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46: The Revelator
"Quite a find, Admiral." Desslok said to the troubled man. "You say it was hidden deep within Deun's information network?"
"Yes, Sire." Admiral Talan replied, "Eliora... was the one who found it. She was nearly caught, but managed to escape network security at the last instant."
"I see." Desslok said, a look of cynicism beginning to rise in his eyes "So you've found Deun's secret, have you?"
"Yes – yes, I have!" Raymond Talan's face was filled with something the Leader had never seen there before – was it horror?
"You seem troubled, Admiral." said Desslok, shaking off some of his dark mood, "You once lightened my darkness, my friend; now, permit me to lighten yours. I assure you that, whatever my brother's plans were, I will do whatever must be done to right them, should they prove nefarious."
Admiral Talan nodded hesitantly, "I thank you. But... now what of our world, Sire? What is to be done about the tsarebetim that plague Gamilon? Rapha'owr itself will soon sink below the crust of the planet."
"I know, Admiral." Desslok replied, seemingly unmoved. "The tsarebetim will be dealt with, as will our people's plight. You have given the information you found to your son, is that correct?"
"I have," the Admiral nodded.
"Good." Desslok replied, "I will see that Masterson has the resources available to him to delve further into this."
Raymond Talan nodded once again, "Thank you, Sire."
"Time is not on our side, Admiral." The Leader bowed his head, eyes closed, "But we will do what we must to see that our people survive this catastrophe."
The Admiral nodded one last time, then was dismissed by the Leader.
"You may go."
Desslok stood alone in the center of the dark room. In his hand he held Mintra'el's silver casing.
"Activate." he said, his voice echoing through the empty room.
A million points of light exploded into the darkness, flying with precise order into their prescribed places.
"Magnify." he ordered, then stepped into the center of the starlit room and selected one section of the map. The area came to life, expanding until one lone planet was floating before him. The blue-green world rested in space, rotating peacefully as he gazed upon it.
Desslok expanded his view of the world even further, that was when he noticed the tiny lights that dotted the planet's surface. The red blips glowed eerily in the darkness.
He let the image rotate slowly, noting the names of the cities, now displayed in a language very similar to Gamilon. Name after name passed by without receiving a second look from the Leader. Then, suddenly one name – or rather two – one region, one city – snatched his attention. He caught the world in both hands, preventing it from spinning any more and stared at the region.
"Mintra'el, read the selected text aloud." he ordered.
The A.I. obeyed and began to pronounce the name of the region the Leader had found, "Yis'ra-el." she said.
"Yisrael" Desslok whispered, his eyes still riveted on the name. "Yisrael..." he took one hand from the globe and for a moment, his index finger hovered over the tiny blip that indicated a city in that region.
"Yeru-shalay-im." Mintra'el pronounced.
Desslok's eyes widened and he whispered, "So it is true then..."
Suddenly he saw the "Date of termination" label – the same one Raymond Talan had seen when he'd found the map initially. "Kislev 'esrim*." he read, then noted the year index. Desslok narrowed his eyes at the hologram, focusing on the point of light that indicated Yerushalayim. "Termination...?" he said in a low voice, "No, not termination," he shook his head slowly, the hint of a smirk appearing on his face as the seed of a plan began to take root, "But conquest."
"You told him then." Masterson said, letting out the breath he'd been holding the whole time his father had been gone.
"I did." Raymond nodded, "And now, it is good to see you again, Masterson." the Admiral wrapped his only son in a bear hug.
"I'm glad to see you again too, Aba. And to know that you survived Deun's occupation." Masterson hugged his father back. "Adonai has been good to us all."
"As He always has been." Raymond replied, now holding his son at arm's length. "How was Iscandar...? Now that Kara and Alexander are gone..."
"It was... lonely. Though the princess and queen have adjusted to the solitude surprisingly well."
"They survived the plague?" the Admiral's expression changed from one of curiosity to disbelief. "How is that possible?"
"That I do not know exactly." Masterson shook his head, "But Queen Starsha is a fine overseer for the world. Even though she has no more populace to care for, she does have a planet to maintain, and she does it quite well."
The Admiral smiled, "So the younger daughter took the throne," he laughed softly, "Talonka would be glad."
Masterson nodded in agreement, "I hadn't thought about it, but yes. I believe she would be."
There was a moment of comradely silence between father and son, then Masterson abruptly broke it, "You found it."
Raymond Talan nodded, his face a mix of awe and concern, "Deun intended to destroy it. But Desslok assured me that Deun's plans would be put to right."
Masterson nodded, "Yerushalayim – if indeed it is the true Yerushalayim – is safe then."
"So it would seem." a shadow fell over Raymond's face.
Masterson nodded, "It isn't to be made common knowledge then? At least for now."
"No, not yet." Raymond replied, "Your mother knows, as does your friend David Lysis, but that is the extent of my circle of confidants."
"When should it be revealed then?" Asked Masterson
"When the time is right." Raymond replied.
"And when will that be?" his son countered.
Raymond took a deep breath, held it for a moment, then let it out again, "I don't know, my son. As soon as it can be done safely."
Knowing it was the best answer his father could give him, Masterson nodded, "It's just been so long already... So long since we even had a hope of finding Yerushalayim... When was it? Ten generations ago that we found the first trace of her that we'd seen for a few centuries..."
"Yerushalayim... Yerushalayim..." Raymond breathed, wishing harder than he ever had in his life that he could stand within the walls of his people's true capitol, the place they'd once called, "Bayit*..."
Dara's hands shook as she flew her newly acquired ship up and out of Gamilon's atmosphere. She paused when she entered orbit though, not quite willing to leave her home of nearly a decade for the darkness of deep space, but unable to stay. The love of her daughter drew out into the void once again.
She gazed out on Gamilon, remembering how she'd felt the day Garen Krenshaw had brought her and Connie to the flourishing green world. Now it was scarred by sickly yellow gashes.
Dara's face grew sadder as she gazed upon the dying planet.
But there was nothing she could do about it now. The only thing she could do was go and find her daughter, save her from whatever despicable mercenaries had taken her.
She shook off the feeling of guilt that suddenly overwhelmed her at the thought of leaving her friends – her family for the past nine years – for leaving Garen... now, when she still had to talk to him... But Connie's life was more important than any other relationship to her. Her own flesh and blood came first above all else.
Taking a deep breath, Dara took the ship out of orbit and started her journey.
She enabled the tracking technology that her ship had been fitted with – a technology similar to the time-delvers' devices. It showed the many trails that had been taken to and from the planet within her specified time frame.
Finally, she found two trails of ships she didn't recognize. Either of them could have been the one that had taken her daughter.
Pausing to think through which trail she should take, she made the best guess she could and sent her ship into warp. Her hunt had begun.
Dommel awoke to a fierce pounding on his and Elisa's quarters in the palace in Rapha'owr. Groaning, he acknowledged the pounding as a knock and opened the door.
"What?" he demanded of whoever had disturbed his rest.
"Dommel, where's Garen?" Wolf's voice suddenly broke through the man's half-conscious state.
"What do you mean, 'where's Garen?' I thought he was with Masterson and Leader Desslok." a feeling of dread suddenly welled up in him.
"He was." Frakken replied, "But he isn't now."
"Does Dara know where he is?" Dommel asked, feeling more and more anxious as the conversation continued.
"I'm sure she would if she hadn't left to chase after Constance a couple of hours ago." Wolf countered.
"Check the hanger." Dommel barked, suddenly in battle mode.
Wolf nodded and called up the palace hanger, a minute later he looked at Dommel and said, "His ship's gone."
Dommel's face suddenly relaxed as he realized the truth. "Well, Garen, you've finally found something to live for then... Good for you, my friend."
Frakken raised an eyebrow at his brother-in-law. "Dommel? What's going on?"
Lysis chuckled, "Wolf, Garen's gone after Dara. And I don't think he's coming back until he's found her and Constance."
"Well," Wolf cleared his throat, "he could have at least left us a note."
"Incoming message for Wolf Frakken and Dommel Lysis." the computer chimed. "Audio only. Pre-recorded."
Dommel chuckled, "I think he just did."
Desslok heard the door ease open. Hearing light footsteps instead of Masterson's heavy ones, he instantly deactivated the map of the world Deun had targeted. He turned up the lights enough to reveal the room's furnishings, but not bright enough to blind himself.
"Sire." an unfamiliar female voice met his ears.
"Yes?" he replied, turning to see who had disturbed his solitude. His eyes rested on a young woman, thin, and of average height. Her features were sharp, hair short and closely combed.
She bowed, "Greetings to you, Leader Desslok. I am Miezela Celestella, chief advisor to Leader Deun."
Desslok's eyes narrowed, darkening in suspicion.
Seeing that her introduction hadn't won her any points with the new Leader she quickly fabricated something that might sound a bit more palatable to the man she couldn't see well in this dim light, "I am... something of an expert on the shêd-summoners."
"Ah." the Leader replied, then turned back around, hiding his face from her again.
"It is... a bit dark in here, Sire." she said.
Without a word the man waved a hand and the lights brightened just a bit, but it was enough for Celestella to see the new Leader much more clearly than she had been able to before.
From her vantage point, few of his features were visible, only the back of his auburn-haired head and his cloaked, broad shoulders."
She stood silently, not saying another word, hoping that the man would turn around.
He took her bait, turning to face her once again.
She stifled a gasp. There, before her eyes stood the very image of Deun. But though his facial features were identical to Deun's, something in his eyes was different. They lacked the wildness of the former Leader's, and yet, there was something... very similar that seemed to lurk just beneath the surface of his consciousness.
Celestella couldn't pinpoint it, but something about this man sent a chill of excitement through her. Aurelia had been right about Desslok's coming. It had changed everything, but it had also afforded her the chance to do for her Malha what no one else could do.
Thus far, the plan was going quite well.
"Have you suddenly no tongue to speak?" Desslok raised an eyebrow at the woman disapprovingly, as though he wished her to leave.
"N-no, Sire." she stuttered, trying to keep up the appearance of being a good, subservient advisor, "I am simply... amazed at your resemblance to... the Usurper, Deun."
Desslok nodded, seeming to accept her reason for not speaking. "Very well, you may return to whatever task you were seeing to before you came in here." he waved a dismissing hand her way.
She nodded "Yes, Sire." then turned to leave, but as she tried to turn away, she found that, for a moment, she could not. Something about his face, something deep within him, called to her from somewhere buried far back in her memory.
She shook her head, clearing away the haunting sense for just long enough to let the door slide shut behind her.
She took a few steps back down the hall, the way she'd come, when suddenly the haunting feeling returned, in full force this time and she felt as though a missing piece of her past had just clicked into place.
The strange girl's red-blonde hair lay strewn across the pillow, like a fire that had fallen asleep and had yet to wake.
Miezela approached the newcomer cautiously. She had only ever seen one other person with this strange tanish skin color before, and that was the scary woman who ordered the Jireli people and the Bolar soldiers around all the time.
She'd forgotten what it looked like outside, she'd been in this dungeon so long, but the scary woman – the "Malha" they all called her – had insisted that she and her sister be kept here "for their own safety." Was this new girl a companion for Mirenel and her? Maybe the Malha wasn't so bad after all.
She tiptoed across the cold stone floor, careful not to let her footsteps ring too loudly in the echoing darkness that pervaded the room. This new girl however, was not lying in the darkness, but was instead bathed in light, plainly visible from every part of the room.
Why she'd been put there, Miezela had no idea, but, then again, the Malha had been known to do things that didn't make a lot of sense to Miezela.
She was a few feet away from the sleeping girl when suddenly her eyes opened just a little – enough to see Miezela – and probably Mirenel too, who was shadowing her older sister.
The girl's eyes lit up with inquisitiveness and she looked like she was about to speak when suddenly a soldier burst into the room and marched over to the girl, brushing Miezela and Mirenel to the side.
Terrified of the brute who'd entered, the sisters hid in the shadows and watched as the Bolar administered what appeared to be some sort of sedative to the girl so that she went back to sleep.
The soldier finished his work then turned and sneered into the darkness where the two sisters hid.
Miezela rolled her eyes at the man's back, sticking her tongue out at him as he left, slamming the door behind him.
"He's never any fun, is he." Miezela folded her arms over her chest in a pout. "We never have anyone else to play with down here, and now that we do, all they want her to do is sleep."
"M-m-maybe she's dangerous." Mirenel offered.
"Ppft!" Miezela scoffed, "Right, and I'm a Tragalien spider-goat."
"Sister!" Mirenel scolded Miezela, a little afraid of what the other girl'd defiance might earn them this time.
"Oh, don't worry, Mirenel. They can't hear us."
"Then how do they know when we're thinking about... escaping?"
"Because you start acting funny, Mirenel. Haven't you noticed it? Whenever we start thinking about escaping this cesspit you start stuttering all the time and tapping your fingers almost non-stop."
"Oh..." Mirenel's face fell, as did her newly constructed elfin ears, making her look even more pitiful.
With a sigh Miezela hugged her sister, who was beginning to cry now, "Don't worry... we'll get out of here... somehow, someday."
Mirenel nodded feebly, not looking so sure.
"I promise we will." Miezela tried again.
This time Mirenel's nod was just the tiniest bit stronger.
The sisters sat huddled in the darkness for a long time, waiting either for the girl to wake up again, or for themselves to fall asleep.
Suddenly the sound of heavy footsteps accompanied by another set of feet sent them out of their forlorn state.
The door to their prison opened and a bright light – maybe a large lantern – shone in, illuminating everything that the darkness had hidden, but inversely hiding the faces of the ones who were entering the dungeon.
The heavy footsteps belonged to the guard who had come in earlier, Miezela was sure of that. She couldn't mis his rotund shape. But the second person – it was a woman, but she seemed to look nothing like the descriptions of the Malha that she had heard.
The woman stood still for a long time, seeming to survey the area. Finally, Miezela's eyes adjusted enough to where she could see the woman's face.
Her skin was a light blue, which set off her startling auburn hair and green eyes. She had a look of grace and elegance that could only belong to a member of nobility.
"Free her." the woman ordered the soldier, pointing to the sleeping girl. He hesitated, reluctant to do as he'd been told. "It is the bargain." the woman said firmly.
Finally, the soldier obeyed and released invisible restraints that had been placed on the girl's wrists to keep her from straying far if she should wake.
The soldier carried the girl back to the entrance of the dungeon.
"Go on. Take her to the agreed upon place." the woman ordered. "I will come as soon as her portion of the bargain is fulfilled."
The woman's eyes suddenly turned to Miezela and Mirenel and she began to approach the two children.
Not knowing what else to do, they scooted away from the stranger, trying to find a shadow to hide in as they always did. But the light that the woman had with her dispelled any darkness that they might have sought refuge in.
"There is no need to fear me." the woman said as she knelt and extended an open hand towards them, "I've come to set you free."
* Kislev 'esrim – The twentieth day of the Jewish month Kislev; it typically coincides with portions of the months of November and December in the English calendar year
* Bayit - home