Ice Phoenix
Chapter 37 - Missing time

The gate spat out the ship as if it was a rotten morsel it had chewed on, and vanished right after. For a few minutes, the ship floated in silence before all its systems came on and it began moving of its own volition. It continued on its way, harbouring its anxious occupants.

Inside the cockpit, Grandmaster Deitrux and Kuldor monitored the glowing pendant, both growing more nervous by the minute as they observed no change in its colour.

“Are you certain that’s the right colour?” Kuldor asked for the fifth time, rubbing his hands anxiously.

“Blue is cold, red is hot,” replied the grandmaster. “Really, Kuldor, it can’t get much simpler than that!”

“It’s not too much to hope you could be wrong,” muttered Kuldor.

“Believe me, I wish I were!”

They both sighed and stared at the pendant again, their chins resting on their hands. Grandmaster Deitrux had activated the pendant upon leaving Olden Kartath, in the hope that it would reveal Nashim’s whereabouts. The pendant had lit up without any hiccups; the only problem was, it was leading them in Pa Gumpina’s direction.

“I don’t understand!” growled Kuldor. “Why hasn’t he gone to the Dream Walker? I’d have expected him to be in the Voron Cloud by now!”

Grandmaster Deitrux did not say anything, but remained deep in thought.

However, Kuldor was not quite ready to stay quiet. “The phoenix blade is gone too. The Ancients must have taken it.”

“Thieves,” muttered Grandmaster Deitrux. “Not even the oldest, hardened race can resist the pull of velassium.”

Back in Minda Yerra, sitting morosely by the lake and watching Kazu play with Niku, Mikin sighed heavily. While the antics of Terrana’s kitten amused him as he watched it boss Niku around, Mikin worried for his missing friends. It loomed over him like an ever present shadow, and somehow he couldn’t help but feel that all the recent happenings were linked to their disappearance. Three weeks had passed since Terrana and Lorn had flown off with the prince, and no one had heard from them.

“Everything all right?”

The big, hairy Bagruth sat down next to him, and he was not alone. Bindal appeared on Mikin’s right and she, too, sat promptly on the ground.

“Not really,” answered Mikin, flapping his ears. His trunk rubbed his arm gently before it slid it across a tiny, hexagonal cube lying on his lap. It was a burnished bronze colour and was no larger than a golf ball.

“What do you have there?” asked Bindal, a little too brightly.

Mikin glanced down at his cube, realising that it was still projecting images of grotesque, evil-looking creatures real enough to materialise. He reached out to deactivate it, but Bagruth glimpsed the images and snatched the cube from his hands.

“Hey!” Mikin barked in surprise.

“These are images of the alien creatures that have invaded Pa Gumpina!” cried Bagruth, sliding his hand over the projections. “How is it you have them?”

“What?” Bindal peered over Mikin’s arm. She yelped as the one of the creatures lumbered towards her and she jumped back.

“Mikin, where did you get these from? The whole planet’s in mayhem over the appearance of these creatures, no one knows where they came from and here you are, sitting down with information about them!”

“I wasn’t sure,” Mikin answered in his defence. “Until the police drone caught this particular one.” He pointed to a lizard-like creature with a wide wing span. “And then I recalled seeing it somewhere before, so I dug it up.”

“But where did you get this from, Mikin?” asked Bindal. “It isn’t just one or two pages you have here. It’s a compilation!”

“My family’s always collected books,” Mikin mumbled. “Down through the centuries, we’ve collected anything we could get our hands on. For generations we’ve always had space pilots in my family.”

“Wow,” said Bindal. “That’s amazing.”

“So does it say where these creatures come from?” asked Bagruth, being the more pragmatic of the two.

Mikin frowned then. That had been the first thing he had searched for and the explanation he found hadn’t made any sense.

“Eggs,” he said. “They were brought in as eggs by an alien race, or at least, that’s what it says in the book.”

He met their incredulous stares. “Yeah, that’s what I thought too.”

They were distracted by Niku’s thunderous stomping as the gigantic brudisaurius leapt out of the water and galloped up the embankment with a crazed, yet happy look on his face. His tongue lolled to one side and he looked as though he was having a great time. Behind him was Kazu, completely sodden and looking thoroughly vengeful as he chased after Niku.

“One of these days Niku is going to step on Kazu and we’ll have to scrape him off his foot,” said Mikin.

“It’s an unlikely friendship,” agreed Bagruth. “I find it uncanny that Kazu can order Niku around like his own personal bodyguard. Did I tell you I caught them the other day heading up the mountains? Niku hates closed-in spaces, but when I found him he was happily winding his way between the trees. And of course, there was Kazu sitting on his head.”

“He even sleeps with Niku in the stables!” added Bindal.

“Well, at least they’ll be company for each other when we evacuate to Al-Kalindrome 77 tomorrow afternoon,” sighed Mikin. “There won’t be much space there for them to run around in.”

The air turned gloomy immediately. So much had happened in the last three weeks, and Pa Gumpina was now in a state of emergency. UWIB had declared it a no-go zone because of the invasion of the alien creatures, and the authorities were having trouble containing them. In fact, the devastating toll on people’s lives had resulted in the highest directive issued from the planet’s homeland National Defence Council; ES — Eliminate on Sight. The entire planet’s troops, from the air force, navy, and land army had been mobilised and were working together to combat this deadly invasion. Lacers and weavers had been recruited also, but despite their best efforts, reports were being leaked that they were facing a losing battle.

The civilian death toll stood at ten thousand and was still rising. The populations of villages, towns, and cities were being evacuated to the space stations orbiting Sector One, but these were fast running out of room, and now Pa Gumpina was appealing to the UWIB Council to expand its evacuation efforts into the other sectors.

“Your parents were enlisted, weren’t they?” said Mikin to Bindal. “Have you heard from them?”

Bindal nodded sadly. Her parents belonged to a research guild and they had been drafted into the military to try to analyse a way of stopping the alien creatures.

“They told me to board the evacuation ship as soon as possible,” she said. “They were tired and wouldn’t tell me much of what was going on but ... they looked awful. I’ve never seen them look so terrified.”

“Headmistress Marl has barred all news coverage in school,” said Mikin. “I guess she’s afraid we might panic.”

“But Mikin, we’ve got to get this information to Headmistress Marl quickly,” urged Bindal. “It could help the weavers find a way to stop these creatures!”

“Yes, you should go now,” agreed Bagruth. “I’ll join you once I lock Niku and Kazu down for the night. This could be their last night on this planet.”

Mikin silently agreed with them, not seeing the point in withholding his information any longer. If it turned out to be worthless, he was adult enough to deal with the consequences. At least he would have tried. The three of them stood up and Bagruth ran off after Niku, to lead him back into the stables.

“Well, what do we have out here?” said a sneering voice.

Bindal and Mikin looked up to see Misa and Kalindra approaching. They both groaned. Kalindra had recently been appointed a school prefect and, as part of her responsibilities, she ensured that all the students were in their dormitories before a certain time. It was a rule that had been recently implemented by Headmistress Marl, ever since the appearance of the alien creatures.

“We’re just heading in,” Mikin mumbled.

Kalindra’s cold eyes swept over them, noticing the cube in Mikin’s hand. She swept her silver hair behind her shoulder, the slightest frown appearing on her beautiful features.

“What’s that?” She snatched the cube.

“Hey, give that back!” said Mikin angrily. Kalindra tried to access the cube’s contents but was thwarted each time she tried to decrypt the password on it.

“Have you been communicating with Lorn on this?” she asked in an accusing tone.

“Of course not!” cried Mikin. “Like I told you before, I have no idea where he is. I’m just as worried about them as you are!”

“Them?” snarled Kalindra, bearing down on him. She shoved Mikin back roughly.

“You didn’t have to do that!” cried Bindal. She tried to go to Mikin’s side, but Misa stepped forwards and pushed her back. Both girls were much taller and stronger than either of them, and they didn’t stand a chance of defending themselves.

“Let’s get this straight, little elephant,” said Kalindra, her eyes blazing angrily. “I don’t care about that dirty girl from Sector Thirteen. I’m only concerned for my friend, Lorn, who happened to be with her at the time. No doubt, it was her doing that got him into trouble. If Headmistress Marl so much as tries to expel him, I will drag your sorry little trunk to her, and you will tell her that he didn’t have a choice. The prince and Terrana kidnapped him.”

“But that’s not true,” said Mikin. “It’s like I said earlier. He got into a fight with the prince and went after them. They were trying to get away from —”

"Shut up!” barked Misa.

Mikin shrunk back as Misa stepped up to him. The girl then lifted him into the air, her arms bulging from her daily work-out in Kampu training. She looked as though she wanted to hurl him into the nearest tree, and Mikin was really afraid that she would.

“Put him down,” said Kalindra. Misa flashed her an angry look, but she did as she was told.

“Head to your dormitories now.” Kalindra waved the cube. “I’ll hang onto this until you tell me where Lorn went.”

Now it was Bindal’s turn to get angry. “You return that to him right now! We were going to see Headmistress Marl before you appeared and we need to show that to her!”

“Why, what does it contain?” Kalindra asked. Her eyes burned with curiosity.

“Information about the alien creatures!” Bindal snapped.

Mikin threw her a shocked look. He had refrained from telling them about the creatures in case they didn’t believe him and threw the cube away out of spite. At the same time, he couldn’t understand Kalindra’s concern for Lorn. He knew that she and Lorn were both from Daiphus, and they had been close friends at one point. However, since Mikin had been at Minda Yerra, he had hardly seen them together, and Lorn never mentioned her. It was only after Lorn’s disappearance that Kalindra started to bug them, trying to glean any information about Lorn.

Misa was simpler to understand. Misa hated Terrana, and because Mikin and Bindal hung out with her, she hated them too. Bindal continued to talk, fully aware of Mikin’s concern. However, she knew what she was doing — or so she hoped.

“Mikin’s family have been librarians for centuries,” Mikin tried not to let his surprise show through at her obvious lie, “and Mikin’s come across some information about the creatures which could change the balance of this invasion. Your parents, like mine, were enlisted to combat them, weren’t they? They are directly on the frontline. Don’t you want to help them?”

Both Misa and Kalindra went really still. It was true what Bindal had said. Their parents were guild weavers and, like Bindal, Misa and Kalindra had heard from them recently, so knew how dire the situation was outside the school.

Bindal continued. “Right now, the creatures are in Pa Gumpina. But what if they spread throughout Sector One and arrive on our home planets? We can’t afford to let that happen. So please, return the cube to Mikin, and allow us to see Headmistress Marl.”

Kalindra gave her a harsh look. “No,” she said.

“What?” Bindal cried angrily.

“Misa and I are coming with you,” she said. She had the upper hand and they knew it.

“Fine,” said Bindal, shrugging her shoulders in resignation. “But we should go now.”

“I saw Headmistress Marl by the lobby,” said Kalindra, turning around. “Follow me.” She led the way, taking the path towards the school lobby. They walked quickly and had almost reached their destination when something fat and fluffy pounced on Kalindra’s head. As quickly as it landed, it leapt off, using her head for added acceleration. Mikin, Bindal, Kalindra, and Misa watched open-mouthed as Kazu raced away.

“Whose animal is that?” Kalindra shouted angrily, rubbing her sore head. Mikin and Bindal glanced at each other, but wisely kept silent.

“Two weeks of detention to the person who owns it!” Kalindra began running after Kazu. Misa followed.

Mikin groaned. “Why now, of all times?” And then he too, began running.

They raced across the grounds, Kalindra and Misa cursing as Kazu cheekily teased them, allowing them to catch up to him before sprinting away again. He seemed to be thoroughly enjoying himself at their expense. Mikin huffed and puffed as he ran after them, but stopped when a large shadow fell across him.

He looked up in surprise. To his amazement, a large starcraft appeared to be coming in for a landing. More disturbingly, it was flanked by five fighter jets, which sounded alarm bells in his head. Even Misa, Kalindra, and Bindal had stopped giving chase and were staring at the jets. Fighter jets appeared only when something needed to be destroyed. To add to the intrigue, Headmistress Marl and Master Drummik emerged from the school lobby, looking peculiarly strained.

Mikin took shelter behind some bushes as the craft touched down on the school grounds. Interestingly enough, the fighter jets did not land, but went on to circle the school’s perimeter. One jet hovered in one place, acting as a sentry.

As Mikin watched, the door to the starcraft opened and circular discs dropped down. People disembarked, and when Terrana, Lorn, and Prince Gil Ra Im stepped out, Mikin nearly shouted out their names, he was so happy to see them.

They looked terrible. Terrana, in particular, appeared inert. She was being led by a haggard-looking Lorn. Prince Gil Ra Im seemed no better than Terrana and was being supported by a tall warrior woman. A pair of faars followed.

More people came down from the craft, and Mikin saw Headmistress Marl rush up to a little man, quickly engaging him in conversation. There was some gesturing towards Terrana and the prince, and Mikin could see that both Headmistress Marl and Master Drummik were reacting badly to what they heard. In fact, they looked horrified.

Determined to learn more, Mikin crawled forwards, sticking to the shadows from the nearby bushes. Words started to drift across and he was soon able to catch pieces of the conversation. He could make out Master Drummik’s voice in particular.

“You’re ... about Baneyon! It’s ... not possible!”

“Drummik,” said Headmistress Marl, laying a hand on his shoulder.

“Quempa, weren’t you with him?” growled Master Drummik.

Quempa hung his head and stared at the ground, unable to face the others, and unwilling to relive Baneyon’s death. He understood why Master Drummik demanded answers — Drummik and Baneyon had grown up together, and news of his death would have been a huge shock to him.

Grandmaster Deitrux stepped forwards, shielding Quempa from saying anything more. “He tried everything he could, Drummik. I am sorry. I know the two of you were close.”

His words were of little consolation to Master Drummik, who clenched his fists and turned away. Perhaps it was to hide the raw emotion on his face. Grandmaster Deitrux continued to speak, but Mikin could not hear him because he switched to telepathy.

There is more. Her Highness has also passed on.

Master Drummik went very still while Headmistress Marl gasped.

Si Ren Da was a disaster. We lost the queen, Baneyon, and Master Ferro. We also lost every single L-Master. The L-Council will be furious. Furthermore, the queen’s guards, the Shakan, will arrive in the next five hours to escort his young majesty back to Swiva. Right now, the children’s states are fragile, particularly the girl’s. I will explain later, but right now they cannot be left alone. It is vital that we never let Terrana out of our sight.

I will take them to the infirmary then. It was Master Drummik who spoke.

Raimus will go with you. He will brief you along the way. Drummik ... be gentle with her. She blames herself for Baneyon’s death as well as the queen’s.

Master Drummik was unsure of how to respond to that. He turned away and walked up to Terrana, who paid no attention to him. He offered her his hand, but she didn’t see it. In fact, it was debatable whether she was seeing anything.

“Terrana,” he said softly. Her face was filthy, her hair matted with blood and her eyes swollen from crying. The smile that had entranced him when he first met her in his office seemed lost forever.

“She won’t speak,” said Lorn, who was standing beside her. Master Drummik sighed, then bent forwards to scoop Terrana into his arms.

“Follow me,” he said to the boys.

As he led them away from the Imeldors, a silver-striped animal pounced on Master Drummik’s feet. Drummik reacted immediately, raising the creature into the air. Kazu yowled and glared at him.

“Kazu!” uttered Lorn in surprise. “Master Drummik, that’s Terrana’s pet.”

As if to agree with him, Kazu meowed pitifully and looked to Terrana. His voice must have reached her because she looked up.

“Kazu,” she said softly, recognising her little pet. It was the first time she had spoken since they had left DalKal 7.

“Please, Master Drummik,” pleaded Lorn. “She needs him.”

Master Drummik relaxed his hold on Kazu and lowered him into Terrana’s waiting arms. Kazu meowed happily, snuggling up to his mistress. Master Drummik continued walking, and the others watched as he disappeared into the school lobby, with Lorn, the prince, and Raimus following him.

Headmistress Marl turned to Grandmaster Deitrux. We were worried to death because you were gone longer than expected. So much has happened since then — Pa Gumpina is nearly destroyed!

Grandmaster Deitrux’s expression was a mixture of pain and sadness. I am sorry, Degra. We believed we were gone for four days, but it was only after exiting the time flux belt in Olden Kartath that we realised we had lost three weeks. We never suspected that Nashim would return here.

Is Nashim responsible for these creatures that are destroying our cities?

Grandmaster Deitrux nodded sadly. I’m afraid so. The creatures are called wrails and very little is known about them. By the way … He nodded towards the bushes on their right. You have a few students who wish to speak with you.

I’ve spotted them too. The Nipponian is Terrana’s classmate and a close friend.

Then it’s best we call him and the others out. It must be urgent if they appear to be torn between running after their friends and speaking with us.

With an impatient sigh and a wave of her hand, Headmistress Marl dragged the children out from their hiding spot, planting them right in front of her and the grandmaster.

“You better have a good reason for eavesdropping on us,” she growled. “And Kalindra, I expected better from you.”

“Headmistress Marl, Mikin has some information about the alien creatures!” Kalindra said quickly. “We were on our way to see you when the craft arrived.”

Before the headmistress could reply, Grandmaster Deitrux spoke. “Interesting. What kind of information?” He peered at Mikin closely, and the little elephant squirmed under his gaze. Because he was so nervous, he blurted out the most unnecessary information first.

“My family’s been book collectors for centuries, sir. We’re more like information hoarders because we really like to read and I happened to transload some old books about wars and aliens onto my cube. I have pictures of wrails — a few actually.”

Mikin paused, expecting someone to chide him for wasting their time. He looked at them nervously, wishing the ground would just open up and swallow him. Finally, someone did speak, but it wasn’t the little man. It was the big, hairy Gratchonian who came from the same planet as Bagruth.

“Transload, huh?” said Master Kuldor. “That must be some powerful storage unit you have there. May I take a look?”

Transload wasn’t just a simple matter of transferring information into a storage device. It was reserved for shifting incredibly large chunks of data. The storage devices used to execute the transfer were hard to come by, and were mainly limited to large organisations or to people of considerable wealth.

A transloader, such as Mikin’s cube, had the capacity to store entire virtual interactive libraries containing multiple encryptions. It was designed to protect the information within and, therefore, in addition to the stringent access procedures required, it also came with a set of self-destruction protocols that would activate if it ever fell into the wrong hands.

The fact that Mikin claimed to possess such a device was beyond incredible.

“So, where is it?” asked Master Kuldor.

Kalindra stepped forwards and handed the cube over to him. Master Kuldor examined it closely, turning it between his large hands. He let out a low whistle.

“It really is a transloader.” He stared at Mikin. “I don’t have to guess that you are the only person who can unlock this?”

Mikin nodded and took the cube from Master Kuldor. He rubbed one of its sides lightly and, after a series of what appeared to be random tapping, he activated a retinal scan. Then, his ears spread out and covered both the cube and his hands. In this way, he shielded himself from the curious eyes of the others as he punched through a complicated sequence of codes, aware that he had only a short time to complete them.

Kalindra’s attempts to unlock the cube earlier had resulted in locking it down completely, hence the series of complex key strokes that Mikin had to apply.

Finally, he succeeded, and the cube emitted a series of clicking noises. Thin, spidery legs pushed their way out and dug into the ground. Tiny panels at the top flipped over, and suddenly there was light.

Everyone jumped back as images of wrails began flashing by, some accompanied by pictures of the Valpuri. The wrails advanced, their eyes merciless and cruel. A dark cloud loomed in the background, lit up by fire and smoke, no doubt the summation of all the pain and death left in the wake of the wrails.

“Incredible,” gasped Headmistress Marl. “It lists the origins of the creatures and the dates they appeared! More importantly, it explains why we haven’t been able to defeat them — they’re imbued with qi, and some of them even act as nullifiers!”

“Like the dogs of Si Ren Da,” said Master Kuldor grimly. “These creatures are the closest to feiyed we’ve seen, and judging by their descriptions, they are intelligent — the worst possible combination.” He glanced down at Mikin, who was chewing his trunk nervously.

“Looks like you’ll be coming with us then.”

“Huh?” Mikin wasn’t sure he had heard correctly.

“In order to keep this cube activated, you’ll need to come with us,” said Kuldor, giving the boy a pat on the head. “And then you can tell me all about your family and how they managed to build their own transloaders.”

Mikin’s face fell. His family would not appreciate him giving away trade secrets.

Master Kuldor caught his expression and laughed. “You can relax, boy! You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to, but we need the information stored on this transloader, you understand?”

Mikin nodded. He gave Master Kuldor a hopeful look. “Can I see my friends first?”

Master Kuldor shook his head. “I’m afraid we don’t have time.”

“Are we going to have another war?”

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

“We have a serious pest invasion problem,” said Master Kuldor, “but what makes you think we’ll have another war?”

“Because there was one back before UWIB was ever formed, when the Valpuri invaded six sectors along with someone called the Dream Walker. But please, sir, I would really like to see my friends. They looked like they could do with some cheering up.”

Grandmaster Deitrux levitated towards him. “I’m sorry, little one. Our time here is short and we must leave soon to the Great Council halls. During that time, you would be doing us a great service by filling us in on what you know about the war. Also I would like you to assist Master Kuldor in unlocking your libraries so that we can access the information it contains.”

“But, but I’m not supposed to leave the school without parental consent,” Mikin protested.

Master Kuldor lifted the boy with one arm and started walking back to the craft. “Not to worry, we’ll have it soon enough.”

Grandmaster Deitrux remained behind with Headmistress Marl and the other students. So that the students would not hear what he wanted to relay to the headmistress, he again spoke to her telepathically.

Raimus will brief you on everything that’s happened. I must hasten to a meeting with the L-Council and the rest of the Imeldors as soon as possible. Be ready. I know you are coordinating the evacuation of all the students for tomorrow. Good. Please make sure that Terrana goes with you, and I must stress, never, never let her out of your sight. If the Valpuri, the demons, find out who she is, our fight against the Dream Walker could already be over. Now hasten to Raimus. I will take my leave now.

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