to sight as flames leapt out of the fuselage.
"Robin!" screamed Starfire in horror.
"Still here, Star." The flames died, the venting gases clearing in a second, and Robin came back into view. His conn was in ruins, and severed wires sparked in the drifting smoke inside his section. "But I've lost all my instruments. Cyborg, can you get us out of here?"
"I'll try," said Cyborg grimly, steering onto an escape vector and powering up to the fastest speed the crippled ship could manage. "Another of Blackfire's traps?" he yelled above the din of fire extinguishers and fault alarms.
"No!" Raven cried. "Look!"
Out in the black, a great light was shining: no bigger than a man's hand as yet, but growing every second. As they watched, another burning lance flashed out from the centre of the onrushing light and connected to the T-Ship like a string of fire. Cyborg's console exploded and he coughed as acrid smoke gushed into his section.
"I've lost engine control!"
"We're finished!" snarled Raven bitterly.
"We're never finished!" Robin raged, smashing his fist on his ruined console. But even he was out of options for once. The T-Ship was dwarfed by the alien craft, which was already coming alongside. Now it was close the Titans could see that it looked more like a palace than a spaceship. For a second they sat in silence, helpless to do anything but await the deathblow. Instead of searing destruction, however, there came a soft jolt.
"Tractor beam," said Cyborg. "I think we've just been invited to supper."
("But whose?" fretted Starfire quietly, worrying a strand of hair between her fingers.)
"Guys," put in Beast Boy, "something's coming through on the radio."
The voice which came through sounded like many voices singing in polyphony.
You are now captives of the Solaurian Host, it said. We will have audience with you. Attempts to escape or defend yourselves will avail you nothing; it is in our power to obliterate your vessel.
"I think they're saying 'resistance is useless'", Raven commented drily. And indeed, the crew could only sit back helplessly as the T-Ship was dragged into the light.
Aboard the alien vessel, they encountered the Solaurians in person. All the Titans instinctively covered their faces with their hands as their captors approached, and Starfire let out a gasp of mingled wonder and fright. The Solaurians were difficult to look at directly; it could be discerned that they were humanoid, winged, and taller by a head than Cyborg, but they seemed to be made, not of flesh, but of semi-solid light: their forms flickered like patterns of noonday sunshine cast through branches in a high breeze. No facial features could be seen behind the radiance that the aliens emitted.
You will accompany us to the Dominion.
Shepherded by the aliens, they proceeded through corridors that inclined perpetually upwards.
"We'll play along with them for the moment," Robin whispered to the team as they walked. "We need to get an idea of their weaknesses before we fight back."
"The energy readings in here are immense," Cyborg whispered back urgently, looking at the display in his forearm. "I mean the ones coming from them. The ship itself is off the scale. It's like being inside a main-sequence star."
"Harmful radiation?"
"I don't know. I don't think so."
They emerged onto what Cyborg assumed was the bridge: a circular room awash with light that swelled like water round an ocean cove in summertime. It was hierarchical in structure, with three tiers, two inset with what looked like choir stalls of a substance like white marble, which thronged with the aliens' shining forms. Surmounting them was a dais occupied by a large, empty throne; beside it was a smaller throne in which sat a winged shape that blazed more brightly than the others. Shielding their eyes, the Titans lined up before it. The alien rose from its throne, unfurling its wings so that they stretched across the bridge's whole span.
I am the Dominion of this Hostvessel. These – with a sweep of its arm it indicated the rest of the Solaurian host – are the Virtues and Powers which serve me. We have journeyed to this region from the Most Beloved Star, seeking the sungold that was taken from our kingdom.
"I don't understand," said Robin, his voice taut with supressed anger. "Why have you waylaid us? We're no threat to you!"
In the deepest chambers of our world, at the holy time of each solar year, the influence of the Most Beloved Star causes veins of sungold to crystallize. It is the rarest, most precious, and most powerful treasure in all Creation. Without it, the Solaurian Host would fail. But our kingdom has been invaded, and the harvest of this sun-time is lost: a dark enemy has entered unseen and carried it away through space.
"What does this have to do with us?"
The guilt for the sin lies upon your people. The dark enemy came from Earth.
"We don't know anything about it," said Robin firmly, "and we don't accept any guilt. If someone from Earth stole something that was rightfully yours, we'll help you to recover it: we're the Teen Titans, that's what we do. But it will be on equal terms."
The Dominion fluctuated inscrutably.
Be warned: at present this vessel's name is Restitution. But if the sungold is not recovered, its name will change to Vengeance.
# # # #
"… So they kicked us out again, damaged ship and all, gave us these detectors, and pointed us in this direction; we kinda understood that this was where we would find what we're looking for. I patched up the engine control and we made it down. But we've been sent in blind; there's nothing on this planet in any of my databanks, and the Solaurians didn't tell us anything – not even its name. For all we know it could be a wild goose chase: the sungold might not even be hidden here."
"This planet is named Cyprius. There are many things hidden here, and also many things to be found."
"I can believe that."
"That is well."
"Like you, for instance." He paused. She inclined her head slightly as though encouraging him to continue. "Why are you hiding your face behind that veil? Have we met before?"
"We have not met before."
"So are you… y'know… ashamed of how you look? Do you think I'd find the sight of you disturbing?"
"No, that is not the reason."
"I didn't mean to be rude by asking. It's just: if it was that… I would understand, okay?"
"You have been ashamed of your appearance in the past. You have feared others would find it disturbing."
"Yeah."
"What do you desire, Cyborg? If someone could give you your heart's desire, what would it be?"
Cyborg was thrown by the sudden new direction the conversation was taking, and said nothing.
"Would it, for instance, be the return of your flesh and blood?"
"No," said Cyborg without hesitation. "I accepted the way I am a long time ago. I wouldn't change it now."
"A woman, then? One of the women you came here with?"
"No," said Cyborg, laughing.
"No," agreed the veiled woman. "I thought not. For I perceive you are not a carnal man. Oh, you desire petty things: there are many small things you take pleasure in. But what do you desire in your soul?"
"Are you sure I have one?" parried Cyborg, still smiling. "I can measure everything that goes on in here with pinpoint accuracy, from my power levels all the way up to my sense of fun – but I've never seen any readings for a soul."
"Everything that lives has soul."
"Miles, Aretha, they've got soul. But me? I'm not so sure," Cyborg replied, not unkindly.
"There are many kinds of souls, and I know you possess one of them," said the woman. "But I must confess that the soul of a cyborg is not familiar to me. I do not know that you will find anything here in Cyprius."
"Well, the first thing I have to find is the rest of my team," said Cyborg, "and I really ought to be getting back to that." He rose to leave.
"Cyborg." His hostess' voice stopped him. "Beware. A dark evil has come into this planet from outside. Your friends are safe tonight, as I said. But they will not be safe hereafter. The dark evil will find them out – if they do not find it first."
"Thanks for the warning," he said. She inclined her head in response.
Cyborg left the chamber, and strode through the gates without a backward glance – somehow knowing that if he turned to look, he would see nothing there.
