Lunar: Black Star Rising
By Thomas Knapp
Chapter Two
Jean struck a defensive fighting pose as she saw the faint outline of movement from within the object's dark interior. Then in an instant, there was a blur of movement, and the being rolled to it's feet, pointing some strange device at her.
"Freeze." The being hissed, and Jean braced herself for a sudden blast of magic.
When no magic came, Jean took the time to analyze just what was going on, and the first thing that struck her was the person wielding the bizarre device in front of her. It was HUMAN. His hair had been cut very short, and he wore what had to have been a bulky, black outfit that made him appear a lot bigger than he probably really was. His green eyes, enhanced by his eerily pale skin, reflected tension, as if he was ready to attack at a moment's notice.
Jean let herself relax slightly, but maintained an alert state, "What was that supposed to be… some sort of spell?" She asked.
She watched as the man's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, "What in the old religion are you talking about?"
Now it was Jean's turn to be confounded. She had no idea what this 'old religion' was, but it was obvious that he had no idea what she had just accused him of. "You said, 'Freeze'. I figured that it was some sort of trigger word for a magic spell."
"I meant 'Freeze' as in don't move, something you are failing to do. I'd probably just stand still, my friends say I have a slightly itchy trigger finger…" Before Jean could ask what a 'trigger finger' was, he spoke again, "Did you just say, 'magic'? Where on the hallowed fields of Arcadia did you get that?"
Jean began to open her mouth to ask where he meant by 'Arcadia', but the man in question once again interrupted her. "Never mind that now. I have two others inside here, and they need immediate medical attention. Where is the nearest hospital?"
Hospital… another foreign word. Jean was trying to piece together what she could from the words she COULD understand, which weren't that many. "What do you mean? I can't understand you!"
"You can't understand me? My men in there are hurt, and they need medical assistance ASAP."
"Medical… you mean like a healer?" Jean queried.
"Sure… whatever!" The man replied, exasperated.
With a frustrated sigh, Jean pointed the way back to her camp, and said, "Follow me, I'll take you to our healer. Do you need help?"
The man had disappeared into the strange object again, and Jean just didn't have the immediate courage to follow. He then emerged outside again, and sighed, "No… I don't need a damn thing… they're gone."
"You mean… they died?" Jean asked.
"No, I mean they got up and walked away." The man snapped, and fortunately sarcasm was one thing she COULD understand. "Listen, maybe you can still help me… did you see any other objects in the sky earlier?"
"No… I haven't… why?"
"Because that other object you should have seen was my ticket OFF this pebble. I don't get it… there's no way that the shuttle burned up in the atmosphere, could I have been ejected that far…? Did it even land in one piece?"
"Are you talking to me?" Jean asked. "I can't understand a lot of what you are saying…"
"I'm amazed you can understand me at all…" Was his only reply, "Anyway, perhaps you can show me this healer of yours. I just had quite a trip."
"What about your friends?"
"First of all… they weren't my friends, they were mission co-members. Secondly, I can always take care of them later."
In the wilderness outside Gwyn's home…
Day had broken into full swing by the time Lemina and Gwyn had found their first evidence of the object that had ripped through the sky hours before. Whatever it was had ripped a long swath through the forest, leaving charred grass and blackened trees in its path.
"Ruby?" Gwyn accused, "Are you pulling pranks again?"
"Nuh uh." Ruby replied from her perch on Lemina's shoulder, "I was just as shocked as you were. This sort of thing isn't my style anyway!"
Finally, they came across where the object must have touched ground, for a long and wide trough was plowed through the earth, extending for another kilometer before they finally saw a large black object halfway buried into the ground.
As they got closer, it became obvious that this strange… thing… was not from anywhere Lemina had seen. She picked up a small black piece of metal that had been ripped from the object proper, and examined it… despite being so dark in color, it was quite reflective, and Lemina nearly blinded herself when it caught the morning sun.
The object itself was a catastrophic mess. Giant holes had been torn out of the object's shell, and Lemina could see faint outlines of metallic devices inside. Gwyn whistled as he examined the rear portion of the strange craft, where five large metallic cones still glowed red from heat.
Lemina worked her way to the front, and noticed that just above the ground line was a seam, and material that didn't appear to be the same as the rest of the craft, as she brushed the soot and debris away, she noticed it was transparent. Pushing away more dirt, Lemina nearly jumped in alarm, and she shouted out to Gwyn, "Hey, Gwyn! There's something, or someone IN THERE!"
Moments Later, Gwyn's house…
Fortunately Ruby offered to fly Lemina, Gwyn, and their strange visitor back to the observation tower, because just dragging the large being into the house proper was absolutely tiring for a young woman and an old man.
Once they had settled the stranger, and Gwyn went to get something for the pair to eat, Lemina took a closer look at it. It appeared that whatever the outside appearance was, it was nothing more than some sort of shell or clothing, albeit a lot bulkier than what would be normal. Whatever it was, it was humanoid, with some form of black helmet, and a black visor similar to the material found in the craft that had crashed.
Peering closer, Lemina noticed that there was a junction between the helmet and the rest of the suit proper at the neck. It took a few moments to figure out how the clasps operated, but there was a hiss of air as the connections came free. Licking her lips in anticipation, she pulled the helmet off… and shouted in alarm.
"Gwyn! This is a MAN!" Lemina yelled, and Gwyn, his hunger forgotten, rushed back to the sofa where they had deposited the visitor.
"By Althena…" Gwyn pressed his ear close to the man's mouth, and then gasped… "He's alive! He looks pretty beat up, but he's still alive!" Gwyn then pushed Lemina aside, and began working his magic with some of the healing Litanies he knew. Meanwhile Lemina and Ruby peered over Gwyn's shoulder, trying to comprehend this most recent development…
'Who is this, and where did he come from?' Lemina's mind raced. 'What was that thing he was in, and how did it get here? He's so… pale. I wonder why that is…"
Finally, Gwyn pulled away, and said, "These injuries are beyond my meager healing skills. Ruby, I need you to do me a BIG favor. I need you to go to Larpa, and find Ronfar, and then bring him back as fast as you can. Do you understand?"
"Sure thing!" Ruby said dutifully, "I'll be back in two shakes of a dragon's tail!" With that, the Red Dragon zipped out the window, and was flying at full speed towards the village of Larpa.
"I have stabilized our visitor for the moment, but if he is to fully recover, he will need the help of a much more skilled healer, and Ronfar is the only one near here that I can think of." Gwyn explained.
Lemina nodded, and said, "What was that we all saw, Gwyn? I mean, how could ANYONE have survived something like that?"
"I could not even BEGIN to fathom what all of this means. That is a question that I think only he…" Gwyn motioned to the prone black suited man, "could answer. And he won't be answering anything for a while."
Lemina turned to the window that Ruby had bolted out of moments before, and muttered, "Ronfar… for once don't have your hand in your pants, and get here fast…"
Meanwhile at the Gypsy Camp…
He sniffed at the bowl of food placed in front of him, uncertain as to just what was in it. At the same time, he mind raced with what had just transpired over the last few hours.
"These people don't appear to be that advanced, but how did they get here? And why can they understand me? For the most part, anyway…"
This was one of the few times that he missed his brother. No doubt his younger sibling would have the answers he was looking for. But the damn fool in question decided he was going to try and play hero…
"Taras?" A voice asked sweetly, "What's the matter, aren't you hungry?"
He looked up at the source of the voice, and replied, "I have a lot on my mind, Jean, like how I'm going to get back home to tell anyone what happened."
"Well… I'm sure we'll think of something. I've been trying to get in contact with Lemina at Vane, but it turns out she left last night on an errand, and hasn't returned. If anybody would know anything about your dilemma, she would."
"I doubt that…" Taras muttered under his breath, then spoke louder addressing Jean, "Who is this Lemina you speak of?"
Jean smiled, as if remembering a personal memory of hers, "Lemina is an old friend, and probably the most learned scholar on Lunar."
"Well, no offense, but I highly doubt that ANYONE here on the Gray Moon, I mean, Lunar, can help me. The only chance that I have is that the shuttle we arrived in managed to survive enough that I can at least contact Mission Control."
Jean took a moment to process all that Taras had just said. He had tried to explain who he was, and where he came from, but much of it went above what she could comprehend. However, the important facts she WAS able to gather, that he had come from another moon of the Blue Star, mostly invisible to Lunar.
'The only thing he hasn't explained is WHY he came here.' Jean thought, "Perhaps he doesn't know. He himself acknowledged that he was just a soldier, serving as a bodyguard."
"So… do you know where this…" She paused a moment to think about the unusual word she was about to use, "spacecraft could have possibly crashed?"
He sighed, and replied, "My brother probably could have gone through multiple calculations of vector physics and atmospheric drag, and been able to pinpoint to the smallest angstrom where the shuttle would have came down. I, however, don't possess that sort of knowledge."
"Well, we can't just sit here doing nothing." Jean stated, "I'll keep trying to get a hold of Lemina, while YOU can clean yourself up. I'm not trying to sound mean, but you look terrible."
"You survive stabilizer failure and emergency atmospheric entry, and see how YOU look afterwards." Taras mused as he wound his way to the small bathhouse the gypsies had constructed.
"Yeah… whatever you said…" Jean laughed softly, and once the pale visitor had disappeared into the bathhouse tent, she smiled. 'He's awfully confused and bewildered, and a little pessimistic, but how would I be if I was stranded alone on a world that I had never seen before?'
Finally, Jean turned around, and strode back to the center of camp. Hopefully she'd finally contact Lemina SOMETIME this year…
Gwyn's Tower
"Where did you find him again?" Ronfar asked, trying to gain as much information as he could from the pair behind him.
However, it did not appear that Lemina or Gwyn was particularly forthcoming on that regard. "We aren't fully sure ourselves, that's partially why we need you to heal him!"
"All right, ALL RIGHT!" Ronfar exclaimed, "Just back off, and let me get down to business." Focusing onto his target, Ronfar began the healing process…
