The Truth Beyond the Sky

Chapter 15: The Outpost for Wayward Travellers

After a few minutes, they arrived at a huge semicircular door at the end of the hall, and Asha pressed her thumb to a plate beside it. When the door rolled back a moment later, several details flooded Zahn's senses at once.

The sheer expanse of the room spread out before him was stunning. The cavern was so large that he was convinced that the entire Ashraya Observatory could have fit inside. As he stepped in, he noticed that a thousand oddly shaped objects were arranged neatly around circular platforms. Above him, the ceiling formed a dome which was illuminated by a brightly glowing orb embedded in the center. It reminded him a bit of Navika's nucleus, but it was brighter and perhaps not as elegant.

Then the smell hit him. The air was clean, but it was filled with a strange scent that was a blend of molten metal, wildflowers, and what almost seemed like a hint of freshly squeezed fruit juice. It was one of the oddest combinations of smells he had ever experienced.

Compared to the sights and smells, the sound of the room was rather mild. Every few seconds, he heard a hissing noise. The low hums of nearby floating spheres were also audible, but overall it was much quieter than Zahn expected such an outpost to be.

"Are you coming?"

He looked to his left and saw Asha studying him with a puzzled look on her face. In this light, he noticed that her olive skin had a hint of a reddish hue within it, and her eyelids had a dusting of gold on them. Then, a wave of embarrassment washed over him. He'd completely lost track of time taking in the sight of the room and wasn't sure exactly how long he had been standing there.

"Oh! I'm sorry, this place is just—"

"Empty? I know. My father has been concerned about that, too. Follow me. This workshop can be a hazardous place. My father has summoned us to the observation balcony."

"Balcony..." Zahn looked up and noticed a balcony high above them that wrapped around the entire chamber.

Asha waved Zahn into a small elevator that was inlaid into the wall beside the huge door they had just come through. Oonak was already inside, and after taking a mental note of what the elevator controls looked like, Zahn stepped in.

"Please don't say anything about how empty this place is to my father. He's been rather sensitive about the subject lately. My father may not like it, but we just don't get the traffic we used to. Now that the marauders are getting more numerous... Anyway, don't ask about his customers, all right?"

"Okay," Zahn said. "So how long have you lived here, Asha?"

"Most of my life. We came here when I was very young."

The elevator made a chirping sound as the doors opened.

"Here we are," she said.

Zahn stepped out and noticed how the balcony wrapped around the edge of the massive room, except at three places where there were gaps. There the quality of the wall changed, and he wondered if they might be massive doors.

Asha led Oonak and Zahn over to a large oval table made of stone. The table was already set, but Zahn couldn't see any eating utensils at all. All he could see were what he guessed were dinner plates arranged on the table.

Zahn noticed Asha looking at a flashing device on her wrist.

"Interesting. It appears your ship is resisting us moving it, but we need to bring it into the workshop to repair it."

"I will notify him."

Zahn watched as Oonak used his wristband to talk to Navika and update him on the situation.