Birth of a Guardian

Chapter 3

Resuming her search, Linuka swept through the last few rooms of the first level but couldn't find any useful resources. Four stairwells, one near each corner of the complex, led to the second level. Finding the nearest one, she descended only to discover a copy of the first level. The third level once again had living quarters round about the east, south, and west, but the interior was completely different. As she wound through the corridors, the soft glow of her energy revealed ever-changing pathways. Each chamber was a unique size and had four doors randomly placed on each wall. Not one piece of furniture, not one weapon, nor a single computer was in sight. She walked through the maze, passing from one room to the next in a tiny, ten-foot corridor.

The third level only had one, hidden opening in the very north corner leading below. The metal had been cut so perfectly that the crevice in the floor was about the width of a strand of hair. Even in the light of her energy sphere, it was nearly impossible to see.

Through the neural link, the ship identified the balancing point of the tile. Placing her weight in just the right spot, the tile tilted on its hinges, rising just a hands' breadth. Bending over, she pried it open. It felt heavy, maybe fifty pounds in weight. The tile scraped against the floor as she slid it aside. Unlike the other descents, this one had no stairwell. Only a twenty-foot straight drop.

Linuka leapt into the darkness. The soft light of the energy sphere spread forth without obstruction, reflecting off of large pillars lined in rows. Linuka crossed the empty space, her footstep echoing across the stone. Round about the vacant room rested identical chambers. They, too, lay completely barren. A rectangular corridor wrapped around the level, giving access to the final rooms. The ship's sensors identified multiple objects in them.

Linuka forced open the first stone door.

From floor to ceiling, stacked in shelves, sheets of crystals, steel, iron, copper, silicon, and other essential materials rested in perfect columns. Computer chips, circuit boards, water generators, and other survival items filled additional rows. She could easily build a dozen machines with the supplies. And this was one of sixty-four identical rooms!

But no solar panels.

Moving to the next room, she found the exact same supplies. Additional rooms stored laser guns, shield generators, subspace transmitters, and core engines. If she needed to build another ship, she knew where to come.

The next room stopped her in her tracks, a sea of cloth tightly folded in rows upon rows of shelves. It looked like real cloth woven from wool, but that would make it centuries old! She had to touch it. The beige bundles felt softer, thicker, than the synthetic textile she wore. Staring at the ancient history, she realized the fortress was much more than a military base. It was a refuge, a preservation for their culture. If only people had survived to rebuild it.

She meandered down the hallway, leaving behind open doors. As she swept the north corridor, she found cultural artifacts and medical supplies.

In the center of the level, in the middle of a vacant room, a tiny access tile opened to the fifth and final level. Prying the stone loose from the floor, she dropped down.

The low ceiling and narrow space felt like it might swallow her whole. A lone computer tower rested on a table in the center of the room—and it was running despite the power being off. How was it running?

As she crossed the tiny room, a sparkle caught her eye. Suspended on a round, black table sat the legendary sword carried by the first Involosrho.

She held her breath.

Deqer, the sword that began it all! A blade that never dulled. The blend of metal and crystal had never tarnished and conducted energy seamlessly. Supposedly a divine gift to the first Involosrho, the study of Deqer's substance laid the groundwork of all Cinla's technology. In any other circumstance, she would have rushed over, would have delighted in analyzing it. Now, she just wanted the power on.

Passing the historical treasure, she closed the gap to the computer. The interface responded to her immediately, a single prompt appearing in green letters: Enter passcode. Really? The only computer up and running, and it needed a passcode?

Linuka took a deep breath and laid her computer chip against the monitor. The crystal screen continued to ask for a password. The computer was completely off-grid with its own power reserve, meaning it contained something extremely valuable, but without a connection to the network, it was useless.

She retraced her steps to the opening and resumed the search, spending the entire day rummaging rooms only to find everything but solar panels. Time for another plan. After collecting a few construction materials, she traversed the thirty-minute trek of maze-like corridors to the exit.

As she stepped outside into the last rays of daylight, the bitter wind made her cough. Had the air been this polluted earlier? Covering her mouth, she hastened to her father's lab with a small materializer and a bag full of supplies. The storm had covered the entrance to the basement, but a quick blast took care of the problem. Inside, the lab remained pristine.

Linuka dumped the pile of resources in the middle of the floor and settled in for work. A few lines of computer coding later, she synched the materializer to the ship's mainframe. The computer archives possessed several blueprints for solar panels, but which one generated enough energy to power the headquarters while remaining small enough to carry? Boasting dimensions of only sixty by twenty by one inches, model SPP-102 appeared the winner.

Linuka scooped the raw silicon, copper, and tungsten into the receiver and waited for two hours as the machine transformed and printed them as a solar panel. Snatching the material still hot from the transformation, she sped to the base entrance for installation. The process was simple enough although she had to work through the night, repeatedly fetching scrap metal, wires, and other necessary supplies from the storage rooms. Finally, rising several feet above the settling dust, glistened her small power station in the dull luster of dawn.

As the first rays of light crept over the horizon, electricity swept down the complex network of cables and into the batteries. After just a few minutes, the panels collected enough energy to power a small shield generator designed to protect the entrance from the perpetual storm. She flipped the switch. A high-pitched hum broke through the roar of the wind, and a fifty-foot barrier erected around her makeshift platform. Success!

With a smile, she descended into the complex. In a few hours, the base reached fifty percent charge, initiating systems. The filters hidden in the walls began to circulate. She could finally take a shower!

Linuka wasted no time returning to the housing unit from which she had taken the uniform. With glee, she scrubbed the grime off her face. She washed her hair. What a glorious thing!

With a sigh of satisfaction, she settled onto the stone bed. She still needed to restore power to her father's lab and bring the ship to the base, but that could wait until tomorrow. While the batteries charged, she feel into a deep sleep.