The Cycles of Revelation Series

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

Episode 52: Now free from their abductors, Ardyn and his people look for a way off the ship they find themselves on.

Ardyn stumbled as the ship rocked, the surrounding lights flickering. He led everyone back down the corridor to where they had been held earlier. They wanted to retrieve personal items anyone may have left behind and to gather the remaining food. Standing before the door, Ardyn looked for a slot where he might try using his control access key, but he didn’t see one. Instead, there was a simple panel next to the door that was about the right size for an Athla’naa hand. Placing his hand over the panel, it scanned his hand, and the door opened.

“I can’t believe that worked!” Ardyn said to no one in particular. Turning around, he saw Taeglyn and Aelrynd approaching. “Elders, we should check the other holds to make sure no one else is being held. Spread the word. To open the doors, they only need to place a hand on a panel like this one.”

Nodding, the two made their way through the crowd, telling others what to do. Soon there were more Athla’naa spilling out of the holds, filling the corridor. Others went to retrieve their items and gather up any uneaten food, passing it out to anyone who may be hungry.

Cylaen remained close with Myria, realizing Ardyn had a better understanding of what was going on than anyone else. Ardyn tried reassuring Myria they were still safe, even as the ship kept rocking every few moments, making the lights in the corridor flicker and dim.

“You’re being very brave,” Ardyn told her. “I’m proud of you.”

“Thank you, Papa Ardyn, but when can we go home?”

“That’s an excellent question, little one,” Elder Taeglyn said, as he, Aelrynd, and his parents gathered around them. “What can we do now? How do we get out of here?”

“That is going to be more difficult. We’re far up in the sky above the planet,” Ardyn explained. “I think our best bet is to contact the Rahn’naa, which means I need to find a communications console.”

Ardyn opened every doorway they came across, but most doors led to stores of equipment or machinery. In one room, they found crates filled with lengths of metal pipe. “Everyone! Arm yourself with one of these. We may need to fight our way out of here.”

At first, they hesitated to touch the metal implements, but the three Elders gave their blessing. Ardyn felt less vulnerable as he gripped the pipe firmly in his hands. Leading the way through the maze of corridors, it surprised Ardyn to encounter so few of their captors, given the size of the ship they were on. Their sheer numbers easily overpowered those they encountered.

After he was sure they had incapacitated all of their captors on this level, Ardyn called out to those around him. “Grab their weapons! They’re more effective than these metal pipes.”

Several hunters and a couple of rangers each grabbed a rahn’ora and then gathered around Ardyn. “How do we use them?”

These rahn’ora were a different design than those on the Rahn’naa, but Ardyn had trained enough with Aerys to figure out the basic mechanism. After a quick explanation of how they worked, he also made sure to set each one to the stun setting.

Next, Ardyn looked around for any kind of display panel they could use to communicate with the Rahn’naa, but saw none. “We need to find an elevator so I can get to their control center. That’s our best chance to find a communications panel and send a message to the Rahn’naa. Everyone, look for a door that leads to a tiny room.”

After some moments, someone called out, and the word traveled to Ardyn. “They’ve found a door to a small room, as you asked.”

Ardyn made his way through the crowded corridor, still followed by his family and the Elders. Once they reached the elevator, he turned to his family. “I need you to stay here. The elevator isn’t large enough, and I need some hunters to accompany me. We may need to fight our way to the communications console.”

“Stay safe,” Ardyn’s mother said, pulling him into a hug.

“I’ll try, mother,” Ardyn said, hugging her back.

The Elders had already gathered the hunters to accompany him, who were waiting in the elevator already. Once inside, he saw all the words were written in the ancient script that he couldn’t read.

“Elders, can you read this script? Do any of these buttons say something useful?” Ardyn asked.

Taeglyn stepped inside and looked. “Yes, here at the top. Main control center.”

“Thanks. That is where I need to go. Taeglyn, please remain here and keep them calm. These hunters can protect me as I try to contact Takyra or whoever is attacking this ship.”

Nodding, Taeglyn stepped back out and joined the others. “Are you ready?” Ardyn asked the hunters. “They will have energy weapons, so we’ll need to overwhelm them quickly as soon as these doors open.”

Then Ardyn touched the panel where Taeglyn had shown him, and the doors closed. Ardyn’s stomach lurched as the elevator moved.

Watching helplessly as some of the life signs scattered onboard the Pah’ora, Jevan worried about Ardyn. What if Ardyn…? Shaking his head, he didn’t dare think of Ardyn dying like that. Not yet. Then the life signs that had been lined up along a corridor, presumably awaiting their execution, formed a group as they moved back toward the holds where the other prisoners were being kept.

“Look!” Jevan pointed out. “Do you think they’re locking them up again?”

As the group of life signs approached the other holds, one by one, the life signs within each hold emptied into the corridor. “They’re releasing the prisoners!” Takyra exclaimed, immediately opening a communications channel. “This is the Rahn’naa hailing the Pah’ora. Please, come in!” When there was no response from them, Takyra tried once again hailing the attacking ships with a similar lack of response.

“What is going on up there?” Takyra growled in frustration. “How are their shields holding up?”

“The shields on the Pah’ora are down to forty percent,” Aerys replied. “Their weapons haven’t damaged the shields on any of the other ships.”

The large group of life signs they had been watching were now making their way through various corridors, pausing every now and again. At the same time, there was a smaller group of life signs concentrated at the other end of the ship, on a higher deck.

“I think those are Ardyn’s people,” Jevan pointed at the larger group. “They look like they are trying to find a way out of the ship.”

“If Ardyn still lives, surely he knows there is no easy way to leave that ship right now,” Takyra said. “What if he’s looking for a means to communicate with us?”

Nodding, Jevan agreed. “You’re right. Ardyn wouldn’t know how to get back down here, so his best option would be to send us a message.”

“My scans have picked up several shuttlecraft here,” Aerys said, pointing at the rear of the ship. “They won’t all fit on those craft, but if they took several trips, they could use them to get back here.”

“None of them would know how to fly something like that,” Jevan pointed out, fearful of his friend attempting to fly a strange craft.

“True, but we could guide them,” Takyra replied. “Their only other option would be to figure out how to use that transmat technology Denyra used, but we couldn’t help with that.

Aerys nodded, working the controls at his workstation. “I’ve opened all communications channels in case anyone up there tries to reach out. Until then, all we can do is watch.”