The Fold Ship - part 5

Posted on Thu Aug 20th, 2020 @ 1:38pm by Lieutenant Alekela illm Meaho'ōla

1,576 words; about a 8 minute read

“Computer open log called the Fold Ship”

[Log is open]

“Alekelia, off to bed?" the deep alto voice of Guild Mistress Assira came to me with that quite yet carrying tone that it seemed all the Guild Mothers had learned.

I stopped and though I knew better then to make a visible or audible voicing to my feelings though inwardly I wanted to cry. The Guild Mother was standing outside my door and she had that look that broached no argument. I stopped and made a weary curtsy, which was not easy as tired as I was. "Guild Mother of Wussuru?"

"I remind me how old you are again." Guild Mother Assira said in a cool even tone.

"Nineteen Mother. Actually just a week past while I was in the town gathering supplies and delivering the weavings. I have been here one year now."

"I thought so." Assira nodded her head. Then she looked at me as though looking not at me but into me. "It is time, follow me please."

I wondered what the statement meant but I could not help but let a small groan escape as my body reminded me of just how tired it was. Assira looked over her shoulder and said with a surprising softness, "I will have Necture Tea for you. Now come." She beckoned and held her hand out to take mine with a small squeeze of encouragement. That was a very sweet even by our standards tea and here was a luxury. It made my hearts flutter a bit.

I followed along as we went from the quarters, down the hallways past the weaving places, past the small library and toward the chapel. Though the order was not overtly religious from what I had observed, they did practice a form of reclusion that many took for a religious type of order. As we entered a chapel now in semi-darkness with only two large tapers in glass tinted yellow and red, the colour of the lovers, to light the place.

Assira went straight to the those candles and then stopped letting go of my hand.
"Pay attention." she whispered, and set down the lamp on the table. She reached forward to take the two glass enclosed tapers and then moved them, yellow moving forward and slightly toward the red. She paused a moment, a breath and then moved the yellow and the red one so that now the yellow one stood in front of the red, then again that pause, before yellow moved to the right while the red moved slightly forward and to the left.

It dawned on me that the Guild Mother was simulating the movement of the twin suns in the sky as they danced through the eight seasons. As I wondered what this was all about the glass with the wavering tapers reached back to their starting point with yellow on the left, red on the right and then there was click and then alter the two glass candle holders stood on split and slowly moved to each side. I was watching the movement of the alter and did not realize that it had revealed a dark opening with dark beginning of stairs leading upward.

The Guild Mistress grabbed her lantern and held it to light the steps and beckoned to I again. "Follow close, the alter will close behind us in few moments." Picking up her skirt she began to ascend into the darkness the light from the lantern reflecting off the sides. I shook her head, too many wonders already but followed quickly as she had commanded. As I followed, I could not help but wonder what was so secretive that such pains were given to hide whatever lay behind the alter.

I felt the cold the stone passageway. This was carved out of living rock and dark as a pit except for the Guild Mistress' lamp lighting the dark walls.

I was not absolutely sure but I was positive we had climbed enough to be higher than the sanctuary roofs, quite a bit higher. I was tired and my steps dragged but the Guild Mistress did not slow and I had a feeling that I would be left in the dark if I fell behind.

The passage continued upward ever upward, the walls were cold to the steadying hand I put out. Finally the steps ended and then passageway opened up. I noted that the light had changed. All along the way the only relief from the dark had been the few feet of light from the artificial torch the Guild Mistress had carried with her. Now though still gloomy, I could see that this part of corridor was dimly light by something ahead by the way the shadows on the stone turned.

Guild Mistress Arissa moved to one side and beckoned with her finger to stand by her side. As I stepped forward and looked she could see the rock of the walls ended at a smooth, faint glowing wall that looked made of metal and which I had seen once before a year ago. My breath seemed to freeze in my lungs and I touched the faint glowing and faint warmth metal. I looked at the Guild Mistress with question on my face. "Is this…?" I whispered but did not say that I had seen it once before having been admonished to never speak of my experience ever again without permission, thus I bit off the words.

Arissa answered, "It is one of our greatest artifacts from our past child, put here in long ago times. Your Guild Mistress says either you have seen one like this or perhaps this very one. We call it a Fold Ship."

There was relief in part of her statement that she knew of the tale I had told my own Guild Mother of Warraquim. Now it dawned on me that there were other's that knew and my questions flew to my lips.

"A Fold Ship? What is that?" I blurted out. I barely remembered what the Guild Mother of Warraquim had said.

Arissa smiled in the dim light. "A marvelous device in which one could move from here to almost anyplace in the stars in the blink of an eye." She turned to look at me and shook her head. "I will teach you more later but know that this treasure must never been spoken of even to others in my House."

"I don't understand." I looked at the Guild Mistress. "Why is it here if so great a treasure and why is it a secret?"

Arissa did not look at her but stared straight ahead at the smooth surface. "If the secret were known it would be destroyed along with the House, and all in it by every other Guild."

I looked puzzled at that statement. "Why? What could be so dangerous that it would bring down a House?"

Arissa ran a hand lightly along the faint glowing metal in almost a loving way.

"Because it would remind of what we once had, what we once could do, but more so because of the lie we have maintained among the people in general." She nodded, "History is a powerful thing. One can learn so much from it but it is a dangerous beast when it is twisted and changed to suit an ideal. I do not expect you to understand it all, but know this, the knowledge that you have gained has put you on a precarious path.”

Arissa sighed. “A long time ago when the Houses were formed not all thought we should give up everything. We who now called the Wussuru disagreed with the majority. We would not give up those things so hard won. There was a compromise then, instead of destroying all, most would be put away, known to only a few. I suspect it was hoped that perhaps it would all be forgotten and it has for the most part by most.”

“Mother,” I asked. “I understand if the tales are true that we almost ruined our world and ourselves but this,” I touched that surface as I spoke. “This is something that is a marvel, something that I have never heard even from stories at the trading dock speak about.”

“And that is why. Even when we traveled, we knew of others that did as well. They had not made this leap and even now their vessels while traveling between stars cannot travel as this one can. Days, weeks, to cross to stars in what they call a sector, years even to cross the galaxy. This,” she touched the ship as well. “Could cross the entire galaxy in the space of a breath. Do you realize what might happen if it was well known? There are tales handed we have heard of another race long very long ago that could do something like that. They were called the demons of air and darkness and they were destroyed because others feared what they could do. There is much more to tell you, but you have had a long journey, and I have promised you Necture tea. We will talk more on the ‘morrow.”

“Yes Mother,” I answered. The tiredness of my body all but forgotten as so many questions rose in my mind while she had talked but now my body reminded as it had not before that it needed rest.

“Computer close log”

[Log is closed]

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