The Trinity Sitch - Book 3: Blade of the Fury
Chapter 14: What is Hidden Within
The Trinity rested on her landing struts atop a grassy hill under a crystal blue sky. A light breeze carried with it the pleasing scents of an unspoiled world slowly passing from spring to summer. The sun brought with it a pleasing warmth, cooled perfectly by the gentle movement of the air. The clearing they landed in was surrounded on all sides by a dense forest made up of dark green trees that looked almost familiar. They swayed slightly and the leaves rustled as they were touched by the wind.
Ron pulled his sweater off, tying it around his waist. He walked down the hill to the first feature that drew his attention. There was a kind of stone marker set at the beginning of a narrow dirt road that led into the woods. It was about six feet tall and triangular in shape. The broad face of the triangle had three smaller, joined triangles making up the face, each bearing a sunburst emblem. Somehow the whole thing seemed very familiar though the memory, if he truly ever had it, would not come back to him. Each of the triangles were ringed with writing of some kind. The characters also had a fleetingly familiar look to them.
His eyes finally came to rest on the carved relief in the center of the obelisk. This time recognition came like a lighting bolt, causing him to back up a few paces without even realizing it. Memories of the towering dark figure came back to him, the sword rising in the air, ready to strike. The hideous masked face with its demonic smile dominated the center of the carved stone. Just the sight of it caused terror to well up within him.
Had the Trinity brought them to him?
"You are going to die." The cackling voice made Ron just about jump out of his skin.
He spun around to confront the speaker. Standing before him was a woman. No, she was more of a crone, once so ancient she might have been made out of the stone herself. If she were able to fully straighten she would stand about five feet tall. Her hair was pure white but hung inringlets to her shoulders. Her leathery hands rested on a gnarled stick she held like a cane. Her eyes had turned milky white and she was obviously blind, though she fixed him with a gaze that said she could 'see' him quite well without them.
"What?"
"I said you are going to die." She started pacing around him. She spoke like she was stating something so obvious it shouldn't even need to be uttered.
Ron wanted desperately to run, fleeing back to the relative safety of the starship. It was as if his mind was unable to make his feet do what he so strongly wished they could do. He gulped, his panic rising. "Why are you threatening me? Are you some kind of witch of something?" He regretted asking that the moment it left his lips, making him cower in fear since something had happened to his lower extremities.
"Witch?" She actually laughed, a sound that was at once frightening but somehow strangely soothing. It was like a faint, clear musical note from an old instrument. "Well then. I suppose those who call me the 'Death Crone' might think so, but I am not! So, little one, you think great age makes a woman into a witch?"
"Uh, no, not really..." He managed to squeak out, shamed by the question. It was just, well, she looked just like every witch he had ever seen. Well, every fictional witch! "…but you said you were going to kill me!"
"Oh I did? Bah! Open those young ears up, whelp. I said you were going to die. I didn't say I was doing the killing!"
"Then who?"
She raised her cane and tapped the carved mask three times. "That is going to be the end of you if you don't heed my warning."
"What warning, you just up and said I was going to die!" his voice was edging from fear to panic.
"I'm warning you right now, boy! Come to this place and both of you will die!" She croaked at him, nearly poking him in the chest with her stick.
Come to this place? Huh?
"Wait a minute! What good is a warning if we're already here?"
The crone looked up at the heavens. "Is he always this dense?" she asked of the skies.
Ron just looked at her as if she had lobsters crawling out of her ears.
"You're not here, boy. Your, uh, boat, ship, whatever that thing is, it isn't here either. Here isn't here, but her is where you'll be if you don't do something about it…and you'll be dead, as well as that pretty little ember there in bed with you!"
In bed? He was still in bed?
Was this a dream?
"O…Kay, so let's assume that I'm dreaming but you're really real and all and this isn't just another reason not to eat microwave burritos that your girlfriend heated up for you but somehow turned them into toxic sludge…"
"Boy, do you always ramble like that?"
"…uh, sorry. Anyway, how do I know you're not just trying to play us?"
"Hah! So you would trust me less than the Podondrin?" She spat the name out as if it were poison upon her tongue.
"I don't even know what a 'po goblin' is!"
"Podondrin. It means, roughly speaking, Master in my tongue." She banged her cane on the carved mask again for effect.
"You mean the big, creepy tall guy all in black is your master?"
"No, boy. The Master! Podondrin, dark lord of Arkonia, keeper of the Triune Spirit. He has lived for more than eight hundred of your years, enslaving this world under his harsh rule. That," she banged the mask again, "is the Master."
"Then why am I having dreams of him waving around a sword that everyone seems to be trying to get their hands on?"
Her blind eyes locked with his healthy brown ones. "What do you mean about him and the Sword? The Podondrin only wishes he could get his hands on it!" She pointed her cane at the starship resting upon the hill, the starship that, supposedly, wasn't really there. "The Sword is on that ship right now! Didn't that fool Oray tell you anything? Never mind, just do what it takes so you don't come to this place!"
There was a sudden change in the wind, making her turn her head towards where the trail disappeared into the forest. The sky turned iron gray as storm clouds spread across it. "Now you've done it!" She screamed.
Then she just wasn't there.
A disk of silvery light opened where the road met the woods. A dark figure stepped out of it, followed by hundreds of what must have been soldiers. It wasn't the mass of heavily armed troops that struck terror in Ron's heart.
It was him! The creature the hag had called The Podondrin. He had a sword raised over his head. Ron noticed with a strange feeling of detachment that this time it was a black sword of another type instead of the katana-like sword he had seen in the previous dream. The sword was wreathed in a brilliant glow that was nearly white close to the blade, fading to a rich purple as it dissipated into the air. He pointed it past Ron, the white/purple fire lancing forth from it.
On the top of the grassy hill, the Trinity exploded in a mass of boiling fire and shredding metal.
Ron screamed.
He sat bolt upright in almost total darkness.
"Ron?" Kim asked, jerked awake by his sudden cry. "Computer, lights, low" she said, bringing the lights on just enough to see by without hurting their eyes.
Ron sat there, panting like he had just run a marathon. Cold sweat was pouring off his body.
"Ronnie? Was that one of the dreams you were telling Mom about?" Kim was holding the sheet in front of her, bringing back blissful memories of the night before. She had gotten past her sudden emotional breakdown very quickly. Way past.
"I…I don't know. Man, I hate it when that happens. It always makes me think there's something I'm supposed to remember, like there's something important there."
"Shhhhh. Bad dreams are just bad dreams. They can't hurt us." She ran a hand down his back then put it on his shoulder, gently pushing him down toward the pillow. She put an arm across his chest, snuggling her chin onto his shoulder. Her leg wrapped up over his. In moments she was whispering in his ear. "As long as we're both awake…"
His eyes were already closed and he had half drifted back to sleep as his heart slowed. Something he'd never once considered in his life suddenly came to mind. Is there really such a thing as too much of a good thing? "KP, I think I need some R & R. Ya know, recharge the old batteries."
"Aw, I want Ronnie to come out and play!" she half growled, half purred at him.
"I think Ronnie has played out for one night." He said, slipping an arm around her waist anyway.
"Oh, I think I can convince him. After all, I can do anything!"
Ron couldn't help himself. He made a horrible noise with his nose, then sat up because he was giggling so hard.
"What?" she asked, more than a little peeved.
"I…" he managed to get out between gulps of air, "…just never quite expected to hear that statement in that context. It's just…wrong."
Uh oh.
"You think that's funny? I try to express my love for you and it's amusing?" her hands were on her hips, the sheets completely forgotten.
"When you said it like that it was!" he said, rolling away from a sudden pounce. He wasn't sure what she intended, so better safe than sorry. Unfortunately, despite the fact the bed was about two feet wider than the largest bed they had ever been in, he was close enough to the edge and fell off the bed.
He caught the look in her eyes and knew he wasn't getting back in any time soon. So, like any man who found himself up in the middle of the night, he went to the bathroom.
Kim watched him go, the momentary flare of anger dissipating as she watched his dimly lit form go. In all the time they had been together, he had been extremely modest. With the exception of accidental glimpses, she had only ever seen him in his boxers. Now, watching his bare backside she realized just what she had been missing. This time the desire, the hunger she had felt good.
Logically, she knew she was on an emotional rollercoaster. At the moment, she was at the peak. Early the night before she hadn't been at the peak. She wasn't even at the bottom of the hill, it was like her car hadn't even left the station. The intensity of her emotions frightened her a little bit. That, however, was pushed aside for the intensity of what she was now feeling for Ron. Once she had gotten past her crisis, it was like a floodgate had opened. Was she just trying to make up for sixteen years of tension? (well, maybe seven or eight, taking puberty into account!)
She closed her eyes and smiled, curling up with one of the many pillows. It felt, finally, like her soul had been set free! So strange that giving it freely to another could do that! Ron's soft voice made her open her eyes just as the lights dimmed once more. He slipped into the bed and reached for her.
Freedom! she thought!
Most people think, when space travel is mentioned, that it is like the opening credits of those ubiquitous science fiction shows, where the starships whoosh by brilliantly colored planets, sparkling orbital rings and through wispy nebula.
On the third day of their unintentional Space Passage, Ron had firmly decided that the whole thing was mind-numbingly boring! They weren't passing close enough to anything to create more than just a momentary flash of light. Even the 'stars' they could see going by in hyperspace weren't really planetary bodies, just strange sparks of energy as the tiny bubble of normal space created around the starship interacted with whatever existed in that realm.
Despite being a luxury yacht there didn't seem to be that much to do! It was like being confined in a very comfortable house in a snowstorm with the television out. Whoever furnished the ship seemed to have a lot of sitting around in mind. The comfortable seats in the forward observation lounge, the massively plush sofas in the main parlor. Even the seats on the bridge were rather nice. There just seemed like there should be something more.
Granted, if the master bedroom was any indication, the original owner might have had something specific in mind!
No, something told him that wasn't the case. The ship had a sort of elegance that told him it wasn't just some kind of interstellar single's pad. Something about the décor hinted at a woman's touch. It wasn't that anything was outright feminine, it just seemed…well thought out.
Still it seemed empty.
Maybe it was the fact everything seemed brand new. Maybe the ship had just been built and was being delivered to some ultra-rich family who had not yet had the chance to make it look 'lived in.' That made the most sense to him, especially since there were no smaller decorations or personal effects strewn about. There were book shelves in most of the rooms with absolutely nothing on them. There were no small pictures hanging on the walls. Nothing whatsoever to indicate who might have owned the ship.
Ron quickly tired of the forward lounge. It was one thing to sit up there when they were in orbit, quite another to just watch the star-like quarks sliding by them. The bridge was no better since the computer, in its current state, was pretty much a pill to try and talk to.
He spent most of the morning (they had agreed to live by Middleton time, at least as long as they were on the ship) having a long, quite frank discussion with Kim. He was concerned she was going overboard with…things. He was afraid he would upset her again but she wasn't this time. She held his hand and they talked for a couple hours. In fact, in the light of day, his wanting to talk was actually the best thing to do. They ended up sharing a long, tender kiss before getting up, morning breath notwithstanding (I guess love does conquer all!)
As Ron headed for the stateroom to make them breakfast, Kim cleared her throat, stopping him.
"We are not going to run around this ship in our all-together." She said flat out, propped up on one elbow and arching her eyebrow at him.
"I'm wearing my boxers." He said.
"Clothes, Ron. We're not going to run around on this ship like a couple of savages on spring break!"
"Aw, man, this is comfortable!"
"Not for me! Plus you're taking a shower. We're going to behave like civilized human beings, even if we're light years away from anybody else."
"Don't we have to conserve water or something? What if we run out?"
"Wade told me the ship recycles everything. Since it's an enclosed system we don't lose anything and it uses some kind of laser technology to purify the water, so everything that goes down the drain gets cleaned up and back into the tanks. The only thing we have to worry about is running out of soap, but that's not an issue yet so march, mister!"
It wasn't too bad, since she was only a step behind him!
Kim sat in the pilot's seat on the bridge. Strange, she thought, that she felt the most comfortable sitting there in a place of control, even though she had no control over the situation. Instead, she occupied her mind with thoughts about Ron. She wasn't focusing on any one thing in particular, she just randomly brought up memories of the two of them together, memories of all the good things he had done for her. She even recalled some of the things that actually made her angry, like the time he had written an article in the school paper that made everyone think Brick Flagg was her boyfriend.
That boy could be utterly clueless sometimes.
She was also thinking about the future, about little babies with red or blonde hair. Maybe there might even be some with light brown hair like her father had! Maybe even a little girl who looks just like cousin Joss. Then again, there could be girls who took after Ron.
The very thought of Ron as a woman, his face on a curvy body, the wild yellow hair grown longer, curling over his/her shoulders, caused her to make the same rude noise Ron had last night before bursting into real laughter. Ron had enough trouble with her clothes the time they switched minds (interestingly Kim had blocked out certain difficulties she had in his body!) The bra incident alone was now worthy of its own laughs.
Wait a minute! Suddenly he's a master of getting one off?
Still laughing to herself, her mind went back to the thought of babies.
Oh my!
It's Friday!
This was the day, the day that every four weeks, without fail, she would pick up something from her pharmacist. She would start a new course on Sunday, as the instructions indicated she should. Out here, without them…
No! This isn't fair. To him or to me! Alone, in the most perfectly private setting imaginable!
And we only have tonight!
Any more would just be too dangerous!
Somewhere near the rear of the ship was a tiny room that Ron had not noticed before. The walls were mostly unfinished, with all sorts of conduits running in every direction. A single high-backed chair was mounted on an arm, surrounded on all sides by an assortment of computer monitors.
It looked for all the world like Wade's room at home – at least from the angle they always saw on their Kimmunicators.
The seat swayed slightly, then the mechanism compensated for his weight. He pulled himself up to the main console and scanned the controls. Kim's warning not to touch anything floated back to him. Well, he wouldn't touch anything that he didn't know what it was, that didn't mean he couldn't say anything.
"Uh, computer, what have you got that's fun?"
Insufficient parameters – would you like a library listing?
Library? He had forgotten the ship had a massive entertainment library. Rubbing his hands together he took a stab "Computer, start game Zombie Mayhem V!" (yes, he actually said "Vee" not "five!")
Instantly the main screen displayed the opening credits of the game. "Booyah! Time for Rondo to come out and play!" He would be at the very beginning of the game, but he knew all the tricks for getting past those almost boring first levels quickly! Instructions scrolled by at the bottom of the screen how the console controls would emulate his usual game controller.
While he waited for the opening cut scenes to play (at home, he had Wade tweak his copy so he could bypass all of this!) he glanced around at the other monitors. Most were dedicated to some operational aspect of the ship. One, however, was mostly blank.
Except for one word.
Ron?
He looked at the screen. It was a smaller one and it hadn't been labeled with any specific function. He guessed Kim was trying to find out where he was and had typed it into the computer.
"I'm right here Kim. Back of the ship. I think it's an engineering center."
I'm not Kim…
"O..kay. Nice one Kim, way to creep me out."
I'm not Kim…I am Trinity.
"Yeah, right. You're the nasty computer who's kidnapping us to some planet nobody's ever been to. Talk to the hand, 'lectro-brain!" He held his hand up, palm out to the screen (which always looks funny on the other end since the pickup is usually above the monitor.)
I am the real Trinity. The AI controlling this ship was planted here. Listen to me, you are in danger.
Danger! Something about a warning flitted across his mind, a half-memory that would not completely form into a thought.
Look, Ron, I know Wade isn't here. He would know in a heartbeat what was wrong with me. I have been shunted off into a sub-system since the invader couldn't delete me completely.
"So, you're the girl computer Wade is always talking too?" Ron was still having a hard time grasping that he was talking to a machine.
Yes, I have been programmed with a female personality. Listen, I have seen the instructions given to the invading system. It is supposed to deliver you and Kim to the planet Arkonia. That's the planet at the coordinates the computer showed you. It withheld the name deliberately.
Do not come here!
The dream came back to him in a rush! The 'Death Crone,' the marching army.
Podondrin!
"Okay, Trinity, what do I have to do?"
Behind the main console is a small access hatch. It leads into a small tunnel. Inside, you will find the main trunk line that runs from this control nexus to the main computer core. There is a device spliced into that trunk that controls the invader AI. It must be removed if I am to take control of myself.
"Okay, I'm going to get Kim. She's better at stuff like this!"
Hurry! The computer lied to you. We will be at Arkonia within three hours!
He ran into Kim coming down the passageway, looking for him.
"Ron, I need to tell you something, something important."
"No time, KP. We've got to stop this ship!"
"Ron, if we don't let it complete whatever mission it's on, we'll never have the chance to turn the ship back home. We're locked out."
"Come with me." He led her back to the control center and had Trinity explain it to her all over again.
"KP, it was the dream, that nightmare I had last night. Somebody sent that dream to me as a warning. The ship really did kidnap us, but it wasn't Drakken or anybody we know, it was somebody else."
The ship locked onto the signal from the tracking chips embedded in your bodies. Trinity said.
Kim rolled up her sleeves and crawled under the console. Indeed, there was a tiny access hatch there. It was a good think Ron had gotten her because even his slight frame would have trouble shimmying into it. She crawled along the narrow tunnels, pulling herself up the curving shaft by the bundled cables controlling the ship.
Something poked her shoulder, causing her to wince in pain. Concerned she would tip the main computer off by asking for light, she simply reached up and grabbed whatever it was blocking the tube. It was just over three feet long, wrapped in some kind of rags. It pulled free and she let it drop back to the entrance.
"Catch, KP" Ron said as he tossed something to her. Her hand closed on something small and roughly cylindrical. It was Ron's mini-flashlight.
She played the beam over the trunked wires. About five feet above her she saw what the Trinity had described. It was almost laughable, how simple it looked. Just a silver rectangle with a tiny screen and two ports. The main trunk had been connected through those ports. She grabbed both ends and pulled, separating the device from the wire. Nothing seemed to happen, so she reconnected the wires and let the box fall to the bottom of the shaft. Carefully she shimmied down, reminding Ron to move the bundle she had tossed down earlier.
Kim crawled out backwards to a soothing voice welcoming her.
"Thank you, Kim Possible. Shortly I should be in complete control of myself once more." There was a pause, then she continued. "I regret that I am still locked out of the navigational computer. The program must complete itself. This should not be a problem since the instructions will only place us in orbit. From there I should be able to plot a return course to take you back to Earth."
"Please and thank you." Kim said with obvious relief. She turned suddenly when she heard Ron gasp.
He was holding what looked like an old white bed sheet in one hand. It had been used to wrap whatever it was had jabbed Kim as she climbed up.
In his other hand was a glittering, curved sword!