The Excalibur (Space Lore Book 2) (22 page)

If the figure wasn’t actually her mother, it might have given up the form it had been taking and revealed its true identity before killing Vere. But Isabel only smiled, the corners of her mouth curling ever so slightly, then gave a short yelp of laughter. The same laugh Vere had heard when she was a girl.

“Still as curious as ever, I see.”

A trio of comets passed in the distance, each leaving a trail of white light behind them as they made their way through the galaxy. The sun began to come up over the far side of the Excalibur, turning the section of asteroid they were standing on from shadows and darkness to what it would be like during the day back home.

For a moment, it seemed Isabel wasn’t going to answer, or was going to play some game of riddles and mysteries like Mortimous or Galen.

But then she said, “I’m here to help, of course.”

She flashed the same smile, and each time she did Vere couldn’t help but grin in return. That one thing, her mother’s happiness, made her feel safe and taken care of and loved.

“You’re the Matron of the Mineral?”

Isabel’s smile changed. It was still genuinely pleasant, but the corners of her eyes narrowed with deviousness. “That was one of Mortimous’s silly jokes. But yes, I am the person he was referring to.”

“But, you’re…”

Even this amused her mother. “Dead?”

Vere nodded. “I helped care for you when you were ill. I was there when you died.”

For the second time in her life, Vere heard someone she had loved and lost say the same thing: “There is so much more to this galaxy than what we can see.”

Galen had said the exact same thing to her in the cave years before.

“Mortimous,” Vere said, her voice lowering to a growl.

“Don’t blame him for anything. He really is trying to help. Not to mention, he saved me. He’s the reason I’m here.”

“But you died.”

“Death is only the beginning, Vere. He taught me that there is much more to experience than what we see when we think our eyes are open. Without him, I wouldn’t be here now.”

“But how?”

Isabel waved the question away. “Some other day.”

“No, Mom. I need to know.”

Her mother shook her head as she chuckled. “Vere, Vere, Vere. Ever so stubborn. A long time before I ever met Mortimous, he—”

“Mom, I asked how you got here.”

Isabel put a hand on Vere’s shoulder. “I’m explaining, honey.”

Under the helmet of her space armor, Vere felt her cheeks turn crimson from embarrassment. “Sorry.”

Her mother continued, “Mortimous gained a reputation as a mystic and a seer, but that wasn’t the truth of who he was or what he did. When he disappeared for weeks or months at a time, going out into the Forest of Tears or the Literac mountains, people thought he was just being strange. But he was set on finding out the answers to the galaxy that no one else knew. To do that, he wanted to get away from people. Even himself.”

Vere’s brows furrowed and she shook her head. “Even himself?”

No matter how far Mortimous walked in order to be alone, Isabel said, the same doubts and fears pervaded his thoughts. It was only when he sat in perfect quiet, drifting off in a state where he didn’t think about daily life, or about anything at all, that he began to find the serenity he was looking for.

Isabel smiled. “That was when he saw them for the first time.”

Vere sat on the nearest boulder and motioned for her mother to do the same.

“Saw who, Mom?”

“A race of beings no one else had ever known about. A race that isn’t bound by our perception of time or space. Because of that, no ordinary being had ever come across them or knew they existed. But Mortimous, in his isolation, stumbled across them.”

“Mom, the Vonnegan fleet...”

“I know, dear. But you asked. And understanding this will help you more than anything else you could be doing while Mowbray approaches. Anyway, these beings, with no constraint on time or space, were able to go anywhere in the past or the future, were able to exist in every corner of the galaxy at all times.”

“The old gods?”

“No, just a race of beings far superior to anything we have ever known, beings that most people will never be able to have contact with. The more Mortimous drifted off into a state of solitude and quiet, the more he was able to glimpse these beings. First, he saw them in his dreams. Later, in his waking life. He came to understand that their ability to live in five dimensions gave them the ability to do anything they wanted. They were capable of things we consider to be impossible. They could do things like bring a knight, dead for a thousand years, back to life in another part of the galaxy.”

“The Green Knight.”

Isabel nodded. “Just as they are able to let me be here now.”

“Then why don’t they stop Mowbray? Why don’t they free the Excalibur Armada and let me protect the CasterLan Kingdom?”

“Quite frankly, dear, because they hold a very low opinion of what we think of as advanced life. For thousands of years, they have seen constant war and suffering in one part of the galaxy or another. They could be visible to us if they wanted. The only reason they appeared to Mortimous was that they saw him reject that way of thinking. They saw that he was interested in true knowledge rather than power.”

“Then why bring back the Green Knight? Why send you here?”

“Because every once in a while, Mortimous is able to convince them that by performing one small act, thousands or maybe millions of lives may be saved. He tells them that people can change their ways, that we can learn from our mistakes and one day live in peace.”

Vere took hold of her mother’s arm. “Tell him to convince them that I need the Excalibur Armada. It’s the only way I’ll save our people.”

“Vere.” Isabel reached out and put her hands on her daughter’s shoulders. “Those ships won’t save you. That’s not why they’re here.”

Vere’s smile vanished. Her eyebrows dropped. It was the expression that had always signaled to Fastolf and Traskk and everyone else who knew her that they had better keep their distance. Something bad was about to happen.

But it was her mother in front of her, so she closed her eyes for a moment and calmed herself. “You don’t understand. The Vonnegan fleet outnumbers us three to one. We don’t stand a chance.” And then, just to make sure her mother understood completely, added, “Our kingdom will be lost. Everything father worked to build will be destroyed.”

Upon hearing this news, Vere expected anyone she knew to ask how they could help, to declare that nothing was more important than stopping the oncoming assault. Especially her mother, who had loved her husband, and he in return, so much so that it had taught Vere to never expect that same kind of rare love for herself. Her mother, however, didn’t seem concerned by the news at all. The smile on her lips didn’t waver for even an instant.

“I know all of that, my dear.”

“And you still won’t help me free the ships? Isn’t that why you’re here?”

“I’m not here to help you free this armada,” her mother said, opening her palms toward the stone-encased fleet, “I’m here to stop you from
trying
to free them.”

50

The war room of Mowbray’s Supreme Athens Destroyer was unlike any other in the galaxy. There were no generals standing over an assortment of maps or military leaders trying to convince one another of their strategy. Nor were there any first officers, computers, or communications systems providing constant updates.

The only other people in Mowbray’s room weren’t there at all. Only their three-dimensional holograms were present at the table. Only those who were absolutely essential were allowed to attend. The meeting was limited to ten of Mowbray’s most trusted generals, each aboard their own Athens Destroyer.

One entire wall of Mowbray’s war room consisted of floor-to-ceiling clear panels that made it look as though the Vonnegan ruler could simply step off of the flag ship and drift into space. The opposite wall was reflective, making it look as though he was surrounded by the galaxy on both sides. On the walls to his left and right were the battle flags of kingdoms that previous Vonnegan rulers had conquered through the generations. Each was a cloth banner rather than an electronic display that floated in space to indicate a defeated vessel. All of the flags shared one thing in common: they were scorched, torn, and soaked in blood. Rather than symbolize a destroyed craft, they represented the defeat on an entire kingdom.

One was in the pattern of fire, a clenched fist in the middle of the flames. Another was of a pair of swords crossed to form an X, with four different objects in the spaces to each side. Yet another was the outline of a warrior holding a shield and battle axe, black and gold stripes behind it. All belonged to extinct empires.

Each opposing ruler had sent his fleet into battle against the Vonnegans and each had lost. The flags adorning Mowbray’s wall could have been in pristine condition if the other rulers hadn’t been so stubborn.

“The CasterLans have activated the new portal above the third moon of Mego Turkomann,” one of Mowbray’s generals said.

Another added, “Our latest intelligence indicates the fleet is moving away from Edsall Dark and is heading toward that moon.”

Mowbray nodded. “Very well. We will meet them there.”

A third general said, “There is a remote chance, however unlikely, that they are expecting reinforcements to appear through the portal. If so, we might consider conducting the battle somewhere else.”

At this point in the discussion, another ruler of Mowbray’s stature might end the meeting, then send his guards to kill the general who would question his ruler’s commands. Mowbray, though, only shook his head.

“There is no chance of reinforcements,” he told the room of holograms. “Whether or not Vere CasterLan thinks there is a possibility of such a thing is quite another discussion. I can assure you, however, that no one will be coming to the aid of the CasterLans.”

Soon, another flag would be added to the wall by his side. This one would show the head of a blue dragon with five tails coming out from behind it. And although he knew there was an unlikely possibility that Vere CasterLan herself would grudgingly hand the flag over to him to prevent a massacre, he rather enjoyed the idea of seizing it as a charred and torn collection of threads, blood soaking every corner of it.

51

“I’m not here to help you free this army,” her mother said, opening her palms toward the stone-encased fleet, “I’m here to stop you from trying to free them.”

If anyone else had said that to Vere she would have withdrawn her Meursault blade and asked them if they were sure that was how they felt. With her mother, however, she could only stare in astonishment, her mouth open.

“But father’s kingdom—it’s everyone we know and love—I’m responsible for them.”

“That’s not why this armada was put here, honey.”

“I don’t care why it was put here. I only care that it’s here and I need it.”

“Why do you think the ships are encased in stone?” her mother asked.

“That isn’t what concerns me.” Then, stifling a tantrum, she yelled, “Why don’t you care what’s happening? This is our world that’s going to be destroyed. Our kingdom!”

Isabel nodded and lowered her head. “Let me rephrase it. Which do you like more, the armada or the rock that contains it?”

“The ships, of course.”

Her mother let out a pained sigh. “You are not wise to say that. Every ruler who has come here has thought that way and they have all left without the armada. The rock is worth an armada ten times the size of this one, because as long as it is here no blood will be shed.”

“You aren’t making sense, Mother.”

“Of course I am. That’s why they encased the ships in stone in the first place: to show the rest of the galaxy that a superior armada will always exist and that kingdoms should learn to coexist peacefully.”

“Wait,
they
did this?” Vere asked, referring to the aliens her mother had mentioned.

Isabel looked to her side and nodded. Vere turned toward the same direction, expecting to see someone else there, but if there was someone, only Isabel could see them.

“I don’t have much more time,” her mother said, standing from the rock where she had been seated.

Vere stood and took a step forward, holding her mother in her arms again. “Don’t go. Please, help me.”

“I’m trying to help you, Vere.”

Still holding her mother close, Vere shook her head.

“Where are you going?”

Isabel smiled. “To continue my journey, honey. We are never done. Each step is the first. When you understand that, you—”

“Mom, I need help.”

For the first time, Isabel seemed pained. “I have to go, dear. I’m sorry.”

The oxygen sensor on Vere’s space armor began to beep. Or had it been beeping the entire time she had been talking with her mother? Looking down, she saw the reserves were nearly empty. Even if she began walking back to the Griffin Fire right away, she would never make it. Traskk would have to come pick her up.

Her mother began taking small steps away from Vere, away also from the general direction of the Griffin Fire.

“Mom, don’t go.”

“I have helped the only way I can, Vere. The armada is encased in stone to teach the galaxy a lesson.”

“I don’t need a lesson, I need more ships!”

Her mother paused and turned back toward Vere. “There once was a peaceful race of beings that were always being attacked by other planets. This was long, long ago. They were constantly at war, defending their planet. So they built a fleet greater than any other in the galaxy. And yet they were still at war. They warred with planets that had previously attacked them. They warred to defend the other planets in their solar system. They warred to get more resources when their own became scarce. And they realized that this great armada they had built, which was supposed to bring an end to death and misery, had only increased it tenfold. Dismayed, their king refused to eat or see anyone for two weeks. When he reappeared, he was smiling and told his people that the kingdom’s troubles were over. Above them, in space, the people were horrified to see that their armada had become encased in rock. The king, in his delirium, had come across the same beings that Mortimous discovered thousands of years later. They told the king they could put an end to his constant war and he accepted. Ever since then, this asteroid has been circling through space, showing everyone the best use of the king’s armada.”