The Bleak Path, Part 3

[Archie Phoenix 0]

The Bleak Path

Part 3 - Rising

 

It was going to be a lovely morning in the Samudi Province of Renazia. Half the sun was already visible above the line of rooftops that stretched across the Province of Mystics; its rays set the sky ablaze in alluring streaks of red, orange, and gold. From a window near the top of the Tower of Mystics, Molvus Decin beheld a striking view of that landscape. The Tower was one of the oldest structures on Renazia, built at a time when both windows and height were cherished architectural designs and not torn down nor even altered in all the time since because to do so would be heresy of the highest order -- no structure on Renazia, not even the Pentadora, was more important than the Tower of Mystics.

 

Molvus did not enjoy the remarkable view, however, rare as such views were. Aesthetic pleasures were once valued on Renazia, but that was long ago during more barbaric times. Now such things were the fancy of the Federation races and other more primitive peoples. The Renazians now valued practicality and intellectual pursuits far more than beautiful sunrises and favorable vantage points. Equality, uniformity, and seclusion became the answers to the horrors of war; nearly identical buildings were packed together on the Renazian surface to support a growing population that had no interest in interstellar expansion. Renazia's relatively limited land surface was now covered by manufactured stone, crystal, and plasteel. That was what Molvus Decin enjoyed to see -- the evidence of Renazian industrial achievement displayed beneath that fiery sky.

 

Dwell not on the sky lest your mind wander beyond it. Molvus looked up at the sky as he recalled the Mystic saying. Yes, that was also part of the reason that the buildings were all made level and unbreached by windows. It discouraged looking outward, neglecting one's devotion to Renazia and developing unhealthy obsession with the dangers that lurked in deep space. If only Molvus could keep his own mind focused on Renazia. As the head of Renazia's Ministry of Security, he had to focus on the threats to that security that originated off world. The Serberites made certain that that focus could never waver.

 

A door opened behind Molvus and he recognized the voice of Xerki, the chief Mystic. "The process has been completed, Minister Decin. You may see him now."

 

Molvus turned and nodded at the golden-eyed Mystic. Together they stepped through the door and into the long hall beyond. Deeper into the tower there were no windows to admit the burgeoning sunlight, and the walls were standard merizite crystal with none of the lumisteel panes that provided illumination in modern Renazian structures. Only a few sporadically placed light globes guided Molvus' steps through these tight corridors. They were reminiscent of the old royal burial chambers that still ran underneath the Exalted Province. The irony of that comparison was not lost on Molvus.

 

"Have your underlings moved any closer to locating Lars Man?" Mystic Xerki asked in his infinitely calm voice.

 

"That is what I hope I am about to find out." Molvus answered. Normally he would not discuss the details of such a sensitive mission with anyone outside of administrative circles, but Xerki was one of the most respected members of Renazian society. Only Membus and Ashlar commanded more obedience, if even them. "The Agency ships remain outside the Stygius nebula watching the entrance to the Bleak Zone. So far no ship has emerged, not Lars' and not one of ours. There has been no word from anyone on the search."

 

"But that may be about to change?" Xerki asked as the pair finally stopped at an unremarkable door halfway down an out-of-the-way corridor. It appeared to be unimportant. Deceptive appearances were a valuable Renazian tool.

 

"It may." Molvus answered as the door slid upward.

 

For the majority of its interior space, the Mystic Tower was one part meditation center, one part information archive, and two parts educational facility. But this area that Molvus and Xerki stepped into was the true nerve center of the Tower. This was where the Mystics performed the work that was largely a mystery to all but a choice few Renazians. Not even Molvus, despite being in charge of his planet's security, knew the details of what exactly went on in the facilities beyond this first room -- a large recovery ward with ten beds aligned along opposite wards. At the end of the wide aisle that ran between the beds was a door with three merizite crystal panels lined up beside it -- a security system based on touch, passcode, and even mental imprint. It was rumored that not even the Exalts possessed the clearance to pass into the facilities beyond that door; only a Mystic could bypass the security.

 

All twenty beds were unoccupied save one, the eighth bed on the left side, currently obscured by a simple silk curtain. Molvus took a deep breath and nodded to Xerki to lead the way.

 

Their footsteps echoed throughout the ward. The faint hymn of wind chimes could be heard from the music hall below, another relic of more primitive ages preserved here in the Tower of Mystics. The Mystics claimed that the chimes had a relaxing effect on those in the recovery ward. Every time Molvus visited the ward, he only found the effect haunting.

 

They stopped at the curtained bed and Molvus looked at the vague silhouette behind it. "I will assume," Xerki said, "that this debriefing is not meant for my ears, so I will grant you privacy. I will see you outside the ward, honored Minister."

 

"Thank you, Xerki." Molvus bowed. The Mystic waited a moment, soaking in the respect that the Minister was showing him, before he lifted the hood of his white-trimmed blue robe onto his shaved head and walked back up the aisle. When the door to the ward slid closed, Molvus turned back to the bed and grabbed the end of the silk curtain. He pulled it aside sharply, intending for the noise to wake up the bed's occupant.

 

But Tan Simox was already awake, and he was smiling right at Molvus.

 

"You did not waste any time coming here for a report, Minister."

 

"Welcome back to us, Agent Simox," Molvus said. "Let us hear your report, then. What of the mission? What happened?"

 

"I located Lars Man's ship." Tan frowned. "But … there was an unsettling development."

 

Molvus nodded slowly, uneasily. "Tell me everything."

Edited May 26, 2008 by Archie Phoenix