Chapter 6— Discovery
"This moment in time
To the deepest waters some's incline
The day changes, such is time
The darkness comes, but I feel fine
I see a rainbow without sunshine
Could touch a star, but I decline
I know I'm nearer to the divine
For in the darkest hour, I still shine"
Mozez – "Baby Blue"
Osha rummaged through the rucksack and pulled out scratched beige electrobinoculars. She wedged herself between a pair of crumbling gray boulders and peered at Qimir and his master. The tall specter wore a dark robe, but even from that distance, she glimpsed the gaunt, pale face shrouded behind a cowl. It stood over a foot taller than Qimir and exuded an overbearing power next to the apprentice.
The star courier it traveled in appeared freshly minted, its design sleek and mounted with heavy artillery. Qimir's master had to be a wealthy diplomat or a high-class business executive to fly around in hardware like that.
Wait.
Osha froze as the master turned its head in an arc that gave her a full view of its face.
A Muun.
The master was a member of the intergalactic banking clan that practically ran all the finances throughout the galaxy. A humanoid species known to be obsessive with money was a Sith Lord? Osha held her breath as the Muun gazed in her direction. She was a mile away and blended into the rocky terrain. It didn't see her, but it appeared to sense her presence. Why else would it look her way?
Qimir's black cape billowed in the sea breeze. He placed his helmet on his head and followed the Muun onto the starship. A four-limbed droid met them at the entry. They exchanged words and within minutes, the Scimitar lifted and glided across the sea, ascending toward the heavens until it turned into a shiny speck in the sky.
Osha let out a long exhale of air.
The Muun exuded immense power. Osha felt the Force within the humanoid even after the starship had disappeared. A dark, lingering energy washed over her like a hidden whisper, and she knew deep within her bone marrow that Qimir had a formidable teacher on the dark side.
Osha took the rucksack into her cave and put away the dry goods it contained. At the bottom were two bottles of water and the glowsticks. She left them there and dumped the binocs inside too. Switching out her long tunic for one of Mae's casual fits and a jacket to go exploring, she left the cave and headed in the opposite direction of Qimir's abode.
Heading inland, Osha observed how the rock-strewn terrain turned into greenery and a small maritime forest. The salt-tolerant shrubbery gave way to larger trees with wide, stringy palm fronds. She noticed a few rodent-like wildlife and birds nesting in canopies that shaded her above. Half a mile in, she ran across a hot spring and tread past it to move up a slope that led to higher elevation.
High above, she took out the electrobinoculars to observe the islet across from Qimir's island. She used the enhanced sensors on the binocs and detected small life forms there. More of those rock birds and a few small reptilian creatures. She gazed at the sea and a puff of sea spray rose like a tiny geyser three miles out, indicating sizeable sea life. Whatever swam out there was a little less than four feet and chunky-looking. Doing a three-sixty, Osha surveyed and put to memory every part of the island within her vicinity. She stomped back down to the other side on a five-mile hike where she found a thin stretch of sandy shore and endless miles of ocean. Plopping down on the sand, she drank a thirst-quenching fill of water from the rucksack and sunbathed, letting soft sugary sand dirty up her clean hair. Her eyelids drooped, and she fell asleep feeling the warmth of the sun caress her skin like a mother's gentle hand.
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A cool kiss of air slid across Osha's cheek.
She woke up in darkness, but the sky above blanketed her with the shiny glints of starlight. Twisting a glowstick, its neon orange glow provided enough light to find her way back. She opted to trek along the shoreline rather than climb back up and over the higher elevation. It was a slow grind until she crossed a gigantic slab of rock smoothed over from seawater erosion and weathering.
Alone in the dark with a halo of soft orange light guiding her path, Osha surrendered to the peace all around her. The sound of lapping waves crashing onto rocks brought ease to her mind. Solitude brought a humble appreciation of nature at night. She pulled a piece of jerky meat from the rucksack and snacked on half of it, tossing the uneaten portion back into the pack.
In the distance laid a craggy pathway. After nearly three hours of walking, she made out the shadow of the Exile II. The tide already covered a third of the land bridge, creating a separate island for the starship once more. A slithering sea fog drifted across the water, blotting out the horizon like a ghostly apparition.
She trudged on with exhausted, rubbery legs and climbed a steep ascent to Qimir's cave. A roped-together barrier of wood and palm fronds covered the entrance. Osha pushed it aside and held out her hand, using the glowstick as her guide. She found a wall lamp and pressed it, illuminating the entrance. The cave felt lonely without Qimir. She decided to grab the leftover soup and some utensils to take back to her own living space. It was better to get used to it now instead of bunking in Qimir's place.
She wandered over to the conservator and pulled out the soup kept in a covered container. There was enough to last a few days if she rationed it out properly. She tucked the container and two spoons inside the rucksack before leaving.
The fog had snaked closer to shore, and she moved her aching limbs in the dark, wanting to be back in her own private den before the cold reached through her jacket. A screeching sound to her left halted her steps. She listened for more, cocking her ear toward the sky. The flapping of wings overhead alerted her to look up, but the fog had reached its destination, swirling around her with dense, ghostly-white cold.
Qimir told her she was the only apex predator on the island. But what about the unseen creatures flying and using the echolocation that bounced off her body, aiding them into tracking her steps? More angry screeches rained down on her and she ran blindly forward. The glowstick only reflected a haunting shine back on her face. She tried remembering an approximation of where she had to turn inland to find her cave-dwelling.
Dammit! She should've stayed at Qimir's place.
There! A break in the fog.
Osha mustered strength for her tired legs and lunged off the rocky path heading toward the boulder corridor. Hopefully, the flying screamers didn't follow her.
"Oh!" she shouted.
The brush of sharp talons scratched the back of her neck as something tried to tear the rucksack from her shoulders. She dropped the glowstick and kept running.
"Let go!" she shrieked, flailing her arms in complete cloudy darkness.
"Why didn't you bring the lightsaber? Stupid…stupid!"
She berated herself for letting down her guard on the island. Another powerful tug lifted her to her toes, but the noisy din of shrieks far away from her location saved her. Whatever tried to scoop her up released the rucksack and flapped off into the night.
Osha stretched her arms out and felt her way to Mae's cave. She pulled out another glowstick and searched the premises for something to block the entry. There wasn't anything even close to doing that except for the standing mirror. She shoved it in front of the opening and noticed the wide gaps on the side. It was better than nothing.
Lifting her lightsaber from the bed, she stood in one place listening for flying invaders.
Silence.
She fell back on the bed and rested her limbs. Sleep snatched her from consciousness for a few hours. By the time dawn rolled around, her slumber was complete.
She woke up rested and the dull aches in her limbs from the night before subsided. Spending thirty minutes with basic stretches against an empty wall, Osha glanced around and found a small pot to reheat the soup on Mae's therma pad. She poured out the contents of the container into the pot and watched it slowly simmer, filling the cave with a delicious home-cooked scent. Eating from the pot directly, she smacked her lips at how much better it tasted after a second day. She ate it all and even licked the pot without shame. So much for rationing it for another day.
Osha moved the mirror back to its rightful place and climbed out of the cave with her lightsaber hooked to her pants. The sun hung in the sky like a molten white ball and the temperature was already warmer than the day before. She relieved herself over the hole Mae had designated as her toilet and used the bundle of toilet paper sitting inside a bucket.
Plopping herself down on a soft bit of dirt, she overlooked the horizon and pondered how to start her day. Qimir had reading assignments for her, however, Osha wanted to acquaint herself with her new home.
Using all the light available inside the cave, she clocked all the items that now belonged to her. She tidied up and moved some things around to her liking. Digging through some duffle bags she found in the back of the cave, Osha discovered a scrap of paper rolled into a tiny scroll. Bringing it to the desk for closer inspection, she recognized the messy scrawls for what they were: the made-up language she and Mae had created as children. They called it Buntese because they had developed it under their favorite Bunta tree.
Osha smiled because she'd never forgotten their linguistic/number code and quickly deciphered the scratching as island GPS coordinates. Grabbing the rucksack again, she loaded it once more with the binocs, extra water bottles, and her lightsaber. She changed into lighter clothing and tied her locs up with a scarf, tucking it at her nape. A pair of shades sat on the desk and Osha tossed them on her face. She grabbed two ration packs from Mae's food pantry and set out to locate the coordinates using a comlink stuffed in the rucksack's outer pocket. She tested the device to see if it was connected to the HoloNet. It was, but on a secure link that pirates used for nefarious work in deep space. Osha took a moment to scan her area and punched in the coordinates. The comlink flashed the location. The island was seventy square miles and the GPS coordinates were six miles away.
Osha didn't know what to expect, and kept herself alert. She kept a leisurely pace walking along the shore and occasionally used her binocs to observe her surroundings. Humans, or intelligent beings, had lived on the island a long time ago. Too many eroded slabs of stone rock paths and stone columns had the imprint of a cultivated society that once thrived there. Fixed cables attached to stone pillars created protective barriers to keep beings from falling off the ancient platforms that she noticed all along her route.
The highest elevation point was five thousand six hundred feet above sea level. Using the binocs, she discovered a worn down sea fort and the remnants of a stone lighthouse. She climbed up a small hill and walked through a split in a giant rock face until she reached a platform that overlooked the sea. Her comlink chirped, alerting her that she had arrived and faced the GPS coordinates. She thought the endpoint was the water, but checking the comlink again, it suggested the final destination was a vertical, eighty-foot sea stack that looked like a grayish-purple totem for ancient mariners. What use would Mae have for it?
Osha pulled out the binocs to have a closer look at the coastline and the column. The sea stack displayed jagged edges and was narrower at the base, with a squared-off platform at the top. The corners of her lips rose into a smile.
She spotted a rope dangling on the side. It didn't reach the bottom of the stack where the water bashed against it, but she could probably climb part of the way until she reached it. She wound her way down to the water. The sea stack was only sixty yards out. She plunged into the cool water and swam to the column on the side where the rope hung from. Calculating the climb she would have to make, she would pretend it was like climbing the practice rock wall back on Coruscant during Jedi training. If she fell, the water was deep enough to break her fall…only if she could bypass a few rocks at the bottom bashing her brains in.
Osha slid her fingers into crevices and hoisted herself up, keeping her focus above and not below. She zig-zagged a pattern toward the rope and yelled her triumph when she reached the dangling rope easier than expected. Her voice echoed against the rock face back on land. She rested for a minute, clinging to the rope, which thankfully had knots in two-foot increments to help her feet anchor themselves to something.
Disappointment washed over her as she pulled herself to the top and found nothing there. She'd been led on a wild pelikki chase. Osha groaned and sat down on her rump. The rope dug into her palms, leaving them red with indentations. She closed her eyes and inhaled the clean scent of the sea… and screamed for the hell of it. It felt good. She threw her head back and screamed again, loving the rush of air from her lungs and throat, pushing on her diaphragm to release it all out into the atmosphere. Osha did it again and again, shouting and whooping it up until her mouth grew dry.
The pleasure she experienced in letting go of sounds freely from her body allowed a part of her to open up. For years as a Padawan, she struggled to keep calm and reserved. Imperturbable.
Not here. Osha could scream, yell, curse, and shout to her heart's delight and not feel guilty for displaying overt emotions. She pulled out the binocs again from the soaked rucksack. After another three-sixty viewing of the area, she prepared to climb back down. A glint on the left lens of the binocs caught her attention. She lowered them and couldn't find anything that would cause it to do that. They had a protective covering over the lens when not in use, so there couldn't be any seawater damage.
Osha paused, sensing something familiar on that platform.
She relaxed her eyes and squinted, concentrating on the spot in the center of the platform. The refraction of light that beamed through the warm atmosphere at her waist felt charged with energy. Osha lifted her left hand and used her index finger to swipe the air.
A vivid, violet-colored sigil in the shape of an oval with a single line down the middle floated with a glowing light. Osha traced the shape counter-clockwise before dropping her digit down the middle across the line. The air around the sigil shimmered and vanished, revealing a floating purple sphere.
A holocron.
Osha breathed rapidly, and her finger shook, its outstretched posture still lingering where the sigil had once been. She opened her palm and placed it under the sphere and it dropped right into her hand, filling the center. The sphere sensed her body heat and touch. She gasped at the avatar that revealed itself in the center.
"Mama!"
Cloaked in dark purple robes, Aniseya's image looked so lifelike that Osha wept at seeing her mother again, the visceral pain of loss sticking in her throat like a sludge that wouldn't come out.
"My sweet, Verosha."
"Are you alive, Mama?"
"I am simply the essence of myself within the holocron I crafted for you and Mae-ho. But alas, my love…you are not yet ready for the lessons within."
"When will I be ready?"
"When you can decipher the spell I have placed on this holocron that will open the codex within."
"Mama, so much has happened…I can't even begin to tell what I've been through…what Mae has been through."
The image of her mother's face softened, as if she could feel the emotional outpouring coming from Osha.
"My little Oshie…your journey will be hard, but in due time, the wisdom within will be yours. I must warn you, do not let anyone get their hands on this holocron. It will endanger your life and your sister's. Hear me, baby?"
"Yes, Mama."
"Your sister hid this well. You must do the same."
Aniseya's image flickered, then faded out. An unfamiliar sigil floated above the sphere. She tried to decipher it, even ran her index finger across the shape, thinking she could activate it by touch again, but her mother didn't appear again. Osha pressed the holocron against her chest. She wanted to keep it with her. It was obvious Mae didn't want Qimir to find it in her cave, heeding their mother's warning. Maybe she opened it further and reached the codex. It would be useless to Mae now, with her memory wiped. Only Osha could figure out the secret to opening it.
She stuffed the holocron in the rucksack. Closing her eyes, she savored the vision of her mother. She would keep the sphere with her until Qimir returned. Before then, she was going to pour over every page, holovid, and audio recording contained within the data-tapes he gave her.
She had to find a way back to Mama through the holocron.