The Shaktra

  Trae seemed surprised by the question. “A fairy generates his or her own field in order to fly. It is unique to that person. Another cannot enter it, the person would fall to the ground.”

  Ali nodded. “That doesn’t matter right now. My coming here brought the dark fairies. I don’t want to risk anyone outside my group on them. Besides, I’m not worried; we can handle a dozen. What you can do for me is get everyone in the boats. Have them bring the bare essentials. Don’t bother waiting for us, go straight to that stronghold in the mountains Amma told me about.” She added, “Take Farble and Paddy with you. Let the leprechaun bring his gold, he will get upset without it. Bring red meat for the troll.”

  “We are all vegetarians here.”

  “Then give him a bunch of cookies, he has a big sweet tooth.”

  Trae paused. “Excuse me for questioning a direct order, but a few archers might be more helpful than you realize. I know I would feel more comfortable if you let a half dozen accompany you.”

  Ali had to remind herself not to get cocky when it came to her powers, particularly when she was injured. Her hand throbbed as she spoke. “That’s fine, I’ll take six with me. But I want you and Amma to leave with the others.”

  Trae shook his head. “Either Amma or myself must stay with you if you are to find the stronghold. Its location is top secret, so to speak.”

  “Then have Amma stay behind,” Ali said, although she had no plans to go to the stronghold. “But I want her to remain inside the palace until the dark fairies are dead.”

  “You do not remember our Amma. She will insist on fighting beside you.”

  Ali was firm. “That is an order, she is to obey me.”

  Ra was with Drash when she reached the game room, his bow and arrows ready. Ra nodded his approval when he saw the six archers Ali had brought along.

  Taking out her fire stones, and reviewing with them where the dark fairies were heading, Ali hastily drew up a plan of attack. But Ra didn’t like it; he thought they should split up, come at the dark fairies from two directions, with Drash on one side, the rest of them on the other. He especially wanted Drash outside, where he could unleash his flame.

  “I’ve seen him. His fire is growing by the hour,” Ra said.

  “Is that true?” Ali asked.

  The koul was uncertain. “Drash is a lot hotter in the face than last night.”

  “How many dark fairies can you kill at once?” Ali insisted.

  Drash shrugged. “Depends on how close together they are.”

  “Can the blast of their fire stones pierce your hide?” Ali asked.

  “Drash hopes not.”

  “He can kill all we need him to kill,” Ra said confidently.

  “Have him exit the back side of the palace and crawl toward the front. We can follow him out the windows, and we’ll know when he is in position. This way we get the hammer and anvil effect. Crush them from both sides.” Ra added, “Ali, you know how dangerous it will be if even one of them escapes.”

  “I hate exposing Drash to their firepower,” she said.

  The koul shook his head and turned toward the rear exits. “Drash owes Geea. He wants to fight.”

  Ali called after him. “Protect your eyes! Don’t light the palace on fire!”

  Ra’s plan was superior, Ali had to admit. They were able to follow Drash through the windows as he went out the back and then headed for the front. The dark fairies were spread along the edge of the palace, all on the west side, the direction the koul was going. As Drash closed on the first dark fairies, Ali and Ra and the other archers moved behind the monsters farthest away from the koul. Being able to look down on their enemy gave them a huge advantage, but Ali understood the dark fairies were staying out of the air so as to remain inconspicuous. They were evil but they were not stupid.

  Ali saw no sign of Radrine.

  The battle that ensued was no battle at all. When Drash bumped into the first of the dark fairies, he let loose with a blast of flame that was so ferocious it literally stretched out fifty yards, the length of an Olympic-sized pool. It was so wide, so hot, that the dark fairies standing in the center of it turned to crisp bacon. The other dark fairies came up to attack the koul, but he only had to suck in another breath, and then there was more dark fairy ash floating on the breeze. The archers shot two that tried to run away, and Ra and Ali did not even use their weapons. The skirmish was over in less than a minute.

  Then Ali became aware of a dark fairy frantically flying away from the palace.

  She did not see it, not out the window they were standing at, but she suddenly sensed it on the other side of the palace. Dragging Ra and the archers with her, she raced out the front porch and into the palace courtyard. The dark fairy was a quarter of a mile away, high up, flying fast in the glare of the green sun. Along with the archers, Ra tried shooting it down but it was out of their range.

  Ali raised her fire stones and got off two good shots. One scored a direct hit, but to her surprise the creature did not drop. It was then Ali knew she was staring at Radrine. Only the evil queen could have taken such punishment and survived.

  Amma came running out of the palace, carrying a long silver knife.

  “I have to go after it, it will alert others that we are here!” she exclaimed, and Ali saw that she was about to rise into the air.

  “Stay where you are! Let it go!” Ali snapped.

  “Ali! If she can go after it, let her go!” Ra shouted.

  Ali sensed a powerful field building around Amma, saw the woman gripping her knife tightly, her entire attention focused on the escaping dark fairy. Ali had to walk over and shake her.

  “I’m your queen, you’re to listen to me!” she said. “You’re not going after it!”

  Amma was dumbfound. “Surely you can see that it cannot be allowed to escape?”

  “It is Radrine. You are no match for her,” Ali said.

  Amma met her intense gaze. “How do you know what I can do?”

  “Let her try to kill it,” Ra pleaded.

  But Ali would not release Amma. For some reason, an intense urge to protect the fairy swept over her. “It doesn’t matter, we are leaving anyway,” Ali said.

  “If Radrine was dead, maybe we wouldn’t have to leave,” Amma said.

  Ali tried being gentle. “You said it yesterday, I have to follow the path I’ve begun. There is no point in staying here. Remember, you promised to come with me.” She added, “You’re not going to die on me before I get to know you.”

  A tear came into Amma’s eye, but she didn’t respond, just walked away.

  They were in a wooden rowboat, the three of them: Ra, Amma, and Ali. As it turned out, they had killed the dark fairies so quickly they had reached the harbor before the others had left. Now, as a small fleet, they were floating north on the black waters of Tiena. Although she was not interested in the stronghold, Ali did not mind their direction for she felt it took her closer and closer to the kloudar.

  They had oars but they were not using them, content to let the current push them forward. Swimming alongside their boats, Drash offered to tow them faster, but Ali told him to relax, to regain his strength after his successful battle. The other fairies had heard of Drash’s ferocious flame, the whipping he had given the dark fairies, and had praised him for his help. This had done wonders for the koul’s self-esteem.

  Yet they had also heard that a dark fairy had escaped, and that was bad. Ali was not sure how firm their faith was in the strong-hold they were headed for. She feared that when the Shaktra marked a fairy, it had access to its memories. She hoped that none who had been marked knew about the place.

  Ali expressed her fears to Amma, who sat beside her in the rear of the boat.

  “Few know the direction to the spot, and none have gone into battle where they could have been captured,” Amma said. “It should be safe for the time being.”

  “I want Paddy and Farble to go there with the rest of the fairies.” Her friends were in a
nearby boat, and kept waving and smiling at her. Farble was helping Paddy count his coins, and the leprechaun appeared happy for the help.

  Who said a troll could not count past two?

  Amma merely nodded her head. “Whatever you wish, Geea.”

  “You think I was wrong to stop you back there?” Ali asked.

  “You are my queen. I obey your word.”

  “My word,” Ali whispered, mostly to herself. “What is the worth of my word when I cannot remember my name? You know, I had to be told it.”

  “Who told it to you?”

  Ali regarded her in the dark, spoke softly. “Nemi. Do you know who that is?”

  “I know what Nemi. . . I know of Nemi.”

  “Who is he? Where is he?”

  Amma’s face darkened. “I’m sorry, Geea, I can’t tell you.”

  “Because you don’t know? Or because you think I’m not ready?”

  “Both.”

  “Maybe it’s time you started to trust me more.”

  Amma was not offended. “Things will become clear when you reach the kloudar.”

  “There are so many up in the sky. How will I know which one to visit?”

  “I will show you.”

  Ali felt her heart accelerate. At the same time, the ache in her palm increased. Thoughts of Ra’s opium were tempting her more than ever.

  “Do you know where my mother is?” Ali asked quietly.

  Amma looked at the black water. “It is not the way you think.”

  “Then explain it to me!”

  “I cannot. You have to . . . you have to understand yourself better.”

  Ali was confused. “What does that have to do with finding my mother?”

  “Everything.” Amma gestured to her bulging pocket. “You took the stardust.”

  “I might need it before all this is over.”

  “Take it now and it will kill you.”

  “You said in my room that you did not know that for sure.”

  “The stardust affects more than the body. It alters the mind. Right now—you have admitted it—you don’t know your own mind. You can hardly remember Geea. How, then, can you swallow her most powerful potion?”

  “She left it out for me to find.”

  “You left it out for you to find. See, you cannot even speak of her as identical with yourself.”

  “Try being human and you’ll know why,” Ali said, an edge in her voice.

  “How do you know I have never been human?”

  The question threw Ali off balance. “Have you?” she gasped.

  Amma looked away again. “I cannot talk about it. Not now.”

  Ali was impatient. “Why not?”

  Amma put a finger in the black water, stirred a small wave. “You ask me to trust you, and that is fine, you are my queen. I trust you with all my heart, Geea. But you have to trust me as well.”

  “It is hard when you keep speaking in riddles.”

  Amma stared at her. “Your life is one long riddle. Your questions are endless, but my words, my answers, they are not so important. Only you can solve the Geea riddle, the Ali riddle.”

  Ali considered. “Are they identical?”

  Amma nodded. “You are making progress.”

  Perhaps because she was human, Ali was not ready to drop all her questions.

  “When I was on Earth three days ago, I met a strange man in town—in our local barbershop. He looked like a wizard. He knew about the Yanti, and he demanded that I show it to him. It was like he cast a spell on me, and I almost gave it to him. Somehow I managed to hold on to it and then, when I tried to get a look at him in the mirror, there was an explosion of light and he vanished. I might have blacked out for a moment, I’m not sure.” Ali paused. “Do you know who he was?”

  Amma’s face fell. “Did he wear gloves?”

  “How did you know that? He had on white gloves.”

  “He wore the gloves because he did not want you to touch him.”

  “Why not?” Ali asked.

  “Because one touch would have revealed who he was.”

  “I don’t understand,” Ali said.

  “You will understand before this day is over.”

  “But do you know who he was?” Ali insisted.

  “He was not a he,” Amma replied.

  Another riddle, Ali was sick of them. “At least tell me if I’ll find my mother before this day is over,” she said.

  Amma turned away. “Perhaps.”

  As the watery miles slowly passed, Ali reflected back on the time she had spent with Mike Havor at Omega Overtures’s headquarters in Toule. When he had taken her into the back offices, he had shown her the cover for their new game called Armageddon. Since it was a sequel to Omega Overlord, it was about the end of the world and the artwork reflected as much. It was dark and gray and depicted a battlefield where men and women and robots were locked in a fight to the death. Studying its dismal mood, Ali felt compelled to ask why he liked such disheartening themes. He sat down behind his modest desk and smiled at her question, his blind eyes hidden by his dark glasses.

  “The superficial answer is because it sells,” he said.

  Ali sat across from him. “But you don’t just do this for the money, I can tell. You do it because you like it.”

  He nodded. “You’re a perceptive young woman, Lisa.”

  “But how can you enjoy so much death and destruction?”

  “You play Overlord all the time? Why do you enjoy it?”

  Ali reddened, glad he could not see the color in her cheeks. “Playing it for a few hours here and there is one thing. You spend years designing these games. Don’t they depress you?”

  “No. I’ll tell you why. I think our games are educational.”

  “How so?”

  “Because I think they show where we’re heading as a race.”

  “You don’t really think we’re going to destroy ourselves, do you?”

  “I think as a species we have to go down to rise up. The president of this country is talking about putting weapons in space to shoot down incoming missiles. This morning on the news I heard a scientist predict that within twenty years, over two dozen nations on Earth would have nuclear bombs. With all that going on, how do you think we’re going to avoid World War Three?”

  “I have faith in human nature. We’ll never let it go that far.”

  “I hate to tell you this, but it has already gone past the point of no return.”

  “In your opinion.”

  Mike shrugged. “Everything I say is only my opinion.”

  Ali tried another approach. “But all this cyborg stuff you have in your games—you don’t believe that’s going to happen, do you? I mean, no one is going to attach all that junk to their bodies. It won’t happen in a million years.”

  “It will happen in the next twenty years. Let me give you an example, and play along with me for a few minutes and be completely honest—that is the most important thing. Say twenty years from now you are happily married and you have a wonderful ten-year-old daughter named Debbie. Now next door to you lives another happy family and they have a ten-year-old daughter named Sally. Debbie and Sally go to school together, but they’re not really in the same classes because your Debbie is smarter than Sally. In fact, she has an IQ twenty points higher, which is a lot, trust me.” Mike paused. “How does this sound?”

  “So good so far,” Ali said.

  “But then one day Sally’s parents hear about a new device that has the ability to boost their daughter’s mental capabilities. It works by training the brain waves to stay in the alpha state. That’s where your brain is relaxed, and most receptive to learning new things. The catch is this device has to be implanted in the brain to work most effectively. But once it’s there, the person’s IQ shoots up over thirty points. So when Sally gets it, she immediately begins to do better in school than your daughter.”

  “I get it. You’re going to ask if I would buy it for my daughter so she could keep up w
ith Sally?”

  “Yes. But first I was going to add that all the kids at school end up getting it.”

  Ali shook her head. “I wouldn’t let my daughter get the implant.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because she’s my daughter! I wouldn’t let someone stick something foreign in her brain.”

  “I hear you. But what if as the years pass, Debbie begins to fall way behind all her friends, so that she has to be put in a special education class?”

  “I can’t imagine that would ever happen.”

  “Stretch your imagination further. Because in two decades there will be devices on the market that will boost the IQ by over thirty points. They will probably arrive sooner than that. They’re already in the preliminary stages of development. The scenario I’m laying out for you is going to happen. If you deny your daughter the implant, she will fall so far behind in school that her entire self-image will be destroyed. And when she does get out in the real world, she probably won’t be able to get a job anywhere.”

  “You exaggerate to make a point,” Ali said.

  “I tell it like it’s going to be to make a point. Let me ask you again. Would you let Debbie get the implant?”

  Ali hesitated. “Could it harm her brain?”

  “No. It would just make it work more efficiently.”

  Ali considered. “I guess it’s possible I might let her get it.”

  “Let’s take it a step further. Have you heard about nanotechnology?”

  “I’ve seen it in sci-fi movies. That’s where they make molecular-size machines?”

  “Yes. Have you seen how they inject them in people?” Mike asked.

  “On Star Trek.”

  “Good. Say in our story that Debbie has finally got her implant, and she is doing much belter at school, and keeping up with all her friends. The only problem is, she gets more than her fair share of flus and colds, and some of these turn into bronchitis, or even pneumonia. But then you read about this nanotechnology injection that she can get that will kill all the invading viruses and bacteria that enter her system so that she will not have to suffer from a cold or flu for the remainder of her life. Would you get it for her?”

  “Probably.”