Light of the Veil, page 15
Maru removed his helmet and tucked it under his arm. The strong breeze wicked moisture away from his face.
“There is a cycle, Jayce. What lives must die. What endures from our lives after our passing is the greatest gift we can give to those we leave behind. Those who take the Grip do not live as you know it. Sensation is greatly muted. The vessel of life rots away without intervention. It is an abomination in every way. The Tyrant used the Grip to enslave his soldiers and his court; there was no life for them to live. Most of those that take on the Grip voluntarily succumb to madness and despair within a few years. The mind is alive, but it is trapped in a rotting cage. Those that trade the cycle of life and death for a pale reflection of how they lived almost always regret it.”
“Then why did that Syndicate shot-caller do it?”
“Some enjoy the power. Others fear death so much they will do anything to stave it off, no matter the cost,” Maru said. “Can you feel them? The gates.”
Jayce leaned against the railing.
“I don’t know why . . . but maybe there’s something really interesting over there.” He pointed west, toward a small hill.
“Bad bad spot,” Neff said. “Takers know it, have it monitored. Gate goes to island with bad flecks and nothing more. Young one has the touch.”
“Not bad,” Maru said.
“What are these gates?” Jayce asked.
“This was once a Shrine world of the Ancients. Perhaps they were beings from beyond the Veil who came to our dimension, maybe they were an advanced race native to our galaxy that found a way into the Veil and went on to exploit it, but this is one of the systems where the gap between becomes very thin. From time to time.”
“We couldn’t go through at the Shrine back home?”
“Too far. Too much needed.” Neff shifted between Dastin’s shoulders. “Apertures only a few tens of systems at a time. Good nose, good instincts needed to know which ones to go to. No pattern.”
“We must beware our return,” Maru said. “The entrance and exit points are the same for all who travel beyond the Veil. It’s easier and more cost efficient to take from those who make the journey instead of making it oneself.”
“How is that an advantage? Say someone comes back with an FTL stone, they can’t just take it. Doesn’t it have to stay with the Attuned who found it?” Jayce asked.
“Correct. But most who return do so with power flecks and stones rated for harness, if they’re lucky. Neither of those need Attuned for them to function. No one who makes a Pilgrimage for those is safe until they return to Illara and auction off what they found . . . or they get off-world with their bounty. There’s less risk of being ambushed for those that go deeper into the Veil to bond with a more powerful artifact.”
“Soon soon, be there soon.” Neff stood on his hind legs and wafted air toward his snout with his fleshy wings.
“The Docents can sense where the gates are,” Maru said. “But they’re more valuable within the Veil.”
“How do they—”
“Mind your business!” Neff barred teeth at Jayce. “Don’t believe lie that eating us can give you our gifts. It is lie! Also don’t believe eating Docents gives long life. More lies! We taste terrible terrible. Very poisonous to all.”
“You don’t even have any meat on you,” Jayce said.
“Adept! Protect me!” Neff clung to Maru and inched his body around to put the Adept between him and Jayce.
“He’s not serious.” Maru gave Neff a pat on the head, then narrowed his eyes at Jayce.
“No one’s going to eat you while I’m around, Neff,” Jayce said. “You have my word.”
“Watching you!” Neff swiped at the air and gave him a double take, then pointed at his eyes and swung the same fingers at Jayce. “Tell unfunny man to turn forty degrees east and stop ten klick klicks at the clearing surrounded by red blossoms.”
“Will do.” Jayce handed over the binoculars to Maru and jogged to the conn at the prow.
Dastin set the skiff down in a clearing as the sun set. He and Eabani leapt off the deck and raced to opposite sides of the wood line. Maru ignited his glaive and walked off the skiff. He stood in the middle of the clearing and looked around.
“Finally.” Sarai shut down the skiff. Her eyes lingered on Maru.
“Feels like . . . feels like my teeth are humming,” Jayce said.
“Squeaker! Open the big pocket on the left side of my pack!” Dastin called out from the woods.
Jayce pulled his pack off the pile and unsnapped the pocket. Crabs crawled out and skittered over his hand. Jayce snapped back as the crabs sprouted wings and flew away. They spiraled overhead, then spread out into the woods.
Jayce hopped off the skiff and tested his footing. He went to one knee and touched a thick weave of vegetation. He snapped a blade off and held it up to the waning sky. He rubbed it between his fingers and sniffed it.
“What are you doing?” Sarai asked.
“Is this that ‘grass’ you’ve mentioned?” He pressed his palm against the ground. “It’s . . . neat.”
“Don’t go hugging any trees just yet,” Sarai said. “Unless you want to figure out if you’re allergic to the bark.”
“Come here.” Maru tossed his helmet toward the skiff. He pointed to an armband with an anchor stone fastened to it. He snapped similar devices onto both their arms. “These anchor stones will bind to this Aperture as we pass through. If there’s an emergency or you’re injured, break the stone with one solid blow. Cracking it can offset the recall and you could end up inside one of those trees or half-in, half-out of the gate.”
“I can’t believe this is finally happening,” Sarai said. “Now I can finally know which stories are true and which were lies Dastin would tell to scare me when I was little.”
Jayce looked at the Anchor stone, then glanced around. Dastin and Eabani emerged from the woods and brought over the packs.
“Listen to me.” Maru locked eyes with Jayce. “When the Aperture opens, you must keep moving. Do not stop for anyone or anything. You linger too long in the Between and you’ll end up like them.”
“There’s a ‘them’?” Jayce asked.
“There is only one direction. Keep moving until you find us on the other side. Everyone goes through alone. Such is the way of things.” Maru helped Sarai shoulder her pack, then spoke to Jayce. “Know this: any water you drink from the Veil will not quench your thirst. Any food you did not bring with you will not stop your hunger. The Veil underpins our reality, but it is not of us and we are not of it. Do you understand?”
“Only eat and drink what I’ve packed. Got it.” Jayce snapped his waist strap together.
“Sarai, tell him about the dilation. I must prepare.” Maru went to the center of the clearing and spun his glaive around and stabbed the blade into the grass.
“Time isn’t the same in there,” she said. “We will feel time passing. We’ll get hungry and thirsty and need to sleep, but when we leave . . . everyone comes out at the exact same time. All across the Aperture world. The gates will open for about an hour or so, but when everyone comes out can be a bit funny. Longest is six standard days. Usually only a few minutes pass out here.”
“Then why are we carrying all this crap if we’re only going to be gone for—”
“Say an hour passes out here before the Return. You can stay in the Veil indefinitely if you have enough food and water and don’t get killed by anything. Or anyone. Some aliens don’t have the same bio needs we do and they’ve stayed there for years.”
“Ugh . . .”
“We get through the Between and I decide I’m not going to put up with your crap and snap your anchor. Poof! You’re gone from the Veil and you’ll be right back here. Maybe a couple of minutes have passed. I go on and it takes me days to find the right Veil stone to synch with. I crack my anchor and poof! Right back here at the exact same time you arrive. But I’ve lived all that extra time and you haven’t. I can’t make it any simpler without drawing stick figures.”
“I get it now. Weird.”
“Also: don’t die in the Veil,” she said.
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“You die there and you won’t come back. You’ll . . . you’ll see.” She drew her hilt and spun it in her hand. “I’m going to become an Adept. Finally.”
“Good luck.” Jayce tried to reach for his hilt, but his pack was in the way.
She grabbed him by the front of his jacket.
“Do not get in my way. The Docent finds a stone worthy of me, you keep your thieving mitts to yourself. Understand?”
“I haven’t stolen anything,” Jayce raised his hands to the side.
Sarai’s face contorted with anger, but she didn’t elaborate. She pushed him away.
“Adept, perimeter defenses are in place,” Dastin said. He and Eabani pulled out their crossbows and checked the strings.
“Soon! Soon so very soon!” Neff jumped into the air and flapped his wings, slowing his fall slightly.
Maru began chanting. The words were low and indistinguishable. A vibration in tune with the invocation resonated through Jayce’s feet and he lifted one foot up and hopped to the other in panic.
Dastin grabbed him by the arm.
“It’s OK, kid. This is how it goes,” the gunnery sergeant said.
Jayce tried to pull away, but the older man’s grip was iron.
A dull glow appeared beneath the grass and grew more intense with every passing moment.
“Maybe . . . maybe this was a bad idea!” Jayce shouted as a rush of wind came from the ground and blew grass and dirt around him.
“Keep moving!” Dastin shook Jayce. “One foot in front of the oth—”
Jayce fell into white light.
Chapter 16
Jayce screamed, but there was no sound. Rays of white and ivory light broke around him. He spun around, but no matter where he looked, he saw the same long fractals.
His feet touched down with no impact. He stood in a white abyss; the fractal rays dissipated overhead.
“Hello?” His word was muted with nothing to echo off of. There was a tug against him. He turned around, but the tug was always to his back.
“Maru! Anybody!”
His heels sank into the ground, and he took a step back to balance himself. His rear foot sank halfway up to the ankle in broken shards of white glass. He fell forward and pulled his foot out. Both hands hit the ground and the surface broke into tiny pellets that rolled behind him.
Jayce pushed himself up, struggling against the weight of his pack and the growing pull behind him. He took a step forward and the ground held. He kept moving through the blank canvas of the reality all around him.
“What if I break it now?” He touched the anchor band around his upper arm. “No. No, I didn’t come all this way to quit now.” He kept moving, the drag behind him constant no matter how fast he went.
He didn’t know how long the march lasted, but after counting enough steps he realized that he’d walked the distance of the largest flotilla he’d ever visited back on Hemenway. His legs began to ache, and his shoulders burned from the straps and heavy pack.
He bent forward and thrust his legs up to kick the pack higher and reduce some of the strain. When he raised his head, there was something in the distance.
“Hey!” Jayce waved a hand overhead. “Hey, Dastin, is that you?” He broke into a jog. The figure ahead of him was moving toward the direction of the pull, which broke what little Jayce knew of this Between place.
No matter how fast he moved, the figure approached at the same rate.
“Ah, this is eel slime!” He stopped for a second and his feet began sinking again. “Crap. Crap!” He started forward again.
The figure was on a path parallel to him. Jayce made out the same sort of Veil energy armor that Maru wore, but the helmet was different. The other man was about the same size as Jayce but wasn’t carrying anything with him.
“Hello?” Jayce tried to move at an angle toward the other, but the ground began to give way and the pull suddenly got stronger. It felt like he was walking through a headwind as the new Adept came within a few steps of him.
“How can you go that way? What’s behind you?” Jayce asked.
The Adept covered his Veil hilt with one hand and patted his chest twice. They passed each other without another word.
“Why didn’t Maru tell me there’d be others in here? What’s that?” Light blue stumps appeared ahead of him. A path just wide enough for his pack cut through the sudden obstacle. The stumps became posts of varying height as he got closer.
More details on the objects didn’t become clearer until he neared, like ancient ice melting off some long-lost object buried in a glacier.
The first one he could make out clearly was of a man with one hand to his chest, his arm reaching up to the sky. His face was contorted in pain. Jayce kept walking, afraid to touch the statue.
The next was of a woman in fatigues. She was on her knees, a cracked anchor in her hands. Her face was perfect, but her look of pure shock and horror was frozen in time. A cut appeared on one side of her neck, then her entire head fell forward like an axe had severed it.
Jayce cried out and broke into a run through the forest of statues. All were of people in their final moment before death. Emaciated, starving men. Sunken-eyed adventurers with distended bellies and their hands cupped with water at their mouths. Too many had signs of violence on their bodies.
“Maru! Maru, where are you?” Jayce ran down the open path past all the horrors.
Reality blinked several times, like when he’d take a hard blow to the head during Scale bouts, and Jayce fell forward. He landed in blue-green gravel and the pack knocked most of the air from his lungs when it landed on him.
“There he is!” he heard Eabani shout.
Rough hands rolled him onto his side. Dastin and Eabani stood over him, their crossbows in hand.
“Well, did you die?” Dastin asked.
“What in the hell was all that?” Jayce touched the gravel and when his hand didn’t sink into any arcane strangeness, he opted to just lay there and catch his breath.
“The Between. Weird, ain’t it?” Dastin chuckled.
“The statues! The other guy! What was that?” Jayce sucked in cold, moist air.
“Let me see him.” Maru knelt next to him and lifted his chin. “What did you see?”
Jayce gave him the barest of details while he checked his hands and clothes for any glass dust from the Between. Maru listened carefully and nodded.
“Attuned experience things differently when they cross over,” Maru said. “Dastin and Eabani saw nothingness until the Between released them. I saw the dead, same as you. Same as Sarai.”
“Dead? What all those statues were . . .”
“It’s best not to die here,” Maru said. “There is much debate as to what happens to a soul when the vessel ends beyond the Veil, but no certainty.”
“A little more warning would’ve been nice,” Jayce said.
“The more one knows about the Between, the more the Between can latch onto thoughts. Some have reported seeing dead loved ones, their very heart’s desires. All meant to slow Pilgrims down as they cross. Hesitation is death in the Between,” Maru said. “If I warned you of any sort of high strangeness that you might encounter, it could have been the end of you. So, I asked Gunny Dastin to give you clear and simple instructions that only a combat-tested Marine can give.”
“I didn’t even have to cuss or bring out the big guns.” Dastin raised a knife hand.
“Where’s Sarai?” Jayce asked.
“Still not through.” Maru looked up.
The sky was an infinite sheet of cracked ice. Light shined through shifting cracks of the frozen river and cast long rays toward the ground in many different spots and at different angles. Tufts of clouds meandered below the high ceiling of the world.
“Whoa. That . . . that doesn’t seem right,” Jayce said.
“Welcome to the Veil, kid. It’s only gonna get weirder from here.” Dastin pulled Jayce to his feet. Behind him was a spinning loop of glistening wire large enough for two people to step through easily. Veil stones were wrapped in the gate like lost gems enveloped by tree roots.
“This is our gate,” Eabani grunted. “Go through and you’ll be dropped back at the Aperture. Return trip’s a lot faster.”
Neff pawed the ground, then sniffed at something. He followed his nose to a sapling and began digging. He came up a moment later, Veil flecks glowing between his small fingers.
“Aren’t those worth a lot of money?” Jayce asked Dastin.
“He’s contracted to lead us to stones. Any flecks or flawed stones we don’t want are his,” Dastin said. “He brings them back to his nest and they feed the next generation.”
“Ah-ha! Good good omens.” Neff swallowed the flecks. “Very valuable.” Neff tapped his stomach.
They were atop a gently sloped hill. The aquamarine pebble field spread across rolling hills. Two more gates spun in the distance.
“What if we go through one of those?” Jayce asked.
“Don’t.” Maru held a palm out to the gate and thin filaments of light appeared connecting his fingertips to the stones. “She’s close. Still moving . . . Every Aperture gate in the galaxy is open right now. Very few of them will lead back to Illara. You step through another gate and you could be ejected to an uncharted planet or a world with no atmosphere.”
“Even if you do end up on Illara, we wouldn’t know where it would be. Most of the gates are camped by Syndicate who’d rob you blind and then kill you,” Dastin said.
“Or eat you. The order they do all that’s up to them.” Eabani hefted his crossbow and looked through optics. “Little early for Sniffers.”
“Don’t antagonize it,” Maru said softly. “We can’t take trophies back. You know that.”
“Probably best.” He lowered the weapon. “Imagine if the Drakes could pass through.”
“Let’s not.” Dastin tapped the stock of his crossbow. “Adept? I’m getting worried about her.”
