Divided Read online

  “Our unity?” Truth asked. “What do you mean? And what is a triumvirate? I don’t understand.”

  “Nor will you until the three of you come to see me in person. Well, I say in person but nothing is really in person on Orthanx anymore.” Vashtar sighed sadly. “But we do our best, you know. It’s all we can do.”

  “Where is Orthanx and why should we come to see you there?” Truth asked flatly.

  “Why because, Truth my boy, only I can help you. I know a way, you see. A way to cure those infected by the darkness. But I cannot tell you here.” He looked around, as though scanning for a threat and lowered his voice. “He might hear me.”

  Becca leaned forward. “’He’ meaning U—”

  Vashtar held up a hand to stop her. “Do not speak his name! To mention such beings by name is to give them power and call them to you. You know of whom I speak and why I cannot tell you how to drive him and his minions out—not here, anyway.” He nodded wisely. “No, the three of you must come to me in person—only then can I help you.”

  “But…we’ve never heard of you before. And we don’t even know where Orthanx is. Or what it is, for that matter,” Becca protested.

  “It’s a planet,” Far said softly, his previous studies coming back to him. “A rogue planet on the fringes of the Silverbeam System.” He looked at the little male. “Isn’t it?”

  “Indeed, indeed.” The male sounded inordinately pleased that Far knew of his planet. “I am so glad to hear that we are not entirely forgotten.”

  “Silverbeam is my home system. Is this planet—Orthanx—near Pax?” Truth asked, frowning. “Why have I never heard of it, then?”

  “We were forgotten long ago by all but those who study the stars and planets of times past.” The small man sounded sad again. He looked at Far. “But I am gratified that you are one such scholar. Perhaps that is why the eye brought you to my attention in the first place. Or perhaps it is just that your own society mirrors my own—what little is left of it.”

  Far shook his head. “Forgive me, but I only know the bare facts—that your planet was part of a binary star system and was flung out of orbit by the force of the secondary star’s erratic path. It came to rest on the far fringes of the Silverbeam System, held in a tenuous orbit by the same star which gives light to Pax and its sister planets.”

  “Oh!” Truth snapped his fingers. “Void. You’re talking about Void.”

  “Is that what the people of your world renamed our planet when we came to rest in your system?” Vashtar looked so sad at this that Far almost thought he might start crying. And indeed, a single tear did slip from the corner of the ruby red eye in the center of his forehead, although the other two remained dry.

  Truth shrugged uneasily. “Apologies—no disrespect is intended by the name. It’s simply that the planet is without life or atmosphere.”

  “The surface, perhaps, is lifeless. But there are a few of us who still survive below,” Vashtar said. “And that is where you will find me. Seek me at the coordinates which I am presently transmitting to your personal devices. That way you’ll know that I am real and not just a figment or a shared hallucination,” he explained.

  “And if we do you’ll help us defeat…our current threat,” Far asked, mindful of what Vashtar had said about not calling the demons by name.

  The small male nodded. “Indeed, I have knowledge to impart. Do not think you are the only race that had to repel the denizens of the Black Planet. We of Orthanx also struggled against them—and won.”

  “Then we will come. Or I will, anyway,” Truth said.

  “I’m coming with you,” Far said, frowning at his twin.

  Truth gave him a speculative look and nodded.

  “Agreed. But Rebecca must not be subjected to the dangers of a rogue planet with no atmosphere. She must stay here.”

  Becca lifted her chin. “If you two are in danger, I’m coming too.”

  “It could be some kind of a trap, Rebecca,” Truth protested. “You should let Far and I go while you stay safely aboard the Mother Ship.”

  “It is no trap, I promise you,” Vashtar cut in, interrupting their argument. “And I’m afraid your lady must come—all three of you must—if you are to find me and the answers I have for you.”

  “Why?” Truth seemed immediately suspicious. “Why do you need all three of us? Now I know it’s a trap.”

  “More like a puzzle.” Vashtar held out his hand. “Touch me and know the truth of my words.”

  Truth reached for him but his hand passed through the other male’s as though it was passing through smoke. Still, he nodded.

  “I feel it. You mean us no harm and you truly believe you can help us.”

  “In more ways than one,” Vashtar said mysteriously. “But only if you come soon.” His image seemed to be fading—his ridiculous clothing and round belly were becoming slightly see-through. “And as to the reason all three of you must come, didn’t I tell you that our society on Orthanx mirrors your own? Three are needed to solve and three alone.” He held up three fingers which were nearly transparent. “Do not bring anyone else—only three functional tanks remain empty. We cannot accommodate more.”

  “Three tanks did you say?” Becca frowned. “What does that mean? What kind of tanks?”

  Vashtar only shook his head. “Come soon…” His voice had a ghostly quality now to match his fading form. “The eye has woken me but only for the nonce. If I drift below the waves of slumber again before you come it will be difficult if not impossible for you to find me.”

  Then he faded altogether except for the strange, ruby red eye which remained suspended in the gray, swirling mist for a long moment before suddenly winking out of existence.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Becca gave a little gasp and put a hand to her heart when the weird eye and the silver mist surrounding them finally disappeared.

  “Just like the Cheshire Cat!” she murmured, looking around the suite’s living area. But the ruby eye did not reappear.

  “The what?” Truth growled.

  “From an Earth fable, I believe,” Far said. “About a female child who falls down a hole made by a large rodent with a time piece. She then finds herself in a place where nothing makes sense in the conventional way.”

  “What does that have to do with a Leshirecat?” Truth asked, looking irritated.

  “A Cheshire Cat,” Far corrected him. “In the tale there is a furred mammal called a cat which appears and disappears at will, leaving only its smile behind. It claims to be mad which is not very significant since everyone in the book appears to be mentally disturbed in one way or another.”

  Becca nearly laughed at his earnest synopsis of one of her favorite books.

  “That’s an interesting take on Alice in Wonderland, all right,” she said. “But I didn’t know you were a student of English literature, Far.”

  “And I did not know you knew so much about my home solar system,” Truth remarked, turning to him. “I had no idea that Void was once named Orthanx. How is it you know so much about both subjects, Brother?”

  Far looked down as though he was trying to think how to answer.

  “When I have a problem,” he began carefully. “I…study it until I find the answer. I find the more information I have, the better equipped I am to deal with it, whatever it is.”

  “And Rebecca and I are problems? Is that it?” Truth sounded like he might be getting upset. “What else do you know about us? About me?”

  “Pax is a closed planet so I haven’t been able to find out much,” Far said quietly. Although with Commander Sylvan’s blessing, I did recently speak briefly to your second mother.”

  “What?” Truth exploded. “You spoke to my mother? How dare you? What did you say?”

  “I was just trying to find a way to understand you,” Far said stiffly. “Don’t worry, I said nothing to shame you. I didn’t tell her I wished to bond with you and Becca.”

  “You…you…” Truth shook h