Beyond the Stars: INEO (6 page)

“Proceed,” it said.

Finally.

I exhaled and took a few steps forward and waited for Gaelan to be cleared for entry.

I gave Gaelan a nudge on the arm after we cleared the guard. I was still shaking inside. “That was unbelievably creepy. What was it looking for?”

“You got me. Maybe it sensed you weren’t from this quadrant of the galaxy.”

“You could have warned me.”

Gaelan grinned. “What? And take away all of my fun. No way. I like seeing your face when you do something for the first time.”

“My inexperience never bores you.”

“Never.”

“I’m so glad I can amuse you.”

CHAPTER 4

TRADING POST

The place was bustling with activity and surprisingly pretty. A coffered ceiling made of dark wood rose high above our heads, making the place feel ritzy, almost formal and castlelike. It looked to be decorated for the holidays because it had strings of white lights fastened to the grooves in the ceiling tiles. The dangling loops formed rows and reminded me of endless ocean waves. Long wooden tables with matching benches were scattered throughout the vast area filled with assorted aliens socializing and walking about in every direction. I had never seen so many different beings in all my life. We walked by a short green lizard creature with spikes covering its head and spine, walking on all fours. And we passed a group of bearlike beasts squawking loudly from one of the tables, as well as a few human looking robots moving between the aisles.
Absurd.
Suddenly, I became grateful for my friends’ earlier coaching. The last thing I wanted was to have the astonishment show on my face. I concentrated on looking fearless and copied Gaelan’s posture as he strode confidently through the crowd. Pretending to be bold helped me keep my true emotions in check.

“Sami, is it what you expected?” Azil asked.

“No.” My voice broke—even though little was shocking me these days. “I
never
expected to see anything like this,” I admitted.

Urit pointed to an area with rows of tables covered in piles of merchandise. It looked like a giant flea market. “Let’s check out the marketplace. Maybe we’ll run into someone we know,” he said with hope.

He maneuvered us through the aisles with ease, occasionally pausing to glance down at some of the items. Clearly, he knew the place well.

We were approached by an eager salesclerk. “Are you searching for anything in particular?”

He was sort of human looking except for being overly hairy on his face and arms. He also had little beady eyes that were too close together and long black talons for fingernails that could use a good trim.

“Yes,” Urit said politely. “Have you seen any Dreons come through here?”

“Dreons?” replied the clerk. “No, not recently, and I am here all the time.”

Urit looked down at the merchandise with a solemn expression. Suddenly, his face brightened and so did the storekeeper’s.

“We just got those in,” he informed him.

“Really? They’re fantastic,” Urit said.

“Top of the line,” cheered the salesman.

Gaelan shook his head. “Doing some shopping, Urit?” Gaelan said as though it was to be expected.

Urit grinned and was enthralled by the displays of junk. “Perhaps. I would like to see if there is anything worth buying while we are here.”

Gaelan groaned and walked past him. “I think he’s doing some retail therapy,” Gaelan said softly by my ear.

“I noticed,” I replied. I followed Gaelan after the rest of our group started to disperse and meander through the aisles separately, probably knowing we would be here for a while.

I remembered Gaelan telling me that Urit liked to buy the most outrageous things for sickening sums of money. He wasn’t materialistic and didn’t collect objects for show, but for usefulness. I studied the items for sale to see if I found anything of interest. They ranged from heaps of clothing to bizarre trinkets. Some of their uses were a complete mystery. Even so, pretending to be preoccupied with the goods made me comfortable because it was the perfect excuse to avoid making eye contact with the aliens we passed. I succeeded in tuning them and their oddities out until I accidentally tripped on a small, yellow skinned man wrapped in a patterned blanket that was covering his head and shoulders. He was sitting Indian style on the floor and was blocking my passage.

“Whoa! I’m so sorry,” I said when I inadvertently pressed my hand on his head to keep myself from falling on top of him.

He reached up and clutched my arm in a firm grip before I could distance myself.

“You, you are from far away,” he said, swaying his body from front to back.

“What
did you say?” I said with alarm, trying to pull my arm free.

He only held on tighter.

“You are from the other side … you will alter the path and change the course for us all,” he said in a haunting tone.

How did he know I wasn’t native to these parts?

“What do you mean?” I asked, desperately wanting to hear more.

“There will be only one. A decision you will make. Your fate is in your hands. You are not what you appear—two spirits in one. You are in this world, though not of this world. You are energy. Pure. You are—” his voice cracked,
“a star.”
He lifted his face to look up at me under the hood of his blanket with a blank stare. His eyelids were so droopy they masked his eyes, and his face was full of wrinkles, making him look ancient. “Death. Power. A new path. Fear …” he said weakly before closing his eyes to resume his rocking motion back and forth.

Gaelan huffed and came to my rescue. “Okay, enough. No—
no
touching,” he said, sounding repulsed, as he fought to release the man’s strong grip. He had to undue each of his long fingers by prying them off my forearm one by one. Quickly, Gaelan took me by the hand and led me away. “Don’t pay any attention to him. His mind is halfway to the Stramba moon.”

I stopped and looked back. “I don’t know. He said something about a star.” I gulped. “Wait … he said something about me being from far away.”

The man’s voice broke with a cough when he yelled out to tell me more. “You must protect it, keep it hidden. It has latched itself onto you for good reason.”

Gaelan briefly glanced back at the man. “Ignore him. He’s not in his right mind. He is a mystical creature called a Dom. He sees alternate realities and is confused by his drifting in between different planes of existence. He is blinded by the life before him. His warnings are completely unfounded. Doms like to predict doom and gloom, and if there’s one thing I have little patience for, it’s irrational thought.”

“Even so, he’s freaking me out. Last night I had this strange vision, I mean dream, that I was rendezvousing with a star,” I said at the risk of sounding as crazy as the Dom.

“Before or after the solar flare?” Gaelan asked.

“Before.”

He paused and looked at me for a few seconds. “You’re starting to scare me. Are you sure you feel
normal
?“

“I feel great.”

He pressed his lips together as he appeared to study my face. “Then don’t repeat what the Dom has told you to anyone else.”

Whatever he was worried about, he wasn’t comfortable discussing it here.

“Why? Do you know something? Tell me.”

“I’m not sure … later,” he said, walking away.

“No,
now,”
I pleaded.

He stopped and sighed. “On Kataria, Dom’s are considered prophets. They see enough to sound convincing, but putting faith in their predictions is dangerous because it can lead to a self- fulfilling prophecy. Besides, you said you don’t feel any different, so there’s nothing to worry about, right?”

I shrugged, unsure. “I guess not.”

Gaelan’s face was unreadable. I wasn’t sure if he was considering the Dom’s claim to be true or trying to dispel my concern. We rejoined Urit at the last table in the market and patiently waited for him while he held up a metal thing that looked like an adjustable desk lamp. “Ooh, will you look at this,” Urit’s voice rose with excitement. He studied it closely, moved around all the hinges, and turned several bolts on the device. Surely it did something cool, but nothing happened.

Azil shrugged. “It’s great, Urit,” she said in a lack-luster tone. “Are you going to buy it or just play with it?”

“No, I’m just looking,” he said, coming out of his silent trance before returning the item to the table.

The shopkeeper returned to Urit’s side holding something that resembled a pen. “The exscrapulator, sir, per your request.”

“Wonderful,” Urit said, sounding thrilled, lifting the bizarre object from his hand.

Azil rolled her eyes. “That’s what we’ve been waiting for.”

“I’ll take it—so we can go,” he said shortly, glaring at Azil. He seemed disappointed when she failed to join in his enthusiasm.

Urit rushed to hand the clerk a small stack of coins and then placed the penlike object in his jacket pocket.

Gaelan scoffed when he saw the exchange. “Now you’ve witnessed it for yourself,” he leaned down and whispered in my ear.

“What?” I said.

“Urit blowing through his money. He just dropped the equivalent of about two hundred thousand dollars in your money.”

“Hmm,”
I coughed. I had to clear my throat with the translation. “What does it do?”

Gaelan let out a laugh. “Heck if I know. I think it helps to separate nucleotides in the DNA of bacteria. He will probably use it to formulate some new medications,” he said convincingly.

“This place is certainly different,” I said with amazement.

The ecstatic clerk scrambled after Urit, trying to show him some other rare items before he could leave. Urit didn’t bite. It looked as though Urit had gotten what he came for and quickly returned to us with a big smile on his face, seeming proud of his purchase. I couldn’t believe you could buy such an advanced instrument so freely. I started looking down at the other objects for sale, which had held Urit’s attention for so long. I picked up a strange box he’d noticed earlier and wondered what made it so special.

Gaelan guided my hand to return the item to the table. “There are much more fascinating things to look at here than that.”

“Yes, like this shiny tubular vase thing,” I said, picking up another object. “Whoa.” It almost slipped from my hand when I picked it up, making me struggle to catch it before it dropped on the floor.
Ahh, what am I doing?
I thought, before carefully returning the object to its spot on the table. I was petrified I would break it and have no way to pay.

“No. Over there, look,” Gaelan said, pointing to an opening in the floor running along the entire length of the post’s back wall. It curved slightly like the rim of a cliff and appeared to encircle a gigantic lower level since the immediate end was nowhere in sight. We approached its perimeter to see where it led.

I expected to discover another level of the market below. Instead, I found myself peering over the edge of a precipice with the most amazing panoramic view—a deep, circular canyon enclosing an enormous swirling dark pit that had to be over a thousand feet below. Never in my life would I expect to see this! It was as black as coal and churned like a whirlpool, spiraling itself down towards a depressed center. My fear of heights suddenly kicked into high gear, causing me to take a few giant steps backwards after I realized I was getting too close to the edge.

I gasped. “What in the world?” The necklace on my neck lifted off my chest and levitated in front of me like a dowsing rod being drawn to water. I looked at Gaelan, unable to close my mouth.

Gaelan gazed over at me. “Pretty cool, huh? I bet you didn’t expect to see
this
hidden inside.” He licked his lips with excitement.

I grabbed my floating necklace and tucked it inside my shirt. “Is that—what is that, a black hole? It can’t be. Why aren’t we being sucked in?” I stammered at the unexplainable sight.

“No. That’s a stationary travel portal called a Black Port. Naturally occurring vortexes are a rare find. It’s completely safe to stand here. Look,” Gaelan explained while he took a step forward and extended his arm. He pressed his hand flat against an invisible barrier surrounding the anomaly before knocking on it with his knuckles. “It will take you to a countless number of dimensions. Passing ships enter it from the open space above. A significant magnetic field emanates from it, but it has no gravitational pull. We think of it more as a membrane.”