The Cycles of Revelation Series

Artifact of the Dawn: Rescued (A Queer Sci-Fi Adventure)

Episode 53: In an attempt to send a message to the Rahn’naa, Ardyn makes a new friend and ally.

Ardyn readied himself for a fight, gripping his rahn’ora as he waited for the elevator to stop moving. When the doors opened, Ardyn stopped short. He had expected to see a corridor. Instead, the elevator had taken them directly to the control center.

After a moment of hesitation, he rushed out, followed by the hunters who accompanied him. He barely made it more than a half-dozen steps when he stumbled as the ship was rocked violently.

The control center was in chaos, with Athla’naa fighting each other. Ardyn didn’t know what was going on, so he stood there staring for a moment. “Ardyn, what do we do?” a hunter named Laeyla, asked.

“I don’t know,” Ardyn replied before the blast of a rahn’ora fired past his head, making him duck. “Get down!”

Ardyn crouched and moved toward a console, indicating to the others to stay down and cover him. Whatever was going on, Ardyn still wanted to get a message to Takyra and Aerys. Once he reached the console, Ardyn stood to see if he recognized anything familiar. Without realizing it, the fighting had stopped.

When he felt a hand on his shoulder, Ardyn swung around and pointed his rahn’ora, intent on fending off whoever was about to attack him. The Athla’naa immediately held his hands up to show he was unarmed. “Are you the captives they were holding?”

“What!? Who are you? What do you want with us?” Ardyn demanded.

“I am Commander Keryth of the Star Cruiser Wah’kah’ria,” he replied, giving Ardyn a reassuring smile.

Looking around, Ardyn saw a dozen new people in the control center. They had already disarmed all the black uniformed Athla’naa and were leading them into the far corner.

“We received a message from the Rahn’naa that this ship contained prisoners from the surface,” Keryth explained. “Unfortunately, our communications array was damaged. We received their message but could not reply.”

A hunter snuck up behind Keryth, raising his rahn’ora, when Ardyn raised his hands and shouted. “Stop! I think he’s here to help us!”

Keryth turned in time to see the hunter lower his weapon and nod at Ardyn.

“Where are the rest of your people?” Keryth asked, turning back to Ardyn.

“We were being held in their cargo hold,” Ardyn replied. “They’re still down there, but we freed everyone we could find.”

“Well, let’s get you all home first, and then we can talk about what happened,” Keryth said before turning to the other men in the control center. “Two of you come with me, the rest throw these rebels in the brig.”

Once back down on the cargo level, Ardyn introduced his elders to Commander Keryth.

“Follow me. I know the fastest way to get you all home,” Keryth said. “This old ship has taken heavy damage, so it’s not safe for you to remain here.”

They followed him down several corridors, but when Keryth approached the execution chamber, Ardyn’s heart raced. At the doorway, Ardyn stopped cold, refusing to step inside that cursed room. “What is the meaning of this? Why are you luring us to our deaths?”

Keryth’s ears dropped, and he cocked his head to one side. “This is the ship’s transmat system. It will send your people back to the surface.”

“No!” Ardyn shouted. “Don’t lie to me. I saw what it does! It killed my friends!”

That’s when Keryth’s eyes widened, and his ears completely flattened. “Tell me exactly what you saw.”

While his heart hammered in his chest, Ardyn recounted what he had seen happen to the others who went before him on the platform, including the immobilizing forcefields, the shrieks of agony, and watching as it sucked away their ashen remains.

“Wait here,” Keryth said, as he ran out of the room. A few moments later, he emerged before the control console in the area above the platform. After studying the controls for a moment, Keryth swore loudly. “Ior’kah! They’ve modified the transmat platform into an execution center. Thank you for warning me. This system is no longer safe to use for transport. We could use the transmat system on my ship — ”

“No!” Taeglyn said emphatically. “We’ve been traumatized enough. Isn’t there another way to get us back to the Rahn’naa?”

“The only other way back down would be to use the shuttles,” Keryth replied. “It will take some time, but we can also use the shuttles from my star cruisers to help get everyone down. Will that be acceptable?”

“What are shuttles?” Taesys asked.

“They are smaller ships, father,” Ardyn explained. “Takyra told me they use the smaller ones to travel from larger ships down to a planet’s surface, because they take less energy and can maneuver more easily.”

“Okay, that sounds acceptable,” Taesys replied, the other two elders nodding as well.

“Yes, we’ll use the shuttles,” Ardyn shouted up to Keryth.

After Keryth returned, he led them all to the shuttle bay while Ardyn kept asking questions. “Why aren’t you trying to execute us? Don’t all the people from Aria’naa hate the descendants of the Aria’asharra?”

“No, not at all,” Keryth replied. “Although it would be tempting to execute those imposters. What they did was inexcusable.”

“So, the Leadership Conclave did not send Denyra to execute us?” Aelrynd asked.

“No, they did not,” Keryth confirmed. “There is a lot you don’t know, but now isn’t the time to explain everything.”

When they entered the shuttle bay, there were four shuttles. “These are an older style of shuttle,” Keryth explained. “Each can hold ten adults. I brought three star cruisers with me, and we each have a complement of six shuttles that can hold fifteen people each. Even then, it will take us some time to bring everyone back down, so please be patient.”

Keryth assigned three of his men to pilot the other shuttles, while Keryth piloted one himself. Ardyn and the Elder Triumvirate rode with Keryth, along with Ardyn’s mother, Cylaen, Myria, and two others. “My men will coordinate the other shuttles to bring everyone else down, while my engineering team does their best to make repairs to that heap of junk.”

“Can you let the Rahn’naa know we’re on the way?” Ardyn suggested.

“Yes, good idea,” Keryth agreed. A very relieved sounding Takyra responded to their communication. “We’ll be waiting for you outside the observation tower!”

Ardyn was about to launch into more questions when Keryth raised his hand. “Please, hold your questions until we arrive. There is a lot to explain and no need for me to repeat everything twice.”

Lowering his ears, Ardyn nodded and settled back into his seat. “You’re right.”

As the shuttle landed next to the observation tower, Jevan ran out ahead of the others. He bounced on his toes as he waited for the shuttle doors to open. As they did, his eyes darted into the interior, looking for Ardyn, who was the last one to emerge from the craft, but as soon as he did, he ran toward his friend with a wide grin.

“Ardyn!” Jevan cried out as he swept his small friend into an embrace and swung him around, making Ardyn laugh. Without even thinking, Jevan bent close and whispered, “I thought I’d lost you,” before pressing a kiss to Ardyn’s lips. Ardyn stiffened and Jevan immediately put him down and backed away. “I’m… wow. I’m so sorry,” Jevan said, his face heating with embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to do that. It’s just… I was so worried about you and — ”

Tears slid down Ardyn’s face as he leapt back into Jevan’s arms, burrowing his face into the large man’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I was so close to dying and all I could think about was never seeing you again,” Ardyn confessed.

Jevan held Ardyn in his arms as they both cried with relief. “It’s alright, you’re back, and you’re safe,” Jevan soothed.

It wasn’t until someone cleared their throat behind them that the pair remembered they weren’t alone.