Episode 29: Restorer of Paths

Derek led a recon group across the dunes, past the shell of the mecha they'd downed only hours ago. He'd considered taking a few hours to sleep, but with Argo so badly damaged, and the Gatlanteans prowling just outside the planet's atmosphere, it seemed more dangerous to wait than to forego a little rest. He had stims stowed in a pocket just in case, though Sane had heavily disapproved when he'd asked for them.

They passed destroyed tanks and a few dead Gatlanteans. The men's faces were lifeless, ashy green, and their dark eyes stared unseeing, but every time Derek stepped over one, he half-expected it to attack him.

Behind Derek followed Venture, Royster, and Nagakura. Sandor had wanted to come, but Derek convinced him to stay. With the ship so badly damaged, he needed the XO overseeing repairs. That, and having Deun in the brig still made Derek nervous. The man had hidden from ship-wide security for days on end. If he really wanted to get out of the brig, he suspected Deun would find a way. With Sandor aboard, at least he'd have someone to match wits and strength with.

Knox had wanted to accompany them too, but Nagakura persuaded him to remain onboard and keep watch over their wounded. He'd also committed to continuing brig watch rotation along with the other unwounded members of his squad.

Venture's attention sometimes strayed to the carnage around them, but he mostly kept eyes on his comm, looking for traces of communication signals like the one he'd dug out of the comm logs aboard Argo. Alori had wanted to come with Mark, but having two of their three navigators off-ship was unwise, so Alori had stayed to help Vasquez and the rest of the navigation corps.

Sand blew past them as a light breeze swept over the barren terrain. Even with the mountain bordering them on one side, this place felt empty, and much too quiet.

Derek shielded his face and concentrated on breathing through his nose so he wouldn't end up with a mouthful of grit. He was glad to have so many veteran officers in his crew. IQ-9 was proving incredibly helpful too, especially down in the engine room, where he could easily find bad wiring or malfunctioning parts. Orion had already reported how much the engineering team had gotten done just in the past hour.

"Should be coming up on that door any second," said Mark.

From behind Mark, Royster nodded and gripped his comm as if it would leap from his hands and tear off through the desert. "Th-that door's way too thick f-for a reading to g-get through." He always stuttered when he was especially anxious. At least he wasn't spouting doom-filled predictions this time. Not yet anyway.

Everyone, Derek included, wore a portable dark matter shield. The silver disks affixed to the base of their necks. Royster kept scratching his, and Derek was confident all of them would lose a few layers of skin when Sandor peeled off the itchy adhesive.

As early afternoon sank toward evening, the heat compelled them to stop twice for water. Though the persistently dense cloud cover hid the sun, it also kept heat from escaping. Their only mercy was the low humidity.

"This place is creepy." With a screech, Royster leaped away from a dead Gatlantean.

"Well, we're not here for a vacation," Mark snapped.

"Calm down," Derek said as they rounded the mountain and found the abandoned Gatlantean camp. They'd left in a hurry. Excavation equipment, vehicles, tents, and supplies littered the campsite. A half-finished meal lay atop an equipment crate, and spare boots had been tipped over into the sand.

Portable lights pointed at an entrance carved into the mountainside, but whatever had powered them was either disabled or had run out of energy, leaving the carved-out entrance in shadow. The door Sandor had told them about blocked the path inside the mountain. According to Sandor, the door was made of a titanium alloy that even blasts from their laser rifles wouldn't score.

After a sweep of the camp to make sure no one was still there, Derek approached the door, and the recon team followed.

The door was so tall three of them could have stood on each other's shoulders and still not touched the top of it. A diamond-shaped panel, outlined in a menacing red glow, was mounted beside the door. When Derek edged a hand near the panel, a symbol flashed on the small screen, accompanied by a stern message he took to mean they weren't allowed entry.

"We're gonna get blown to pieces," Royster chattered from behind Derek and Mark. "There's b-bound to be security measures in a place like this. If we s-stick around too long, we'll trip them." He adjusted slipping glasses.

"I hate to agree with Royster, but this time, I think he's right," Mark said. "The Gatlanteans might have left, but if they were intent on guarding whatever's inside this mountain, they'd wouldn't have cleared out completely."

They were right. "We'll stay out of sight for now." Derek led the group back to the abandoned tents.

Inside the largest tent, Derek scanned a sealed supply crate before taking a seat atop it. Royster paced, Mark scrolled through data on his comm, and Nagakura posted herself near the door.

An evening breeze stirred over the dunes and threw sand, which scraped off the outside of the tent.

"This place is so… dead," Derek said. "Nothing's out here."

Mark circled the tent's interior, comm held at various angles. "We can't say that for sure, Wildstar. Sensors can't get through all that rock. I'm going to need to find someplace else to try this."

"All right. See if you can get a better signal outside. I'll stay here with Royster—see if we can find a way through that door."

"I'll go with Venture." Nagakura shifted her grip on her rifle and waited at the door for Mark.

Mark's infrequent glances at Derek said he was still uneasy around him. Ever since Derek told Mark about his new Faith and handed down his and Alori's punishment for surveilling Deun without Derek's knowledge, Venture had been irritable, stand-offish. Derek hoped they'd be able to mend the rift between them, but for now, it might be best they part ways, for the sake of the mission. If only he could assure his friend he didn't want this to create a permanent barrier between them.

Once Mark and Nagakura were out of camp, Derek took the spot Nagakura had occupied by the door. "Any ideas, Royster?"

The other man had his back to the ominous door. "Wave gun would get through it, b-but it'd take the whole mountain and a chunk of the p-planet with it." Both Royster's hands shook so badly he couldn't hold his comm steady.

A spot of red flashed above the ominous door, and Derek understood Royster's unease. The eerie silence that enveloped them wasn't helping.

To fill the empty air, Derek swept a boot through the sand and discovered hard-packed dirt beneath. It was dry and cracked, much like Earth had looked after Gamilon planet bombs ravaged the surface. Something horrible had happened here, a catastrophe so immense it had left this world dead.

He covered the violated ground before Royster saw it. Regardless of this place's history, they needed answers. Answers to the crew's visions—the mystery message—the Gatlantean attacks on Earth—their odd behavior here. If that meant they had to walk through a place that felt far too much like a graveyard to get those answers, Derek was willing to do it.

Mark walked alongside Shiori as they trekked away from the abandoned Gatlantean camp. The air in this place was clear, but the cloud cover seemed to add weight to it. The slightly higher gravity did little to help, and he was already noticing the effects. His legs would ache by the time they got back to the Argo. A distance he could normally have walked with ease was now just a bit harder, and sweat dampened his collar from the extra exertion.

The dark matter shield fastened to the base of his neck pinched his skin. The harsh adhesive burned when sweat leaked over it, and he couldn't wait to rip the thing off.

As they headed south of the mountain, Mark's comm picked up more readings. "Ruins. Only a half mile ahead."

"Sounds promising," Shiori said.

Within fifteen minutes, they stood at the edge of a cliff. Below, the remnants of a metropolis stretched into the distance.

"This place is crawling with aggressive dark matter particles. Something exploded here." Mark pointed to a star-shaped pattern radiating from the center of a collapsed building. "Looks like the origin point."

"How long's it been like this?" Shiori said.

Mark checked a few readings. "About a century looks like. Whatever caused this is long gone."

"Then we'd better take a closer look." Shiori slung her rifle over her shoulder and started down a narrow path that snaked from the top of the cliff all the way to the bottom. The ledge was barely wide enough for a single person to inch along, and just the thought of using it made Mark dizzy.

"I don't think that's a good—"

But Shiori was already twenty feet down the cliff and showing no signs of turning around.

Not wanting to lose track of her, Mark followed, shutting his eyes between steps.

"It's not so bad," Shiori called. "Just don't lean forward. You'll be okay."

"Easy for you to say," he countered. "You've been with the Marines how long? You've done and seen things far more dangerous than this."

"And you haven't? I've heard the stories from your trip to Iscandar. What you and the rest of Argo's crew did… I can shoot, fight, and formulate combat plans, but I'm not one to put my faith in things I can't see unless I'm forced to. Being stuck on a ship for a year with just a hope to drive me and the weight of humanity's survival on my shoulders—I couldn't do it."

Mark shuffled another two feet down the ledge. "You've been stuck onboard ship for a couple months, and you seem okay to me."

"And there've been a few good firefights to keep me occupied. Not to mention that shady snake in the brig. We often get orders without explanation, but this mystery mission is the strangest thing I've ever been part of. What exactly brought you out here?"

Mark reached the path's first switchback and held his breath until his boots were safely planted again. "EDF tried to gut our ship. Wildstar wouldn't stand for it. About that same time, some of the crew had a vision of a woman telling them to board Argo. And twice Wildstar saw an unidentified ship—once when he was headed back to Earth from cargo escort duty, and again just after the blackout following the lunar power station catastrophe. Everything came together for us to leave Earth to find out what was going on."

Shiori stopped on a landing halfway down the cliff and waited for Mark. "You mentioned the captain's testimony a while ago. Still think he's made a mistake in bringing you out here?"

Mark waited until he was on the landing to shake his head. "I still don't know. Who's to say we wouldn't have discovered the Gatlanteans some other way? Why did we have to come all the way out here? Get mixed up in near-death situations like the one we just got out of. Two crew members are dead because of this." He'd gotten notices of casualties after the firefight ended, and the raw ache in his throat still lingered. If they'd never come out here, those two wouldn't have died. Their families wouldn't have their hearts torn out.

Shiori gazed out over the broken city. "It's hard. Losing part of your team." Her stalwart posture contrasted with the glimmer of rising tears. "But you have to go on. If not for yourself, then for them and for everyone you love."

A cooling breeze drove past, pushing them against the cliff face.

Shiori rubbed her eyes clear. "You mentioned only some of the crew having that vision. Were you among them?"

"No. Wildstar wasn't either, but he trusted the ones who told him about it." This wasn't a conversation he wanted to have. Doubts about this mission were still too real for him, and every day he didn't see Jordy and his parents was another day that felt dead and lonely. The only thing that had assuaged any of his fears was that message he'd found, and even it was becoming less real the longer he trudged around out here in the sand. He took more readings of the ruins to keep Shiori from asking him anything else. "I'd like to get closer. Nothing's alive down there, so the only things we'll have to watch out for are unstable structures."

"Sooner we get down there, the sooner we'll be done. Maybe we'll find a cave system leading into that mountain." She preceded Mark onto the ledge again and started down before he'd even put his comm away.

Within twenty minutes, they were at the base of the cliff. All the way down the rock face, the prickle of needles walking across Mark's skin had been growing steadily more intense. Now, the sensation crawled across him in a smothering blanket. "Feel that?"

Shiori nodded.

"I'm glad we've got those particle shields on, because this looks like a hotbed for those things." Mark picked his way over a twisted metal beam and headed for a collapsed building. "Sandor would love this place." He ran an analysis of the metal. "Different substance than what that door's made from." He scanned their immediate surroundings. "None of these buildings appear to be Gatlantean-made."

They hiked through and around several more collapsed structures. These ruins were huge. To explore them thoroughly would take years. From above, there hadn't appeared to be a source of water, or a reliable power system, but as he knew from experience, anything could wait below ground. Just because the surface of a planet was dead didn't mean there wasn't a subterranean refuge.

Mark's boot crunched, and he swept sand away to find a broken piece of what could have been a transport tube for vehicles. Above, part of the tube was still suspended, spanning a quarter of the distance between two transit stations. The sharp edges of the broken tube had been eroded by sand over the years, but its violated husk still reached skyward, like a mutilated hand.

More buildings lay in twisted heaps, as if shoved aside by whatever had blasted through here a hundred years ago.

Mark and Shiori reached the building that contained the origin point for the blast. Mark kept a steady eye on radiation readings and any other indicators that this place was still unsafe, but he found no sign of harmful substances—other than the dark matter particles that still assaulted them.

Inside the building's perimeter lay shattered crystal, most of it covered by sand, but Mark's comm picked up several pieces of varying size. Perhaps this place once boasted a chandelier or other ornate hangings. The more surprising discovery was the husk of a Gatlantean tank. "So, they've been here before," he said. "But if the Gatlanteans caused this, why hesitate to follow us down here?"

"Maybe they didn't do it." Shiori used her rifle barrel to point to the tank's main gun, which was angled toward the building's interior. "Something was in here—something they felt was threatening enough to throw some firepower at." She kneeled beside a spot of white jutting up through the sand. As evening fell into twilight, she cleared the sand away, revealing a skeleton pinned beneath a fallen column. Its ribs were badly broken. Perhaps fatally.

A sense of foreboding crept over Mark as he passed Shiori and stood at the source of the blast pattern. He crouched and with one gloved hand swept sand clear of the floor, revealing cool, pristine white marble. Shiori's discovery made him wonder. He checked for other biological remains and blanched when the sensor sweep showed thousands of skeletons and skeletal fragments littering the area.

Shiori investigated the remains of a second tank and jumped back with a masked exclamation of surprise. "Found more bones, but most of them are just powder, like they disintegrated. What… What happened?"

Mark carefully avoided each buried skeleton. "I don't know, but I don't think we're going to find anything helpful here. Let's get up the cliff and head back to the mountain." He turned his back on the macabre spectacle and focused on not desiccating any more graves.

Derek wished Venture and Nagakura would come back. It had already been a full hour, and the light was waning. The flashing light above the door into the mountain had turned solid crimson and now glared at him and Royster with unblinking malice.

Royster had said very little since Venture and Nagakura left, which was better than his usual constant doomsaying.

Derek took another sip of his personal water supply and clipped the flask to his utility belt alongside his comm, weapon, and a few other tools.

The door clanked.

Derek froze.

Another clank, this one much louder echoed through the swiftly darkening camp.

"Royster, get down." Derek grabbed Royster by the back of his collar and yanked him behind a crate. He clamped a hand over Royster's mouth just before a machine three times Derek's height floated through the gigantic doorway, almost brushing the top of the opening. The thing didn't come any further than the edge of the shadowy threshold, but even partially obscured, its features were clear enough. It's deep green exterior and threatening, saw-shaped body supported twin sensory antenna and two needlelike arms equipped with weaponry. The ensemble resembled a serifed T, and it looked more than able to cut down two lightly armed men.

Royster's hot breath seeped through Derek's glove and left a sheen of moisture on his palm, but Derek didn't dare let go, lest Royster belt out a terrified shriek.

Behind the machine, the door remained open, but the light above it had flickered off. The needlelike guardian sent a red sensor beam over the area immediately outside the door before heading back inside.

"Do not make a sound," Derek whispered to Royster so quietly he barely heard himself. He kept his hand over Royster's mouth until the other man nodded. "I'm getting us inside. Follow me and stay quiet."

Before Royster could protest, Derek headed for the closing door at a dead run, glad the soft ground absorbed the sound of his footsteps.

Royster had already fallen behind. Derek couldn't leave him out here alone, but he had to get inside, find out what was so important to the Gatlanteans that they'd leave such fortifications and yet not dare follow Argo past the atmosphere.

He scooped a wide rock from the sand. It was still warm from the day's heat but was rapidly cooling as the night air dropped in temperature. With a quick prayer that the needle guardian wouldn't sense him, he put all his concentration into his sprint for the closing door.

Derek made it just before the door clanked shut. Ringing metal disguised Derek's gulps for air and the slide of his boots on the smooth floor as he dove inside and wedged the rock slab in place to hold it open for Royster.

The door groaned, putting increasing pressure on the rock.

Royster was still twenty feet away when the first hairline fissure spider webbed across the rock, and his face reddened with effort as he bulleted toward the narrow opening.

Another crack crisscrossed the first as the needle guardian disappeared down the long, dark hall behind Derek. Thankfully, it hadn't noticed the problem with the door yet, but it would, probably soon.

Deeper and more numerous cracks split the rock wedge, and bits of it chipped away, letting the door creak a little farther shut.

Royster leaped for the opening just as Derek was sure the rock would shatter, and the door would slam shut and crush Royster.

Derek hauled the other man through the gap an instant before the door smashed the splintered stone and slammed closed, locking them inside a cavernous passageway. The finality of it echoed for five long seconds.

Unless Mark and Nagakura found an alternate route into the mountain or went back to the Argo for help, he and Royster were on their own, trapped under tons of rock with a Gatlantean machine of unknown capabilities. And the thing probably wasn't alone.

Derek wanted to take back his rash decision, back up time, and keep watch a few more hours before taking action, but it was far too late for regrets. Their only advantage now was stealth. So far, they were undiscovered, but that could change any second.

He prayed he hadn't just sentenced himself and Royster to their graves.

The machine's sensor lights remained fixed down the passageway as Derek waited valuable seconds for his eyes to adjust, and his breathing to slow from the exertion of running all-out in higher gravity.

A handful of ensconced lights near the ceiling illuminated sparse bits of the hall, but most of it was covered in blackness. Curved rock walls towered over them, and every fifteen feet, a metal girder braced the tunnel and provided opportunity for Derek and Royster to hide.

This place somewhat reminded him of the abandoned Gate control room he, Nova, and Sandor had explored last year on their way to Iscandar. The same sense of impending doom filled the air. Not even the Gatlantean guardian left a trail of sound behind as everything fell into eerie silence. At least inside the Gate control room he'd been able to talk with Sandor and Nova over the EVA suit radio. In here, too much noise could mean death.

Derek found Royster a few steps behind him. Even in the darkness, his posture screamed of terror. Derek motioned Royster to follow him.

Royster shook his head. Had they been able to speak without fear of drawing attention, Royster would have bewailed their fate, and this time, he might not be wrong. This had been ill-advised and foolish, but at least they were still alive, and Derek was going to do everything he could to make sure they stayed that way.

Derek waved Royster forward more insistently. When a loud clang sounded farther down the hall, the other man launched four inches off the ground in surprise, and though he was still reluctant, he complied with Derek's direction.

They advanced down the passageway, slipping behind girders every thirty or forty-five feet, just in case the Gatlantean guardian reappeared unexpectedly.

There must be a pattern to the machine's movements, but the interval between door checks had to be at least a couple of hours based on how long they'd been outside before the machine first appeared.

Derek didn't dare try his comm out in the open, lest the light give them away or trip a sensor they had yet to encounter, but he needed to know everything he could about this place, so when he and Royster ducked behind a girder three hundred feet into the hall, he took out his comm and dialed the brightness down as far as it would go. The device's light still seemed blinding in the near blackness. He stood between the comm and the passageway and shielded the screen with one hand.

Limited sensors told him almost nothing. Something inside this mountain, or perhaps the mountain itself, was interfering. Not surprising. If the Gatlanteans wanted to seal something away, what better place than a sensor blind?

What he did learn was they had sixty more feet before they hit a second door very similar to the one leading outside. Beyond that, the sensors couldn't read. At least they hadn't been discovered yet.

The closer they came to the second door, the more often Derek and Royster took refuge behind supports. Each stop was accompanied by a full ten seconds of listening before they headed for their next hiding place.

Any moment, that door might open. Royster's shaking was almost audible, and though the other man did his best to contain his fear, two petrified squeaks escaped before they made it to the second door.

Derek crouched beside Royster, behind the last support strut. He mimed Royster using his comm to scan the door now that they were within a few feet of it.

Near the ceiling, a glowing red crystal pulsed, but there was no visible access panel as there had been outside.

While Royster ran the scan, Derek drew his weapon.

"L-locked," Royster breathed. "We're t-trapped." Rising panic filled his voice.

"No, we're not." Derek maintained the barest whisper. "That door will open, and we're getting further inside."

"But what if this tunnel just goes on and on, and we never reach the end, and we die in here, buried by a tunnel collapse, suffocated in the dark and dirt, and—"

The second door groaned open.

Derek clamped a hand over Royster's mouth and dragged him further into the metal strut's shadow as a red sensor light swept the passage.

Royster's rapid inhales sucked the palm of Derek's glove, leaving the skin underneath warm and unpleasantly damp again.

The needle guardian approached their hiding place. Its light invaded their refuge, and Derek pressed himself and Royster against the strut until the cold, unbending metal made his back and hips ache from the pressure.

Ten seconds, then twenty, passed before the guardian moved on. It headed for the exit door, checking each corner.

Ahead, the second door stood open.

Derek slung Royster over his shoulders and carried him through the door before the patrolling machine turned around. He made it thirty feet into this next section of hall before ducking behind another support and setting Royster down.

Farther ahead loomed a third door, its glowing red crystal unmistakable even from this distance. The crimson light throbbed in rhythm with Derek's pounding heart.

The guardian's attention was still on its sensor sweep, so Derek urged Royster another sixty feet down the passage, waited a few seconds, then prompted him to move again. They stayed ahead of the sensor sweep until the guardian ended its search just feet from where they crouched.

By now, Royster's fright was palatable. Derek couldn't say he wasn't just as anxious, but he refused to let fear take control. Their only means of survival was to stay quiet and keep going.

When the machine reached the third door, the portal creaked open to admit it.

Derek and Royster sneaked in moments before the door slammed shut.

Mark and Shiori scaled the cliff and headed back toward the mountain. When they reached the southern face, Mark led the way around the mountain's perimeter until they lost the light. Not far ahead, they'd be able to see the abandoned camp where Wildstar and Royster waited for them.

"What's this?" Shiori said.

Mark about-faced and discovered Nagakura standing behind an outcropping they'd passed twice today. He slipped in behind her and checked his comm. "Looks like the entrance to a cave system. Can't tell how far it goes from here."

"Could be what we were looking for," Shiori said. "We should notify Captain Wildstar."

Mark tried to call Derek's comm, but either they were out of range, or this place was interfering with his connection. He sent a message that would be automatically delivered in the event they came within range of Wildstar's or Royster's comm. "Nothing. They're out of contact for now."

"Think we should investigate?" Shiori clicked on her barrel-mounted light and held up the rifle so the beam illuminated the first ten feet of the cave. "No use getting the captain's hopes up for nothing."

"Worth a try," Mark said. "If it dead ends quickly, we'll know."

"Half an hour, and then we head back?" she replied.

Mark nodded. "Temperature out here is already dropping. It'll be well below freezing within six or seven hours. I like cold and snow as much as anybody, but only if I know I can duck into a storefront to warm up." Clouds still boiled overhead, but the air was just as dry as it had been during the afternoon.

Shiori preceded Mark into the cave, which proved to be a series of tunnels.

His comm fed them new information every hundred feet, and they avoided several dead ends because of it. When they reached a fork in the passage, Mark's comm wasn't able to extrapolate far enough to help them make an informed decision. They guessed only to have to backtrack and take the other fork.

"Almost time to head back," Mark announced before a pocket of clean air touched his face. "Wait, I think we're almost out."

Shiori inhaled and agreed. "Smells fishy though."

"Fish mean water," Mark said. "Water means there might be someone living here."

Within minutes, Shiori clicked off her light, and Mark stowed his comm as, ahead, natural light spilled into the tunnel. A cavern lit by luminescent plants spread out beyond the tunnel exit. Stalactites hung from the ceiling and glowed with gold, green, and blue fungi. The light reflected off the surface of a wide lake that filled the center of the cavern. Fish and other freshwater creatures swam unbothered through the crystal water.

Other than the ambient sounds of calmly lapping waves, the cavern was silent.

Mark stepped out of the tunnel cautiously, thankful there was a boulder stationed there, so he didn't have to be completely exposed to whoever or whatever might be concealed inside this place.

Shiori kept her rifle ready and crept forward beside him.

What could be here that the Gatlanteans were so bent on concealing?

Mark's comm found nothing of interest. The entire place seemed completely empty except for the lake. He stepped out from concealment.

"Venture." Shiori's tone adopted a warning timbre as he approached the lake shore.

"I won't go in," he whispered back. "I just need to find out…" His words died in his throat when a woman appeared in midair above the center of the lake. Her pale, golden hair fell nearly to her knees. She was almost as tall as he was, and her slender frame reminded him of an antique glass sculpture. A slight glow surrounded her and added a gold tint to the long, blue dress she wore. Though her face was indistinct from this distance, her posture communicated first curiosity, then joy. She waved a hand, and from the lake rose a stairway made entirely of water.

Mark held the woman's gaze. He'd never seen anyone so beautiful. If he'd believed in angels, he'd have said she was one.

She spoke, but her words were indiscernible, though they matched the voice from the message he'd dug out of the comm system's slush pile.

He was halfway up the stairs before he realized, and Shiori's yells of protest did nothing to stop him, even when she caught up to him before he reached the top of the stairs.

"What are you doing?" Shiori hissed in his ear as she trained her rifle on the blue-clad woman. "There's a reason the Gatlanteans sealed this place. Either she's a prisoner of war, or she's unimaginably dangerous. If she's the former, why is she doing any of… this?" She gestured to the stairs and the seeming nothingness the stranger had appeared from.

The woman's eyes fixed on Mark. Behind her, the inside of a small house was now visible. "I apologize if I've caused distress. I won't harm you." This time, she was perfectly understandable.

"And we're just supposed to take your word for that?" said Shiori. She'd hidden her surprise well, but her brief startle at the woman's altered speech had sent her far enough backward to relegate her to Mark's peripheral vision.

Perhaps Shiori was right, or this was a trap cunningly devised by the Gatlanteans to lure them away from Argo. Mark had encountered technology that made translation between Earthers and off-worlders possible, but if she could have communicated with them effectively, why would this woman send a message in a language they couldn't understand?

"I am Trelaina of Telezart, but some call me Diviner. I understand your suspicion, but your weapon is not needed here. My abilities will not be directed toward you, Originals, but toward those who seek to end you."

Muffled shouts and the zing of weapons' fire squeezed through a few cracks in the stone surrounding a tall, thick door at the other end of the cavern.

The glow encompassing Trelaina intensified. She beckoned them across the threshold of her home.

Once Mark stepped inside, it was like he'd entered another world. Where once there'd only been empty space, now he stood in a small living area. Chairs, a table, and a few other decorative pieces of furniture were all constructed from the same kind of crystal he'd found shattered in the ruined city at the bottom of the cliff. Three arched doorways led to a bedroom, a bathing area, and what appeared to be a communication and celestial observation center.

Mark's footsteps created a gentle ringing akin to tapping crystal, and his and Shiori's entry sounded a short, lovely song that filled the room with bright notes.

Instead of acquainting them with her home, Trelaina went straight to a second entrance opposite the one they'd used. When she reached the door, it slid open automatically for her.

The view of the sealed door was partially obscured by Trelaina's glowing form, and she tipped her head to one side, listening.

Trelaina's joy at the Originals' arrival tempered her anger at the Gatlanteans. They'd fled from before the Originals and left their Needle Slaves to keep her contained. They still didn't understand the extent of her abilities.

"Wait." Arach's continued presence at her side was a great comfort as fear of her long-ago failure passed over her.

What if she put too much force into what she was about to do? Or too little? She might intervene too late, and the Originals trapped on the other side of the door would die at the appendages of the Gatlanteans' mechanical guardians. She might intervene too early, and one or more of those grotesque machines would elude her and send word to its masters of the Originals' presence inside the mountain. Either outcome was unacceptable.

"You will not fail." Arach's firm but gentle assurance steadied. The angel's time with her thus far had been rejuvenating, and she hoped Shaddai would allow him to stay even after the Originals' departure.

"Be ready," Arach said. "Shaddai is your strength and shield. Shaddai is your fortress. Shaddai is your light. He will not fail you."

Trelaina let the angel's words warm her heart as she waited for the precise moment to act.

Derek and Royster were pinned behind a support strut. They'd made it through a fourth and fifth door without being discovered, but when he'd miscalculated their run to the sixth, the Gatlantean machine had spotted them.

They were so close. Even the air in this section of the passage smelled fresher, though Derek was sure he'd imagined the vague odor of fish.

Three more guardians rushed through a door concealed between two girders and joined the three already targeting them. The only mercy was they were cornered against the door, making it impossible for the guardians to surround them. Just one of the harsh looking machines had given Derek pause. Now, with a half dozen trying to kill them… He was tempted to give up hope. This had been an idiotic move, and now they were going to pay the price for his stupidity.

Royster squealed as an energy bolt screeched past him. He squeezed off three rounds, but his hands shook, compromising his aim. Despite his inability to keep his weapon steady, Royster let out his best battle roar and fired in the general direction of their attackers, winging one and clipping another's sensory antenna.

The only thing Derek wished was that he could see Nova again before he died, talk to her, tell her the truth of how he felt about her.

Even thinking it sent him reeling, and his trigger finger slacked. Here he was about to be shot down by Gatlantean machines, and the thing that scared him most wasn't dying. It was not having the chance to admit what he'd spent more than a year denying.

"We—we need to g-get through that d-door," Royster shouted over the wail of laser fire. "Looks like th-they have sensors that r-respond to the machines." Even though he was close to hysteria, Royster had kept his wits. This was precisely why he'd brought the other man along. He might not have the bravado of a Space Marine, or the charm of one of Conroy's pilots, but Royster was no dullard, and though he was terrified most of the time, not once had he run from danger. "We've got to get them c-close enough to trip the sensor."

It was the best shot they had.

Derek targeted the nearest of the six machines and blew a hole in its torso. "I'll draw them within range. Stay here, cover me, and be ready to run."

Before Royster could stop him, Derek dove from behind the support strut and rolled to his feet; he ran at the machines, twisting around two of their bases to goad them into pursuit before bee-lining for the door. The heat of their fire nipped his heels, but he was so close to his goal. Mere feet separated the closest machine from the door sensor.

Derek slammed into the door shoulder-first and wheeled to face the guardians. The door should have opened by now. Every other door had when the machines were this close.

The guardian's red sensor lights stared down at him like the eyes of a predator about to make its killing strike. The machine aimed all its guns at him.

It was too late to run now, and even if Royster miraculously disabled the machine about to kill him, there were five more ready to take its place.

With what he knew had to be his last seconds of life, he pictured Nova's smiling face. I'm sorry I never told you how much I love you.

In the heartbeat of silence that chased a storm of muffled weapons fire, Trelaina raised a hand toward the door sealing off her cavern. The three rings on her right hand sparkled in her growing glow, and warmth spread up her arm and into her chest. She'd never used all three together, and their combined presence was almost overwhelming.

"Be strong and courageous," Arach said.

Trelaina concentrated on only using enough power to accomplish what was needed. She twisted her hand, and the shriek of sundered metal pierced the cavern as the Gatlanteans' fortified door ripped in two, and the ruined slabs slammed into the ground with a thunderous boom that made the mountain quake.

Five Needle Slaves clustered near a man lying on the ground, and a sixth targeted a smaller man huddled behind a metal girder.

"You will not harm the Originals." Bolstered by righteous wrath, Trelaina's voice filled the cavern and reached into the tunnel. The Needle Slaves paid her no heed until she closed her fist, and the first of the six machines collapsed in on itself and crumpled into a useless heap. One sensor light persisted, but Trelaina squeezed harder, and the light snuffed out.

The other five Needle Slaves took stock of their fallen comrade and retreated into the tunnel. She closed her fist again and crushed a second machine, then a third. By now, the remaining Needle Slaves were fleeing, but she couldn't allow even one to escape.

She held out both hands this time and focused on the three machines. Slowly, she pushed her hands together. The scream of tearing metal made the Originals cover their ears, and when her palms met, all three Needle Slaves collapsed on the passageway's stone floor. Their bodies looked as if they'd been crushed by falling rubble, and none of them would be communicating with the fleet in orbit.

An instant before Derek expected the sear of laser fire to rip through him, the door at his back ripped from its frame, and the floor quaked. Intense prickling covered his skin just before he lost his footing and crashed onto the hard stone. His astro-automatic skittered past the absent door's threshold and into soft dirt mixed with sand.

When the gigantic door split in two and collapsed, the force of the impact made the ground jump and sent his gun several feet farther away from him.

Adrenaline urged him to reclaim his weapon, and he scrambled away from the Gatlantean machine that only a moment ago had the upper hand in this fight. He scooped up his weapon, taking a handful of dirt with it.

The ground here was cool, unlike the sweltering sands outside this afternoon, and he hadn't been imagining the smell of fish, but the needle guardians claimed his attention.

To his shock, the lead machine stiffened, bent, and collapsed into a pile of scrap with an ear-splitting yowl. The other machines tried to run, but each faced the same fate as the first, leaving Derek and Royster unharmed in a sea of mechanical carnage.

The sensation of being poked with a few hundred sticks lessened but didn't entirely vanish.

Derek hurried to check on Royster. "You okay?" He kicked a bent antenna away from Royster, but the other man was too busy staring at what was beyond the destroyed door to answer.

Royster's mouth gaped, and his glasses had slipped down his nose, but he hadn't righted them.

With a healthy dread for whatever had caused the demise of the six machines and rising curiosity about the source of their timely rescue, Derek faced the bare doorway.

Hovering high above a lake was a woman bathed in golden light, both hands raised. Within moments, the shimmering hue faded to more natural colors, and her white-blonde hair, pale skin, and blue dress came into focus.

Royster shuffled past Derek, drawn to the beautiful specter.

Still wary, Derek followed him, but only so far as the edge of the lake.

The woman reminded him of Starsha of Iscandar. Her lean frame, long limbs, and straight hair resembled the Iscandari queen, but there were more than enough differences to tell him this wasn't her.

With one sweeping gesture, the woman parted the lake waters and beckoned Derek and Royster to take the dry path leading to a spot below where she waited.

Royster followed her direction like an enthralled puppy, even slipping free of Derek's grip when he tried to prevent the other man from stepping into the lake.

Derek was more cautious, but after a long moment of observation, he followed Royster. Watery walls rose on both sides of him. He thought he recalled something from the Bible about people walking through parted waters, but the memory was fuzzy.

Fish, and even a small shark eyed him as he passed.

When they'd reached the end of the path, a watery platform slipped beneath their boots and lifted them to where the mystery woman waited.

Now that they were closer, the interior of a structure was visible behind the woman. She stepped inside and motioned them in after her.

"Welcome to my home, champions of Origin," she said. Behind her stood Venture, looking dumbstruck, and Nagakura, rifle in hand, but pointed at the floor. Everything about this woman spoke of quiet grace. An air of calm surrounded her, and despite just having escaped certain death, Derek was at peace.

"You… speak our language?" Derek said.

"No," she replied. "But my home is equipped with a translator. I am Trelaina of Telezart. Thank Shaddai you have finally come."

Since she'd offered her name, he decided to reply in kind. "I'm Captain Derek Wildstar of the Earthship Argo. But I'm sorry, we're not champions, and I don't know what Origin is."

Before she replied, Trelaina tipped her head to one side, as if listening. "Origin is your planet. You have another name for it… Earth? And you are most assuredly champions based on the journey of which I've just heard. Shaddai led you to a far distant country and brought you home again to heal your Earth." Her face darkened. "There is now another threat to your world, Captain Derek Wildstar of the Earthship Argo, and I have brought you here to tell you of it."

"How do you know all this?" Derek said. There were only two possible answers to his question. Both involving supernatural intervention. She'd used the name Shaddai. He hadn't heard it before, but when she'd uttered the name, it had echoed with strength and light.

"Shaddai's messenger has told me. Just as he delivered my message to you." The glow around Trelaina's face intensified. "I thank Shaddai for your arrival and pray He will stay the darkness that seeks to engulf Origin."

At Trelaina's words, Mark's expression shifted from curiosity to horror. Royster hid behind Wildstar and squeaked in distress. Nagakura set her jaw and said nothing.

"Come with me." Trelaina led them into a communications room and sat in a shaped crystal chair. She brought up a holographic image that made Derek's throat seize and sent Royster into a fit of whimpering. "You have knowledge of the White Comet?"

Derek nodded, numb. He had the horrible feeling he knew what she was about to say—that she would confirm every fear they had.

"The White Comet is no mere celestial wonder. It is the stronghold Gatlantis, a worldship of terrible might, made from the husk of a moon. Its purpose is to conquer the universe, and its sights are fixed on Origin."

Royster stifled a wail.

Derek waved him quiet. "But why Earth—Origin?"

Trelaina remained seated but faced Derek. "Gatlantis covets the power of Creation—the possession of the place where all things first came to be—even their own ancestors. With Origin under their control, they will boast they have acquired ultimate power and cannot be stopped." She tipped her head to listen a moment before continuing. "They believe that in taking Origin, they will possess a mystic power to create life, or even restore the souls of the dead. They are sorely misled. I am told you and your crew have witnessed the impossible, Captain Derek Wildstar. But surely nothing is impossible with Shaddai. I am glad you are here." Sadness fell over her. "But I am grieved it must be in such circumstances as these."

The holographic image of the white comet swirled, casting a pale light over the entire room.

Mark approached Trelaina. "Nagakura and I found signs of Gatlanteans here on Telezart a century ago, but they'd been destroyed. How did your people defeat them? How did you destroy those machines out there?" Mark pointed in the direction of the ruined door outside.

The Gatlanteans had been to Telezart?

Trelaina shifted the holofeed to images of a devastated city skyline. Tall buildings lay cracked and broken. The remains of vehicles scattered the ground, and naked bones were slowly covered by shifting sands. "Telezart's destruction was not because of the Gatlanteans, though Cometine forces did invade this world a hundred years ago. But it was the worldship Indrisian, not Gatlantis, that assaulted us in our time of vulnerability.

"We were in the midst of civil war. Neither side was willing to settle their differences peacefully, and when the Cometines heard of it, they descended on us quickly. While we fought amongst ourselves, they overcame us. My father brought me to the capitol—that city you found near this mountain." Her eyes glistened with unshed tears. "The Indrisian Cometines marched on the capitol, but little did they know Telezart's most dangerous weapon awaited them there. It destroyed them—destroyed everything not shielded from its wrath." Her first tear dripped onto her dress and left a dark stain.

"That explains the blast pattern we found down there. I'm sorry," Mark said. His tone had quieted and though it still harbored desperation, it had made room for empathy. "You must be a descendent of the survivors."

Trelaina stood and met Mark's gaze. "I was there the day Telezart died… because I was the reason for Telezart's civil war. I am the weapon that turned my world into a wasteland. I am the only survivor of the cataclysm I caused. I am the reason Indrisian limped away from this place a century past. And I am the reason the Gatlanteans erected that door outside. They wanted to cage me, prevent me from destroying any more of their ships." She looked upward, as if to scan invisible stars. "Even now, they're coming for me."

Both Mark and Nagakura paled. Royster's wails rose in volume, and Derek stamped down his own fear. This was why the Gatlantean ships hadn't followed them through the atmosphere, why they'd left defenses here.

His legs threatened to betray him, and he reached for the corner of the communications station, but it was Trelaina's hand that steadied him, and at her touch, new courage surged into him. He'd seen her rain destruction on their enemies without harming them. If she'd planned to do anything to him and his team, she'd have already done it.

"I would understand if you want nothing to do with me after what I have told you, but you must believe what I have said about the White Comet—Gatlantis. You must make haste to return to Origin, warn your people. And you must leave before Gatlantis arrives."

"The comet's coming here?" Derek said.

"It will arrive within seven days, and if you do not leave within the next two, you will be overtaken. I had hoped you would arrive sooner than this, but I cannot claim to understand the ways of Shaddai. Please, return to your ship, and leave this place."

"But Argo's too badly damaged. We'll need at least three or four days just to get her flying again," Derek said.

Mark looked sick.

Trelaina stopped to listen to something unseen again, frowned, nodded. "I will give you the time you need, Derek Wildstar, and I will do all within my power to aid in your repair efforts." She let go of Derek's hand. "I'm coming with you back to your ship."

If word of what this woman had done reached the crew, there would be riots. He couldn't let her come back with them. If what she said was true, they had little enough time. Fielding violent protestors would make it even worse.

Trelaina threaded between Derek and Mark. Derek expected her to pack sparse belongings or head for one of the exits, but she approached Royster, who now sought refuge behind Nagakura.

Nagakura barred Trelaina's path, keeping herself between the other woman and a cowering Royster until Trelaina laid a glowing hand on Nagakura's arm. The Marine stepped aside, but she kept a firm grip on her rifle, and the look in her eye said she'd use it. She didn't care if Trelaina could squash her with a gesture, if the other woman tried to harm any of them, there was a laser round with her name on it.

Trelaina seemed unbothered by Nagakura's protective stance as she kneeled in front of Royster. The height difference between Trelaina and Royster was pronounced enough that she barely had to look up to meet his terrified eyes. "Don't be afraid."

"H-how?" Royster said in a strained whisper. His round eyes peered through lopsided glasses until Trelaina used one finger to straighten the tilting frames.

"Trust Shaddai to bring you home," she said before standing up and leading the way to the door opposite the one Derek and Royster had used to enter.

Once Trelaina stepped outside her home, the little house became visible. Sloped walls made the structure resemble a wide egg, set upright and supported by curved blades that each tapered to a sharp point. If the structure ever sat on the ground, it wouldn't tip over.

They all descended watery stair steps until their boots found purchase on the lake shore. From there, they left the mountain via a concealed exit at the back of the cavern.

"This is how we came in," Mark informed Derek once they were all inside the dark passageway.

After Derek's time traversing that wide-open hall, this place felt claustrophobically cramped. At least Trelaina's ambient glow provided enough light to see by without having to use their comm lights or the beam mounted on Nagakura's rifle.

Royster followed Trelaina closely, and his expression was miraculously free of anxiety.

Despite Mark's earlier trepidation, he too seemed drawn to Trelaina, and as they wove through the tunnel maze, Venture inched closer to her until he and Royster walked side by side. Nagakura kept her distance but didn't appear ready to shoot the other woman anymore, and Derek was soon walking right behind Mark and Royster. He hadn't meant to get this close. After all, this woman had, less than an hour ago, confessed to being the cause of an entire planet's destruction. But there was something about her that radiated goodness, and for now, since he was confident she meant him and his crew no harm, he was content to accept that.

When they stepped out of the tunnel, stars peeked through rare gaps in the cloud cover, and cold wind swept over the dunes. The only light as they hiked back to Argo was Trelaina's glow.

Derek hoped he could avoid revealing too much about their temporary guest while she was onboard, or else he might have a mutiny to contend with, but the longer he walked alongside Trelaina, the quieter his inner turmoil grew, and by the time they reached the ship, he was ready to get a few hours rest before tackling the monumental task ahead.

Episode 29 Notes:

The title for this episode was taken from Isaiah 58:11-14:

And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones: and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.

And they that shall be of thee shall build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, The repairer of the breach, The restorer of paths to dwell in.

If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words:

Then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord; and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.