The Great Unzayi Lake was serene as the moonlight shone on its unruffled surface. The ferry gently bobbed from side to side as the water underneath sloshed against its hull. They had left the island spaceport far behind by now, where Glacia could make out the blinking lights coming off shuttle ferries moving to and from the piers.
"You must be wondering why we came to pick you up this time?" the commander of the Wystal guards asked cordially, interrupting Glacia as she admired the view. He had a round face with small, beady eyes and a thick mustache. Under the peaked cap, Glacia suspected he was bald.
Glacia leaned back from the railing and turned her attention toward him. "Oh... I hadn't really given it a thought." She shrugged.
"I see," the Wystal replied, looking rather taken aback. "Well, just so you know, Oracle terminated its contract with the Crimson Crows. They have proven to be too incompetent too many times by now."
"I did hear they somehow managed to get my arena wrecked," Glacia remarked.
The commander raised his eyebrows in confusion.
"I designed the Brivil Arena," Glacia explained.
"Ah, right." The commander nodded. "That too. Plus, they almost squandered the goodwill that has existed for long between Karomoz and Wystalline. All on the behest of a stinking Metalloy cur. Well, we had the last laugh, didn't we?"
Glacia figured it would be a very long conversation if she showed any inkling of interest in the matter. So, she nodded quietly and placed her elbows on the railing to look out over the lake once more. It wasn't long until they would be at Oracle's private spacestrip. From there, Glacia would board a cruiser to be escorted to Ahore.
"They even lost a priceless artifact," the commander went on, unfazed by Glacia's silence. "Turns out that Metalloy slob was with them when it happened. That baffles me to no end since everyone knows he destroyed their camp in the forest right after we Wystals left. But then again, it's the Crimson Crows we're talking about. They're not really the brightest of the bunch."
The spaceport was now only a bright speck in the distance. The lake stretched out for miles, and only the odd vessel occasionally passed them by.
A soldier emerged from the bridge and approached the commander.
"Sir, there's a transmission from Ahore," the soldier said, bearing a transceiver in his hand. "The Ornebular and his associates have found the artifact."
"That's enough!" the commander thundered, snatching the transceiver. He gave the soldier a glare that promised trouble. Then he briefly glanced at Glacia before he headed toward the stern, out of earshot. The soldier looked pale-faced as he nervously followed the commander.
Glacia drew in a deep breath and savored the moment all alone. The gentle breeze teased her hair as she let her head hang back.
As with any Cryovreeze, she always found Malora's climate too hot, so she had dressed lightly. She wore a sleeveless, zippered purple dress with its hem splitting at the front and back of her waist and reaching her knees. Below that, she wore flared, peach trousers. Her shoes were purple wedge sandals, while a matching bracelet was on her left wrist.
She wished it was the quiet Olnice with her on the ferry instead of these Wystals and their chatty commander.
At least they weren't much worse than those Crows with their weird names. She could have sworn there was a man among them named Jackdaw or something. Then there was the woman whose name seemed to be Rook and had once accompanied Glacia to the moon to visit the construction site. Never had Glacia suffered a more uptight person. There also were rumors that the Oracle CEO, Corvair, was once head of the Research and Development cell of the Crimson Crows. Apparently, he had amassed enough wealth and influence several years ago to break off and create a splinter organization, which eventually grew to become Oracle Industries.
After tonight, she wouldn't have to deal with any of them, anyway. She just needed to meet with Corvair on Ahore, sign some papers, and complete the transaction. Then she would be free to start one of the several new projects she had lined up.
The past six months had been long and grueling. She had never imagined she would take up a project that involved a daily commute from a planet to its moon, considering she wasn't given residence on Ahore. They were looking for someone with a repute for not asking questions, and Glacia fit the bill. I might reconsider that at some point, given the trouble Lenoy and his petty antics gave me, she thought to herself.
Soon, the commander returned from the stern, the soldier from before at his heels, and joined her at the railing. "Looks like that priceless artifact I was talking about has been located."
"I see," Glacia replied gazing at the rolling waves.
They fell silent for a moment as they passed a small island, water lapping against its shores.
"Have you ever heard the story of the last years of... um... what was his name?" the commander said, snapping his fingers as he tried to recall. "Oh, yeah... Emperor Yilabar... the fifth, I suppose?"
"Do I seem like I might have heard of it?" Glacia asked wearily.
"To be honest... no," the commander admitted. "Have you heard it, Kae?"
The soldier shook his head nervously. "No, sir."
"Well, then, let me recount it to you both," the commander said. "It's a very interesting story. You should hear it."
Fortunately, we're going to be at the spacestrip in a few minutes, Glacia thought, relieved.
"So, the emperor found a method to build power sources that could be... actually, why don't we skip that? Suffice it to say, he oversaw the production of some priceless artifacts," the commander began.
"The one that's just been located?" Glacia asked half-heartedly.
"Well, technically, yes," the commander admitted. "At least it's related. But that's not the point. In his last years, he became sort of weird. Something came over him, and he decided he couldn't let future generations wield the power of these artifacts. So, he did what any of us would do — stash them away in an unknown location."
"It is an interesting story," Glacia said, wanting to roll her eyes.
"There was only one problem. Or, well, thousands of problems — the slaves. They knew where the cache was constructed. What to do with them?" the commander carried on, stroking his chin. "Again, the emperor did what any of us would do — kill the slaves. Bury them along with the artifacts. After all, what better way is there to ensure silence?"
Suddenly, the ferry stopped. What happened? Glacia wondered. She frowned and faced the commander. "Why are we stopped?" she inquired.
The soldier stepped next to the commander as if preparing for something.
"That was quite a delivery, wasn't it? To think I just learned it a few days ago," the commander said, chuckling.
"Commander? Why are we stopped?" Glacia repeated her question.
"You are a smart girl, Ms. Frosnow," the commander replied. "After all, you outsmarted fat, old Frovich."
Glacia's jaw dropped in surprise. "You know him?"
"Not personally, no," the commander said nonchalantly. "Corvair does, though... maybe. As I gather, that Cryovreeze idiot was supposed to get you into prison. Obviously, he failed, or you wouldn't be here, listening to my stories."
Glacia felt herself shake as realization slowly dawned upon her.
"No one would have asked questions if you had... you know... met an accident or something in prison," the commander was saying. "Plus, you would still have been on Cryovreeze soil. That would have made it less suspicious for Oracle or Karomoz."
"Why?" Glacia croaked, her mouth suddenly parched.
"Didn't you hear the story? I did my best to make it sound so engaging, and here you are, still asking silly questions. Even Kae understood the story," the commander replied, feigning hurt. "The headquarters must remain a secret. We were supposed to take you to Ahore, but what with the artifact located, we have to be somewhere else right now. So, I'm afraid we'll have to say our goodbyes here. It was nice being with you. Enjoy the lake."
"Please, you don't have to do this," Glacia pleaded, taking a step back. Her heart began pounding in her chest as her eyes rapidly darted all around, trying to look for some escape plan.
"Kae!" the commander said to the soldier. "Now is the time to correct your earlier mistake."
"Yes, sir," the soldier replied and reached for his holster as he took a step toward Glacia.
Glacia felt the adrenaline rush making her tremble. As she took another step backward, she instinctively released bright-turquoise cryo-energy that froze the soldier's hand and weapon in powder-blue ice.
"Darn, that's cold!" Kae cursed, trying to break his hand free.
Terrified as she was, her mother's training subconsciously kicked in as she extended her arms forward like those of a praying mantis and hooked her fingers.
"The lake was all you'd look at a few moments before. What happened now?" the commander snarled as he advanced toward Glacia.
She quickly spun to the side to avoid an incoming jab before forming an icicle on her finger. Cryovreeze Bortsvesky was all about quick movements and pokes at the opponent's vulnerable points. She snapped her hand forward and jammed the icicle into the commander's eye.
"You stinking wretch!" the commander howled in pain as he covered his eye.
Suddenly, the soldier rammed into her with all his might and sent her stumbling backward. Her back smashed into the railing, which rang out in protest. Glacia groaned as pain shot up her spine. She grabbed onto the railing and pulled herself up.
She watched horrified as the soldier once again reached for his gun, his hand now free from the ice. Meanwhile, a couple more Wystals came rushing from the bridge.
I have no choice now, Glacia thought, gulping a big lump in her throat. I'm going to die either way. She extended both her arms and released powder-blue mist, obscuring her position.
"Why are you prolonging this?" she heard Kae through the mist.
"Shoot her through this darned mess!" the commander raged.
Glacia pulled herself over the gunwale. The placid waters below seemed to be treacherously inviting her into their dark depths to her doom. She wished now more than ever that she had taken Dad's swimming lessons more seriously. Gelatia would probably rub it in my nose if she were here, she thought.
Taking a deep breath, she jumped.
"She jumped!" Glacia heard a faint voice before the water claimed her.
She flailed around under the surface desperately, feeling herself sink like a lead block. Her vision grew darker and darker as the moonlight from the surface became ever more distant and fainter.
Panic gripped her very being as she fruitlessly exerted herself against the water. She urgently needed to breathe, but she didn't even know which way the surface was anymore. This is it, she thought in terror.
Finally, she relented and let go of her breath. As she inhaled, water came rushing in through her mouth and nostrils. Blinding pain shot through her chest as water rapidly filled her lungs. She screamed in agony, but her voice was lost somewhere in the depths.
Then everything went black.
...
She watched through the slanted windows around the open-air terrace on the upper deck as she gorged on the delicious carnoz rice. Karomozian cuisine sufficed for a few days, but she always found herself yearning for dishes from home after that.
In the faint moonlight and the muted golden lighting from the wall fixtures, she stabbed at a piece of beef with her fork and took a bite from it with some beans, savoring the rich, salty taste.
She couldn't help but feel particularly happy tonight. Since the drug had been approved, it had been stocked up in many pharmacies across the galaxy, but it was the first time a major Karomozian company had ordered it in bulk.
Florinok had received a call a few hours ago from a technological giant called Savvo Corporation, which had ordered several dozens of canisters of the medicine. She had been itching to ask where they had encountered so many cases, but she thought it better to worry about the supply.
She had decided to oversee this particular shipment personally. There were rumors of Wystals prowling the lake, and she didn't want the delivery to run into any trouble.
She had also received a call from Beralaxon — apparently, he and Zablaron had tracked down where his former associates were holed up with the artifact. She was curious, but she thought it better to take things one at a time. After making the supply, she would join them and see what was going on.
As she munched on some rice, she looked out the windows once again. She twirled her hair, held up by a broad, lime clip at the back of her head so that it flowed like a cape down her back. She wore a one-shoulder, thigh-length, lime dress with sea-green trimming and a sea-green sash around her waist that wrapped twice across her bodice diagonally before forming a shoulder strap. She accessorized with lime ballet shoes with sea-green straps that snaked around her legs like ivies.
Presently, a small iceberg passed by, bobbing up and down in the water. An iceberg here? Florinok thought, surprised. It's not even cold, let alone freezing.
She squinted her eyes. It was hard to see the color through the dark, but she soon realized the ice was most definitely not white. Cryovreeze ice? There didn't seem to be anyone nearby.
Florinok shot up straight and marched out of the open-air dining terrace. She grabbed the railing of the upper deck, wrapped forest-green ivy around it, and lowered herself onto the main deck. Finally, she leaned over the gunwale and looked out at the water. She gasped and put her hand to her mouth as she realized what was inside the powder-blue ice.
"Stop the ship! Help me reel in that chunk of ice!" she screamed at the top of her voice, just as she shot ivy out into the water.
"Ma'am, why—" a nearby sailor began before he saw what Florinok had seen.
The ship soon halted as other sailors joined Florinok in wrapping the ice in ivy. They hauled it over the gunwale and deposited it on the deck.
"Who could have done that?" Rosa asked in shock as she came running. "Did some Cryovreeze do that to her?"
"I don't know. But if someone was trying to kill her, it wouldn't make sense to chuck her encased in ice that would float," Florinok replied as she observed the girl frozen inside the ice block.
"Then... she must be a Cryovreeze herself and... nah, that doesn't sound right," Rosa said. "But what could she be doing here?"
The ice would have probably dissipated into enertrons eventually, but there was no time to lose. She formed forest-green wood in her hand and rammed it into the ice, shattering some of it. This prompted Rosa and the sailors to help.
Once they had chipped away at the ice around the girl, they removed her from the chunk and laid her down on the deck. Her clothes were still drenched, and her wavy, black hair was splattered on her face.
The girl didn't seem to be breathing. Florinok checked her pulse. "I can't feel it," she said worriedly.
"Do something!" Rosa shrieked.
"Alvoak, begin chest compressions while I try my healing dust," Florinok commanded.
As Alvoak kneeled and began heaving, Florinok placed her hands on the girl's chest and concentrated all her enertrons in her palm. Focusing all her energy, she released a burst of rose-pink healing pollen along with some flower petals. A sweet fragrance pervaded the air.
Mr. Bonnel's withered face flashed before her eyes as he lay lifeless in that cavern, causing her to almost lose her focus and stop.
"What happened, Flo?" Rosa asked.
"Nothing," Florinok replied. Please, wake up, she silently pleaded at the girl. She closed her eyes and continued channeling every bit of enertrons she could muster.
Her eyes flew open as she sensed movement other than Alvoak's compressions. As waves of rose-pink energy pulsated down the girl's body, she shook a little. Florinok clenched her teeth and unleashed enertrons with all her might.
A violent cough seized the girl. Florinok and Alvoak immediately turned her to her side as she sputtered out what seemed like gallons of water tinted with the rose pink of Florinok's healing pollen.
"She's alive!" Rosa proclaimed happily.
"Yes, she is!" Florinok replied with a deep sigh of relief.
When the girl was done coughing, she groaned weakly.
"Let's take her inside," Florinok said.
A haze engulfed Glacia's senses that refused to lift. She tried to move her limbs but her body seemed to be made of lead. She could hear some faraway voices, but she had no idea what they were saying. Someone seemed to be carrying her. Am I alive? she wondered. Where am I? What happened?
A few moments later, her world stopped moving. She seemed to have been laid on a soft surface. Then a heavy, sweet scent wafted through her nostrils just as a pink hue dominated her vision.
The haze began to lift. Her vision became clearer, and she was now able to blink her eyes. She flexed her hands as she began to make out where she was.
It was a luxuriously furnished room with bright-maroon upholstery, mahogany walls, and muted gold lighting. Glacia seemed to be plopped up on a recliner at one end of the room. An oaken bookcase lined the wall opposite the door, and a large desk sat in the middle of the room with an armchair behind it.
A girl with luscious, long hair and small, green eyes leaned over her. Behind her was another girl with strawberry blonde hair and olive eyes and a man in guard uniform, wielding a weapon.
"Can you speak?" Florinok asked the girl. She seemed to be much more responsive now.
"Yes," Glacia replied weakly.
"What is your name?"
Glacia steadied her breath. "Glacia Frosnow. Where am I?"
"You are on a ship owned by Curavez Pharmaceuticals," Florinok replied. "My name is Florinok Lephyte. I am a shareholder and also Head of Drug Design... but you don't need to know that, I guess. You were lucky a ship loaded with Trezonish found you... or, that a ship found you at all."
Glacia sniffed. "Yes, I can smell that."
"I hope you're not a terrorist," Florinok said with a playful smile.
Glacia looked back at Florinok blankly. What the heck? Glacia thought.
"A joke," Florinok said immediately. "My apologies. There was news a few days ago. They suspected that a passenger in one of the shuttle ferries had saved a terrorist in this very lake. I think he was Grebrik or something — the terrorist, I mean, if I'm not—"
"What happened to you?" Rosa cut in.
What happened to me? Glacia jogged her memory as she considered the girl's question. And then she remembered. She sat up straight. "Oracle," she said, wincing.
"Easy!" Florinok said, gently nudging Glacia back.
Then Florinok and Rosa glanced at one another. I heard this corporation's name a day ago, and suddenly it's cropping up everywhere, Florinok thought. Zablaron, Beralaxon, and she had learned that the Crimson Crows had been working as the muscle for Oracle Industries, an enigmatic corporation that few knew about. They had received a threatening call from an Oracle executive the day before — they were to secure the Nova Conduit within forty-eight hours or else Oracle would accept the Brotherhood of Cosmos's deal to trade Beralaxon for the artifact.
"How were you involved with Oracle?" Florinok asked.
"I'm an architect. I designed their darned headquarters," Glacia replied, gritting her teeth.
Florinok gasped. "Are you... are you serious?" No one knew where their newly constructed headquarters were. And here was this girl, casually making such an astounding claim.
"Do I look like I'm not serious?" Glacia said as she coldly stared at Florinok. "They paid me back by trying to kill me. I loathe people who can't hold up their end of the deal."
"Where is it?" Florinok asked curiously.
"Ahore," Glacia replied listlessly.
"Ahore!" Rosa exclaimed, wide-eyed. She looked up instinctively at the ceiling. "Do you mean the moon?"
"That's the only Ahore I know of." Glacia shrugged.
"Come with us," Florinok said.
Glacia did a double-take. "Where?" she asked.
"To the Metalloy embassy here on Karomoz," Florinok said. "I have friends there who have just located something that Oracle needs."
"A priceless artifact," Glacia replied, frowning.
"Well... yes... I guess," Florinok said, unsure if Glacia really knew what she was talking about. "How do you... actually, scratch that. These people have caused the death of at least one innocent man and who knows how many more. They let a pandemic rage on just so they could continue extracting artifacts. Then there's news of some cruel experiments going on. And now they are blackmailing a friend of mine. All that to say we don't like them either. We were considering what to do when we recover the artifact. One of my friends has a fledgling plan to take them down and shut their operations. The only trouble was, we had no idea where they were located. But now, we do, thanks to you."
"And why should I come with you?" Glacia demanded.
"We could use your help to take them down. And that's what you want too, right? It's a win-win deal, isn't it?" Florinok said, trying her best to sound convincing.
"I just got drowned. I'm sorry if I'm a bit reluctant to take people just on their words," Glacia replied coldly. "No more betrayals."
"Just hear us out. If you don't like it, you can always walk away," Florinok suggested.
Glacia looked to the side and considered her options. She badly wanted revenge, but she had no idea what to do next. She had been considering for the past few minutes to do the unthinkable — ask Gelatia for help. She shuddered even at the thought of doing so. It was bad enough she had had to work with her twin to get herself acquitted.
This girl was providing her with an alternative. It can't possibly be worse than putting up with Gelatia, Glacia thought. Finally, she turned her head back toward Florinok. "Alright. You saved my life. I guess I owe you that much," she said.
"You won't be disappointed, I promise," Florinok replied with a smile. "For now, rest. I have a delivery to see through. Then we will head back."
Suddenly, Florinok remembered something. "Alvoak, could you tell someone to reheat my carnoz? I left some in the dining area. Also, have some more cooked for our guest here."
Alvoak nodded and headed out. Certainly not worse than Gelatia, Glacia thought.
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