Lyla awoke blinking the sleep from her eyes as she found herself fastened securely in a large seat on the massive airship Talin and his companions had arrived with just hours earlier.
‘Try to move as little as possible.’ Shari said placing a cool towel onto Lyla’s forehead. ‘They got you pretty good.’
As she lay there silently watching the strange girl care for her she began to feel a throbbing pain in her legs and a grimace washed over her delicate features.
‘I know it hurts, dear.’ Shari said resting her head onto Nhari’s shoulder as her sister continued. ‘We must put her out again, Shari.’
Shari frowned before nodding and bringing up her left hand to gently soothe the side of Lyla’s face. ‘Sleep now.’
She tried to fight against the overwhelming compulsion to drift off into sleep but in the end it was too strong and the darkness took her.
As the twins stood watching Lyla go back to stillness they turned in unison and quickly returned to a large plush swiveling chair near Sumas. His massive thick fingers gracefully manipulated the various controls for the airship as he maintained a heading towards their destination.
‘I will need your help with the… subject when we arrive, girls.’ He said without looking up from the display. ‘We land in ten.’
They both nodded as Shari subconsciously twirled a silver-white locket of hair between her pale fingers. She watched as the tree tops rushed along below the triangular airship as Sumas called out to begin the final approach. Leaning over the edge of the chair she could see a large empty clearing in the ground cover slowly opening as two large doors slid apart revealing the passage beneath. Once inside the large hexagonal passage Sumas guided the airship straight down past massive Allon beams that checkered the chamber gradually decelerating before setting them down atop a landing pad and switching the craft off.
Nhari stood dragging Shari in her wake as the pair hustled off of the ship towards one of the many stations assembled around the room and withdrew a large flat metallic slab. With a brief combination of buttons on the keypad a low bass sound began to emit from the device as it rose and stabilized floating a few feet off the ground. The girls easily pushed it to the airship and secured the snout-faced corpse before relocating it to a laboratory down the western passage away from the landing pad.
Sumas still sat at the controls of the airship watching as the girls disappeared around a corner when he heard the final hiss of the compression chamber give way. The massive triangular ship shuddered beneath his girth as Sumas climbed from the control seat and onto the dense stone floor of the expansive landing bay.
‘Welcome, Sumas. Facility schedule resumed. Structure restored briefly.’ A voice echoed from above him.
‘Yes and bring the heat up.’ He replied withdrawing the cloak from around his shoulders before placing it on the side of the airship. ‘Illumination as well, Control.’
Instantly an array of blue crystal began to warm and fill the room with light as the temperature slowly rose to a more comfortable level. Sumas made a quick pace away from the ship on his long bulging legs bolstered by the metal framework and tubing that covered the colossal exoskeleton supporting him. His mind raced with thoughts of the corpse the twin girls had escorted from the room and the many questions it could present.
‘Greetings, Sumas.’ An icy voice split through his day dreaming cutting his ego to the core.
He did not need to see through the darkness to know who spoke but still he looked deeply into the inky black of the hallway trying to perceive a form. Sumas tried to hold his tongue but the compulsion was too great and suddenly he realized he was on his knees bowing to the floor before he could stop himself.
‘We have much to discuss.’ The sickly sweet sound interrupted his thoughts once more.
‘There is something wrong.’ Shari said closing her eyes to concentrate as her sister looked at her blankly.
‘There are many things wrong, sister.’ Nhari replied touching her forehead to Shari’s. ‘What ails you this minute?’
Shari let out a low gasp shifting her head quickly to the left and then the right before going into a violent shaking motion as if trying to escape something or someone. Beside her Nhari held her breath for what felt an eternity all the while feeling bits and pieces of her sister’s fear flowing between the hands they constantly held clasped. Her eyes went wide in wonder as the images flooding Shari’s mind were transferred to her own.
‘He is here?’ She said between gasps for air as she watched Shari nod in agreement.
‘Cont…’ She began but her voice trailed off as if hoarse before Shari finished for her. ‘Control lock down table one. Initialize viewer main panel.’
The girls stepped back from the polished metal slab as a dense green crystal shield came down from the ceiling to surround it. They watched as the northern wall began to change and a large image detailing the layout of the complex was drawn on it revealing the location of Sumas and the one they feared beyond anything else they had ever known.
‘There.’ Nhari said pointing at the two icons as Shari gathered her composure.
With their hands still joined together the girls moved as if one and quickly made a pace for the exit of the room. The sound of air escaping the mechanisms manipulating the door was the only thing they could hear as the darkness of the passage opened up before them. Nhari instinctively began to squint to clear the shadows before relaxing and waiting for her sister to work out what lay unseen. Shari already had her eyes closed feeling outwards toward the empty space comprising the passage before leading her sister into the unknown. From ahead they heard a deep guttural sound escape Sumas as his bulging form collapsed against the floor.
‘Sumas.’ They both whispered in unison carefully moving closer as they surveyed the darkness for the intruder.
‘How long was I gone?’ He raggedly asked pushing himself to his feet.
‘You never left.’ They answered as confusion cloudy their pretty features.
‘The maker…’ Sumas began seeing them both visibly tremble at his words. ‘I was somewhere else. Something bad…’ His eyes suddenly rolled back in his head as darkness took him.
‘Sumas?! Sumas?!’ Shari pleaded shaking his massive form the best she could. ‘Nhari what is happening?’ She began again but the look on her sister’s face silenced her. ‘What? Nha…’
The eerie silence covering the chamber hung over them like thick chains as she tugged at her sister trying to bring her back to the present.
‘Disturbance to electro-magnetic shields – Danger – All occupants seek cover.’ Echoed through the passage as red crystal indicators began to strobe.
The ground beneath the girls began to tremble violently as the first waves of impact rocked through the station sending them both hurling through the air while Sumas tumbled lifeless like a rag doll. The polished silver Allon beams creaked under the strain of the rippling forces tearing through the layers of rock and dirt surrounding the complex and began to splinter into beautiful silver shards as they collapsed. Shari gripped her sister’s hand so tightly she could barely feel her pale fingers as they ricocheted off broken metal and stone and began to scream in fear as panic overtook her. With one last quake the trio was thrown into a large chamber as it crumbled around them gradually going quiet until sand showering down in streams off the side of the broken stone was the only sound.
Shari was not sure how long she had been unconscious when her sister woke her but that quickly faded from her mind as she realized the terrible destruction she had witnessed had not been a dream.
‘Wha… What happened?’ She said raising a hand to rub her temples.
‘Begin again so Shari can hear.’ Nhari instructed while gently squeezing her sister’s fingers between her own.
Sumas let out an obvious grunt and began to recount his encounter once again.
‘I watched the two of you leave for observation with the body. I made sure the ship was locked down and refueling and then I headed towards control. The next thing I remember I was… somewhere else is all I know and… he was there.’ His words began to falter briefly before regaining his composure. ‘He said he wanted to help and that he had been… watching us all along.’
The girls visibly shook at the realization of his words but Sumas continued before they could interrupt.
‘No. There is no time for argument. This.’ He began before pointing at the debris surrounding them. ‘This is all caused by the orb. It is no longer orbiting our little planet. It has landed or I guess I should say crashed but the objective is the same. The orb is down and so is whatever is inside of it.’ His words trailed off in silence as the girls contemplated all of the things to come.
‘First, he has the capability to teleport matter from one destination to another and second did he show you that too?’ Shari asked with one eyebrow raised.
‘I was somewhere else that much I am sure of. He only showed me the projected impact site according to his calculations.’ Sumas replied slumping forward as he moved his neck side to side trying to stretch it out.
‘Then he has another play, Sumas.’ Nhari said coldly.
Shari gasped suddenly bringing her free hand up to cover her mouth as tears began to well up in her eyes.
‘What?’ Sumas asked her.
‘Lyla.’ Nhari said in a low voice.
Sumas stood from the broken stone and began to adjust the valves covering the control box at his hip bolstering the liquids coursing through the many tubes connected to his exoskeleton. With a guttural roar he began to push away the busted rock and Allon clearing a path towards the exit of the room. As time passed the complex remained still save for a few small aftershocks and Sumas pushed through layers of fallen rock back towards the main landing bay of the massive underground complex as the girls followed behind his hulking form watching for broken bits of razor sharp Allon.
Lyla was perfectly still as she lay in the floor of the airship she had arrived on listening to the sounds of rocks settling in the darkness all around her. Far above her she could see a crack in the ceiling where the massive doors that usually sealed the shaft had been dislodged in the tremendous shaking that had awoken her before everything came rushing down. A large silver beam of Allon lay across the airship effectively pinning Lyla in place as she gathered the strength to try and push to freedom. She grunted loudly pressing her palms against the Allon surface using all of her might to try and kick out from underneath the toppled column. Between the silver pathways tracing along her palms and the metallic beam a small light began to emit as she pressed harder and harder trying to break free. Energy began to cascade through her fingertips in waves as the massive beam began to change in composition right before her eyes as if under her command.
The colossal support that had once held up hundreds of tons of stone and steel became what seemed to Lyla a metallic liquid that parted between her hands and fell to either side of the ship in a loud splash of reflecting chrome before solidifying as it crashed against the floor. She sat quietly wondering in disbelief at what had just happened when she heard the first sounds of her would-be rescuers and began to notice the rocks trembling from the northern passage.
‘Are you alive in there?’ She could barely make the words through the fallen debris.
‘Yes but it is a mess in here.’ Lyla called back to them as she saw the last pile of rock give way and an opening clear as Sumas stepped through it.
Lyla sat patiently waiting as instructed by Shari as the girls carefully walked a path through the fallen rock and metal fragments that cluttered the devastated landing pad while Sumas began to survey the airship.
‘Do you hurt anywhere?’ Shari asked while gently checking her injuries. ‘You seem to be in working condition.’
‘What happened?’ Lyla asked standing gingerly among the rubble.
‘The red orb is not what we believed and has crashed into the planet.’ Nhari said flatly as Lyla’s eyes went wide. ‘I also find it very unsettling.’
‘Repairing this will take time we do not have.’ Sumas sighed pointing towards the smashed parts of the airship. ‘The four of us will have to make due in one of the pods. Gather up what you can girls. We need to get out from under these broken ceilings with haste.’
