Chapter Fifty-One #2
Vor motioned at the man. “Send some soldiers to help us with this.”
“Yes, sir!” The man turned and went into the courtyard behind him.
A few seconds later, two men came running out to take the machine from Vor's soldiers.
“Take that to my office,” Vor said.
“Yes, Commander!” The men ran off.
Lena looked at Vor warily. “Are we going in there?”
“I have to report to my general.” Vor squeezed her hand. “Don't worry, I've told him about you.”
“You told him about me?”
“Yes, I made weekly reports when we were on the surface. He doesn't know that I went after you, but I'm sure he'll be glad to have you here.”
“If you say so,” Lena muttered.
They went through the gateway and across the courtyard, Vor's soldiers in formation behind them.
Men and women saluted Vor, and he nodded back.
The further they went, the more attention they garnered, or rather, Lena did.
People stopped to watch them, gathering in groups to whisper.
Then Lena smiled at them, and everyone dispersed, eyes averted.
Vor chuckled as he led her to a platform that waited at the bottom of the building, beside the front doors.
Vor stepped onto the platform, drawing Lena with him.
“Thank you all for your help,” Vor said to his soldiers. “I will inform the general about your performance and ensure there's a bonus in your next pay.”
“May we tell others about Lena, Commander?” Lieutenant Greis asked.
“Yes, tell everyone. It will take time, but I want everyone in the city to meet her.” Vor waved them off. “Now go and enjoy your time off, you deserve it.”
“Thank you for saving me,” Lena said to them.
“Thank you for all you've done for us, Miss Lena.” Greis bowed. “I look forward to hearing you sing again.”
Lena smiled. “Maybe I can find some musicians to accompany me.”
Greis blinked and looked at the other soldiers.
“What?” Lena looked from them to Vor.
“We don't have musicians here, Lena,” Vor said. “We don't have music.”
“You don't have music?” She gaped at him. No wonder the Nethren had seemed so enthralled when she played for them. “How can you not have music?”
Vor shrugged. “It's unnecessary.”
Lena chewed at her lip. “Maybe I can converge an instrument. Wait. Can I converge down here?”
“Your sister did. I think Tech will help you.” Vor pressed a button on the platform's post, and it lifted them up the side of the building. “Dismissed!”
The soldiers saluted him and then watched them for bit before turning around and leaving the courtyard.
Lena clung to Vor again. Rising was worse than descending.
The city pressed in around her, offering her new views of its grandeur and blatant tech.
It really was astounding. Vor had told Lena his home was beautiful, but she hadn't expected this.
The platform slowed to a halt hundreds of feet from the ground, and a panel opened in the building. Vor led her inside, and Lena breathed a sigh of relief when the panel shut behind them. It would take a while for her to get used to those lifts.
Uniformed people passed by them as Vor led Lena through a corridor and down to a wooden door with a metal plaque on it that read, “General T. Ankeh.” Without knocking, he went into a waiting room with chairs on one side and a small desk on the other.
A uniformed man sat at the desk before a cacher screen, typing on a sleek control panel.
The man looked up when Lena entered the room, his eyes widening.
To the right of the desk, an open door revealed another room with another Nethren man seated at a larger desk, conversing with someone on a type of vidco.
He looked up, light catching on the silver gears in his left cheek and the gray at his temples, so bright against his dark hair.
His eyes widened when he saw Lena, and he stood up.
Simultaneously, the man at the smaller desk stood up and saluted Vor. “Commander, General Ankeh is just finishing a vid.” He glanced through the door, and the general motioned at him to let us in. The man turned back to Vor and glanced at Lena. “He'll see you now, sir.”
“Thank you.” Vor ushered Lena through the doorway with a hand on the small of her back and then closed the door behind them.
“I've got to go.” General Ankeh glanced at the screen propped on his desk. He hit a button and came around the desk to stand before them. “Is this her?”
“Yes, sir.” Vor motioned at Lena. “This is Lena Drask. Lena, this is General Ankeh of Ranuvul.”
“Hello, General.” Lena held out her hand.
The general's green eyes went sharp as he looked from Lena to her hand. Squaring his shoulders, he took her hand in a firm grip and shook it. On the uplift, he flinched. Lena felt the jolt go from her to him. The general gaped at her. Then he let go and stumbled back.
“Great fuck,” the man whispered.
“Sir?” Vor frowned, his hand still on Lena's lower back.
The general cleared his throat and straightened. “Sorry about that.” He came forward. “You . . . did you do that on purpose?”
“No, sir.” Lena glanced at Vor, who smiled reassuringly. “I don't know how to summon it. It just sort of happens. I have more control when I sing.” She glanced at Vor. “I assume he told you about my singing?”
“Uh, yes. I understand.” He looked at Vor. “And I see why Tech sent you to her. What I don't understand is how she's here.”
“I gave Lena a tracker before I left. She activated it.
Tech guided me to build a machine that digs tunnels just large enough for a man to crawl through.
Source assured me it wouldn't compromise the underground.
After building the digger, I took a team with me and dug a tunnel to intersect the fortress's escape tunnel.
The ward was down, so my team and I stole an erial and flew to Lena's location, where she was being held against her will by a group of rogue Aethari, one of whom was the man I told you about—the one who coveted Lena. I killed him, secured Lena, and brought her back here.”
The general's jaw had lowered with every sentence. Even after Vor finished his report, he stood silently, looking back and forth between Lena and Vor.
“General?” Vor prompted.
“You . . . you built a new digger?”
“Yes, sir. Under Tech's guidance.”
“And you found her with a group of Aethari?”
“Yes, if you recall, I reported that an Aethari named Rallorival tried to challenge me for Lena. He's the one who abducted her.”
“I see.” The general cleared his throat. “What happened to the erial?”
“We left it near the fortress, but it's hidden.”
General Ankeh made a pensive sound. “Very good, Commander. That erial may come in handy.” He lifted a hand in a chiding gesture.
“Granted, you should have spoken to me before you went digging a new tunnel to the surface, but I'll overlook that considering Tech's guidance and . . .” He trailed off, his eyes going distant as his breath quickened.
“Dear Tech, what is this?” He pressed a hand to his chest. “I feel more alive. I feel . . .”
“Yes, you feel.” Vor clapped a hand on the general's shoulder.
“And you will feel more the longer you're around Lena. I have a theory that her physical and vocal vibrations activate dormant frequencies in us. In short, Lena aligns our tech parts. She aligns all tech, in fact. Did you see the lights earlier?”
“That was you?” General Ankeh gaped at Lena.
“No, General. I believe that was Tech.” Lena lifted her chin. “Source was welcoming me.”
“It's happy,” Vor added. “Can you feel it? Source rejoices because Lena is here.”
The general closed his eyes for a few seconds and then popped them open. “Source rejoices,” he whispers. “I never thought it could feel, much less feel happiness. How can it feel that, when it's never allowed us to?”
Lena felt something bubble up inside her and opened her mouth to speak, but the words weren't hers.
“Long ago, the Sources were one sentient being who created Para. But the world was dead. Nothing would grow upon it. Life was impossible. So the being divided itself to become the Sources of Technology and Magic. One rose, and one fell, and between them, Para found balance. Even in their separation, they reached for each other, saturating sky, surface, and soil with the harmony of convergence. The world came to life, and the first Medeans were born. All was well upon Para until the Medeans learned about the Sources. Two groups split from the whole, each determined to find a Source. One rose, and one fell, and between them, the remaining Medeans kept the balance. Those who went looking found what they were after, but they upset the balance within them and changed so much that they became new races. The new races built homes near their chosen Source, and their imbalance seeped into the soil and sky until those areas were as imbalanced as the Aethari and Nethren. Only on the surface can the two great energies of Para meet now. It saddens them, who were once one being, to be pushed further apart by the children they love.”
The general and Vor both gaped at her.
Vor recovered first. “They were one being? A being like us?”
“Not like us. They were a god. They made Para and then pulled themselves apart to give their creation life. Gods inhabit and empower our world.”
“Lena,” Vor whispered. “Is that you or is that Source speaking?”
Lena swayed, her mind still hers but full of divine thoughts that both comforted and compelled her. “It is both of us. I am her, but these words come from Source.”
“No one has ever spoken for Tech before,” the general said.
“People speak for Magic.” Lena shrugged as Tech withdrew. “But I suppose you must be sensitive enough to interpret the energy of Source to speak for it. The Nethren have become desensitized. It's time to wake up, General.”
“Yes, it is, Lena Drask, Speaker of Ranuvul.” General Ankeh squared his shoulders. “And you will wake us.”