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  They walked in and the woman closed the door behind them. Doctor. So that’s how Vivian made a living in the village. In fact, she was surprised she hadn’t questioned it before.

  The room looked plain, with a rectangular table in the middle that didn’t look much different from Vivian’s table in her eating room. In fact, nothing in the place gave any hint that it was where one saw the future—or tried to, not that Saytera had any idea of how such a place should look like. The girls sat at the table.

  The woman looked at Saytera, “So what’s your name?”

  “Saytera.”

  “And what do you want to know?”

  Saytera blinked. Was she supposed to answer that truthfully? “Everything.”

  Iona stared at her, then burst out laughing. “You do realize there are ten thousand known galaxies, two of them with systems inhabited by humans, that we know of, of course. Do you want to know the secrets behind the intraspace tunnels, what exactly the Blues are, and what other species roam our universe? Or do you want to know about the species of plants on this planet, and which ones can be used for what? What about the strange animals seen on the islands, or what exists on the other side, in the great Tormented Sea? Or would you like to know about the stars beyond human reach? Girl, your will is commendable, but you have to define ‘everything’.”

  “I know.” Saytera had no idea why she’d said “everything”. At least now she saw something special about Iona. It wasn’t the same captivating presence that the islander masters had, but there was something commanding about the way she spoke. But this wasn’t the time to notice how exactly the woman was different from the islanders. Saytera tried to think why she was there. There, not only at Iona’s place, but in the continent. She wanted to ask about her destiny, but she feared sounding silly. “I… I don’t really know how this works. What about you tell me?”

  “Oooooh, you want to hear answers for questions you didn’t ask? Not everyone is ready for that, you know?”

  Saytera at first thought that was a hint for her to try to ask a right question, but apparently, no. The woman got up and used a switch on the wall to turn off the light. A cubic grey box on the corner of the room was now the only source of illumination. The woman picked it up and put it on the table. She held Saytera’s hands and closed her eyes. Saytera should perhaps close her eyes as well, but she kept looking at the strange box. The woman then opened her eyes and put hers and Saytera’s hands on it. The top of the box, where the hands were, started turning black, while the bottom became lighter, like sand in cloudy water.

  Iona then pulled a bolt from one side of the box and spun it. The luminous bottom came up in little dots. They illuminated the ceiling and walls of the room, like a night sky, except that in this case the “stars” were too spread out, unlike in the real sky when they were close together. Still, it was beautiful.

  “What’s this supposed to mean?” Saytera asked.

  “It’s your universe. As it stands, now.”

  “Now?” Saytera thought that was interesting, and it led her to a conclusion. “So you don’t see the future.”

  “Give me two dots and I’ll see where the line is going. It doesn’t mean I see the rest of the line. But you’ll get me out of my concentration, dear. This is about you.”

  True, that wasn’t the best moment to ask about how her “seeing” worked. The woman remained in silence, and Saytera wondered if she was supposed to say anything, but she didn’t know what.

  After a while, the woman started, “You are not from here.”

  Iona got points for catching the obvious.

  “And there’s something you want to know?” The woman looked at her, expecting an answer.

  “Well, yes.” Saytera decided to give it a shot. “I heard something about my destiny, about me being important for the war, I want to understand what it is.”

  If Iona thought the question was silly or Saytera was delusional, she didn’t show it. She nodded, then looked at the “sky” in her room and squinted.

  “You know that each person makes their own destiny. Your importance is up to you to decide. But I’ll see what I find here.”

  She was sounding like Yansin. Saytera wondered if all she would hear were some obvious generalities. Well, why should she even be disappointed or surprised? At least the projecting box was beautiful and the experience was interesting. And the woman seemed harmless and unlikely to try to predict any future and influence anyone.

  The woman finally started speaking again, “I don’t see anything here about some predetermined destiny, no. I’m afraid there isn’t such a thing. What I can tell you is what’s immediately around you. That’s more useful. Now…” The woman’s face hardened. Even in the dim light from the projecting cube, Saytera noticed it had turned pale.

  The woman got up and turned on the light. “You have to go. Now.” She opened a back door. “Leave. You’re in danger. Run. And get away from here.”

  Nowla crossed her arms. “Fine. I’ll never come back, then.”

  “I’m sure you won’t. Sorry, it’s for your own good. Follow me.”

  They entered an eating room, then the woman opened a door leading outside, and gestured for the girls to get out. “Don’t walk on the main road. Don’t go back to the doctor’s house. Go away, and try not to be followed.”

  “What are we supposed to run from?” Nowla asked.

  The woman stared at the girl, then said with the most solemn voice, “Imminent danger.”

  6

  Imminent Danger

  Saytera’s heart was beating fast. The woman’s behaviour had been a little weird, but she did seem truly scared.

  She turned to Nowla. “What was that?”

  “That? You know what it was?” Nowla shook her hands beside her face and said with a deep voice, “Imminent danger!” She then started laughing.

  Saytera laughed a little, too. Her friend’s impersonation of the stargazer made her realize how ridiculous the “imminent danger” had been. But still… “Maybe we should be careful.”

  Nowla waved a hand. “Nonsense. Where did she even get that from? It makes no sense. She was probably getting embarrassed that she had no answers. Your fault, with your big questions. You know, people usually ask about boyfriends and stuff.”

  Saytera had never thought people would ask about that. “Really?”

  Nowla rolled her eyes. “Of course, you want to live in that island where there isn’t anybody for you, you obviously don’t care about that stuff.”

  She thought about Cayo, and felt a pang in her chest. She then looked at Nowla. “Was that what you wanted to ask about? A boy?”

  She fiddled with her hair. “No. Maybe about the future, where I’m going and stuff.”

  “I thought you were going to stay.”

  “In this village?” Nowla had a grimace. “Are you crazy? I’m going to a military academy. Vivian told me she’d set it up for me.”

  “But then you might have to face a war.”

  “Well, if I am going to be important, I have to start somewhere, right?”

  That made sense. “It’s scary, though.”

  “Like everything that matters. Well, I’m not just going to watch my planet crumble and do nothing. I can’t. You… you should maybe consider coming as well.”

  Saytera sighed, unsure what to say.

  Nowla seemed to notice and said, “I know. I know you want to go back. But it was just a thought. Anyway, I’m going to make a difference.”

  Unlike you, her friend’s look implied. Saytera could reply that she was the important one, but then, how exactly was she planning to make any difference? Not a thought worth following, at least not before learning whatever Vivian had to show her.

  Saytera noticed they were approaching the wide path. “I still think we should avoid the main road.”

  “That’s stupid. If anything, we’re safer where there are more people.”

  That made sense, regardless if the “imminent dan
ger” was a real threat or not. Perhaps Saytera was jumpy for no reason.

  The main road had a few men with their freaky short hair walking ahead of them, but other than that it was empty. And normal. And safe. Saytera almost laughed at her silliness. It was just a wide path—or road. At least the false “imminent danger” would help Saytera understand how dangerous these things could be and how they could influence a person.

  When Saytera was about to turn to her friend and comment on that, she felt a strong hand over her mouth, so that the scream that formed in her throat came out as a whimper. Another arm was around her waist pulling her away from the path. She tried to jerk free or elbow her captor but it was like trying to fight a wall. There were rings in the fingers of the hand covering her mouth, scratching her lips and cheeks.

  On a path of grass behind a house, he let her go, and she found herself besides Nowla, surrounded by four people, three men and one woman. They had long grey cloaks closed in the front, covering their clothes.

  Now that nobody was silencing her, Saytera screamed, “Help!”

  The woman had brown eyes and hair, and shook her head with a smile. “It won’t work, darling. We sealed the sound here.”

  Saytera glared at her and screamed again, but this time louder, “Heeeelp!”

  The woman sighed and rolled her eyes. It was probably true that screaming would be useless, since she didn’t seem the least worried. Saytera considered trying to run, but she was surrounded and plus she didn’t want to leave Nowla.

  The woman shook her head. “Don’t be afraid.”

  If anything, she looked like an islander, except that she wore rings in one hand and had her brown eyes heavily lined.

  “Who are you?” Saytera asked, realizing that her voice was hoarse from her screaming.

  “None of your concern,” the woman replied. “We mean no harm. Which one of you is the girl Vivian wanted to introduce to us?”

  So these were the people who were going to tell Saytera her secrets? They didn’t seem friendly or trustworthy. Saytera stared at them in silence.

  “Which one of you?” the woman repeated.

  “We don’t know what you’re talking about,” Nowla shouted.

  The woman turned to the men. “What now? Kill both?”

  “They could lie anyway,” a man with a deep voice replied. “It’s better to be safe.”

  “And spill innocent blood?” The woman sounded uncertain.

  “Let’s just get it over with,” the other men said.

  This sounded horrible. Saytera dashed between the two men, but one of them soon grabbed her. This time her arms were held back and the tip of a knife was pointing to her neck.

  “If you want, this can be painful,” the man who held her said.

  Why hadn’t Saytera listened to the stargazer? Insisted more on running? But regretting was useless.

  The other man was holding Nowla. Saytera felt guilty that maybe they would hurt her friend because of her. Perhaps even kill her.

  Saytera looked at her captors. “It’s me. It’s me you’re looking for.”

  “It’s me!” Nowla yelled.

  Saytera wasn’t sure if her friend just wanted to cause confusion or if she thought that it would somehow help them. The man now covered Saytera’s mouth again, and she couldn’t even consider saying something else, pleading, threatening, maybe again trying to at least save Nowla.

  The woman shook her head. “Don’t worry, this is going to be fast and painless, and then your fire will be free of this physical prison.”

  Death was part of life, sure, but not so early, before accomplishing anything, achieving anything. Saytera shivered. What a steep price to pay for a stupid mistake, a stupid decision. The question that got stuck in her throat was “Why?” Why would anyone want to kill her without even knowing her? Was it fear, hatred, what? And Saytera would never know the answer.

  The woman extended a hand towards Saytera, its rings shining in the sunlight. Saytera closed her eyes, at this point hoping that it was true that her death would really be painless.

  Then, there was a scream. At the same time, the man holding Saytera let her go. Saytera opened her eyes and saw the woman stepping back, as if hurt.

  “Let them go!” Vivian was running towards them, out of breath. “This is not what we agreed on. Since when do we kill children?”

  So indeed this had been Vivian’s fault, even though it was clear she didn’t want Saytera killed. Yansin’s worry hadn’t been for nothing.

  “Better than pretending to kill them, Vivian.” The woman replied. “Aren’t you ashamed? Now don’t get in our way or you might regret it.”

  Vivian shook her head. “I have enough regrets as it is.”

  She stretched her arms and launched a stream of fire on the woman, but it wasn’t real fire, as the woman just fell backward, unburned. The man let go of Saytera, then Vivian sent her fire towards them and then yelled, “Run!”

  Saytera wanted to help Vivan, though, so she hesitated. But then, the two men fell forward, as if hit by something.

  “Run!” Vivian repeated, desperation in her voice.

  Saytera turned and started to dash away as fast as she could, until she bumped into something—no, someone—solid. Someone who seemed to have materialized in front of her, someone who held her and twisted her arms behind her in a way that was very painful and didn’t let her move.

  Nowla was also being held, and two women and two men all dressed in black surrounded them. The people who had threatened at first lied motionless on the ground. Vivian stood, fists clenched.

  A man with a black hood and silver embroidery approached Vivian. “Murdering innocents… And then they dare say we are the problem. So, are you going to help us or would you rather die?”

  Vivian’s eyes were blazing with hatred. “Don’t you dare touch them.”

  “Oh, you are mistaking us.” he waved a hand. “The murderers are your lovely Teren friends. Aren’t you glad we were here to save you? You can show your gratitude by letting us take the girls. We can figure out which one we need later.”

  “You’ll kill one and enslave the other,” Vivian gritted through her teeth.

  “No.” He shook his head. “We’ll just take her home.”

  Vivian had her eyes closed. “Run, don’t look back, don’t trust Terens.”

  Saytera realized that Vivian was talking to her and Nowla, but how could she get rid of that grip? Then there was a column of fire around Vivian, Saytera felt the man loosen his grip and took the chance to run away as fast as she could, hoping Nowla was running as well. A loud bang made her turn back to look. There was smoke where Vivian and those people had stood a moment before, and the grass was black, as if it had been under a huge bonfire. On the ground, their bodies, and she couldn’t look anymore or she would vomit. Nowla was alive, though, near Saytera.

  No, those people weren’t all dead. The man with the silver embroidery appeared in front of them, as if materializing out of thin air, and stretched his hands towards her and Nowla. The rings in his hand shone.

  7

  Trying to Escape

  Since the war had taken over their system, no private ships left the Sapphyre Moon. Technically, no military ships either, stuck in place by a cease-fire. It meant exportation had stalled, and nothing reached the moon. Travellers trying to go to other systems found their way out blocked by “peace” forces from the neighboring system Sumeria. Ships trying to reach the Mainland planet were obviously shot before getting a chance to get there. That was why the civil port had been abandoned and hadn’t been operational for a long time.

  Dess wondered why there would be a meeting there. Perhaps it was something illegal, and the place had been chosen carefully to avoid prying eyes and ears. He wasn’t sure he wanted to break any law, but at the same time wasn’t sure in which direction his life could go. He’d given it a lot of thought in the last couple of days, and in a way regretted all effort lost into the academy, into doing what
he thought was expected of him. He sighed. Maybe if he’d just swallowed his pride he’d be in the army now, with a job. Now—he had no idea what to do.

  The large engraved metal doors were closed. At some point this had been a busy port, but he remembered very little of it. He hadn’t asked how he’d get in, but decided to go around the building. He found a regular-sized door with a bell and rang it. He still felt that he was wasting his time, not that his time had any use now. Running his hand over his rings, he thought about Marcus’s idea of apologizing and becoming an initiate soldier. Apologizing. He dreaded the prospect. That said, nobody was coming to this door and he was even doubting he’d gotten the right instructions. After a few minutes, he walked to the other side. This time, he found another door, which was open, and walked in.

  There was an office with dome desks and terminals with screens. Behind a glass wall, he could see a multitude of ships.

  A middle-aged man with a gruff beard stared at him. “Are you the new pilot?”

  The question had been directed to Dess. Pilot? “I… I don’t know.”

  The man had a huge laugh. “That’s a good sign. Peeps come in all confident, thinking they got the hang of this, when they don’t.”

  Dess frowned. He had no idea what the man was talking about, maybe he was even mistaking Dess for another person, and decided to be direct. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t properly briefed on why I was called here. Could you clarify, please?”

  “Hehe,” the men still laughed, then pointed to the glass. “Is that a mystery? Look at those ships. They won’t move by themselves.”

  That wasn’t correct. He spotted a C-3 model. Its autopilot was quite advanced. “Some of them can.”

  The man raised an eyebrow. “Not where you’re going. If you don’t quit first, of course.”

  He decided to be even more direct, “My name’s Dess. I trained in the Star Academy. A woman, I’m sorry, I didn’t get her name, told me to come here for a job.”