As the Saberhawk approached the massive entrance, it became apparent the doors were probably not functional. The doors were shut and pocked with blast marks. Several large holes went all the through. The Saberhawk would not be able to gain entrance to the city.
Orin tried several command codes from back home, hoping they might be recognized here. The automated systems either weren’t functional or didn’t recognize the codes. At any rate, the result was the same. No admittance.
“Well there’s not much choice,” Orin said as he looked back at Tiet. “We’ll have to go in on foot and see if we can find anything.”
“I’m in.”
“Me too,” Dorian said.
“Actually, Dorian, I think Tiet and I will have to go alone. We don’t have the time to land and hike back up to the city. We’ll have to drop in here and go through the damaged hangar bay doors. You can’t make the descent from the ship and I would rather Millo was not left to handle any problems with the ship alone.”
Dorian was clearly not happy about the situation, but she complied.
“Millo, please take the ship down into the southern valley until we contact you. Keep an eye peeled for any trouble and get the ship out of danger if you have too. It’s likely the Vorn will investigate our arrival. I doubt an old Barudii battleship will have gone unnoticed on this planet. Tiet, you and I will make the jump to Vaseer and see what we can come up with.”
Orin proceeded through the bridge passage and down the short stairwell toward the loading ramp with Tiet following close behind.
“Tiet!” Dorian called, coming after him. Both men turned at her approach. Orin looked at Dorian and then Tiet, realizing they needed a moment to speak.
“I’m going to secure some more gear we may need. I’ll meet you shortly in the vestibule.”
Orin went on without further comment, leaving them alone in the corridor.
“What’s the matter?”
“I just have a bad feeling about you going down there.”
“Don’t worry. Orin watches over me like a father,” he said playfully, but Dorian’s expression did not lighten.
“I feel like I need to tell you how I feel before you go,” she said hesitantly, as if searching his face to know his feelings before she continued.
Tiet could hardly breathe, waiting for her next words with such anticipation he could perceive nothing else.
“I have loved you before I even knew you,” she said. “From the images of you as a child, until I first realized who you were in the tunnels, you have been in my most secret thoughts. Now, that I have been with you, I cannot imagine being anywhere else but by your side.”
Dorian raised her left arm then, pulling back the cuff of her uniform. She exposed the donjarr of her family. Tiet recognized the woven bracelet immediately. According to Castillian customs, it was the woman who chose her life companion signified by the passing of the donjarr to the intended male as a promise of her desire to wed. The donjarr was not a light commitment. It was a binding contract once the male placed it on his own wrist.
Dorian looked into Tiet’s eyes, and he could see her longing to know his feelings. He reached for her hand, clasping it in his own. With the other hand, he moved the donjarr from her wrist over their joined hands to rest upon his own, according to the ritual. A tear escaped her swollen eyes, trailing down her olive skin. Tiet pulled her to himself in an embrace they both had longed to have.
“Come back safely to me,” she said as she touched his lips with her own. Then she turned and hurried back to the bridge. Tiet could hardly contain his joy as he went on to meet Orin.
Dorian was a good choice. She was a warrior, much like his own people had been. He was of age and they would grow to truly love one another. It felt right and silently he thanked the Elithias the Creator. Now he had hope, even in the midst of war.
Orin was already waiting at the loading ramp when Tiet arrived. Orin looked him over once, puzzled by the grin on his face, supposing that something had happened between him and the girl. Still, he didn’t ask.
Orin keyed in the safety bypass code, which would allow the ship to open the main hatch while still in flight. Millo had the Saberhawk hovering about one hundred yards above the mountains face where the city’s hangar bay was located. They could see the scarred bay doors below.
“Are you ready, Tiet?”
“Lead the way,” he said over the engine rumblings spilling into the vestibule.
“The way is down,” Orin said. He turned and stepped into the open air, plummeting toward the mangled surface of the bay doors below. Tiet followed without hesitation. The two warriors controlled their descent precisely with the Way and soft landed on the surface of the hangar doors.
The structure creaked under their weight a little, but appeared to be solid enough. Orin led the way to the largest opening and turned to toss Tiet a lighted headset. He clicked his own headset on to keep communication with the Saberhawk and to provide some illumination of the darkness below them.
“Millo, take the ship down to the valley and wait there until you here from us,” Orin said into the microphone. “If you encounter any trouble, dust off immediately. We’ll rendezvous later.”
“Affirmative. I’ll be waiting for your call. Be careful.”
Above them, the engines of the Saberhawk wound up to a higher pitch and the ship veered away from the mountain on course for the southern valley. Tiet switched on his headset, and the two of them peered into the darkness below. They saw the pavement littered with debris; most likely pieces of the ruined hangar doors they stood upon.
“Look over there,” Tiet said, motioning to a large clear area.
“Let’s go.”
They dropped from the edge of the blast hole in the hangar bay door, about two hundred feet to the pavement, soft landing again thanks to the Barudii Way. From memory, Orin led them through the debris field inside the hangar bay to the control room. It was amazing how things were laid out nearly identical to their city of Vaseer back home.
The door stood open and a thick layer of dust covered the control panels within. Orin looked for the power grid panel and found the energy cells drained to nothing.
“Even after power failure, the successive auto backups would have run for at least six months,” Orin said.
“Maybe, but this looks like years of dust,” Tiet said.
“Well, what have we here?” Orin switched on another panel lever. Several low lights flickered and came on inside the bay. “Manual backup, in case the auto systems go down. These should be connected to solar panels on the eastern face of the mountain. They won’t run down as long as the panels have decent access to sunlight. Let’s go.”
Orin led them out of the control room and up a tunnel to a higher level of the city. Tiet followed the swift steps of his mentor, trying to keep his senses alert to any dangers which might lie in wait.
This twin city had certainly taken a pounding. The ground was littered everywhere with debris. It looked like the Vorn had nearly torn the city apart. Yet, there were no signs of any bodies. A fog of dust hung in the air and, other than the very sparse emergency lighting, only the small spires of their headset lamps penetrated the darkness. The two men came into an ornate corridor approaching a single room. It seemed familiar to Tiet, though he couldn’t place it exactly.
“What room is this?” Tiet asked.
“It’s the King’s quarters. This would have been your home back on our planet. Although, I doubt your father was even born when this city was destroyed-probably over one hundred years ago.
“So what are we doing here?”
“There was a separate computer database in the King’s quarters with its own link to the solar panels. Since they’re still operating, I’m hoping the database is also functioning. It may provide us with some answers.”
Orin tried the electronic keypad, but there was no response. Tiet extended one of his kemsticks and sliced an oval shaped hole into the door. He kicked the cut piece inward, bent down and went through the opening. Orin followed. It reminded Tiet of home, but it had been so long ago. Orin walked over to a certain place on the rock wall and depressed two separate points which were far enough apart so as to be almost unreachable at the same time. A digital keypad rotated out of the wall before him. It still had power and Orin quickly typed in the words: Barudii, Soone, Vaseer 1. A panel slid back in the wall to reveal an information display. A list of categories for searching the database appeared on the screen.