Read Online Epic of Aravinda 1: The Truth Beyond the Sky by Andrew M. Crusoe - Free Book Online
Authors: Andrew M. Crusoe
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reading pad.
“We have deduced that these are some of the symbols that this machine uses to signify numerical digits.”
On the pad were bizarre, curving symbols that seemed vaguely familiar to Zahn, and he studied the controls again.
“Oon, could these numbers be some kind of address system? I mean, if the gate network is made up of a series of gates all around the galaxy, wouldn’t it need something to identify them?”
“Indeed, you are as clever as we had hoped. That is exactly what we believe the numbers are used for. I would have told you before, but I wanted to get your unbiased opinion first.”
“So how do we activate the gate?”
“Although I removed all of the ice from the gate controls when I first discovered them, my attempts have thus far proven unsuccessful, as you know. We were hoping that if you used the gate’s controls, it would recognize you as an Avanian.”
For a while, Zahn continued to play with the controls, but nothing he did had any effect. Frustrated, he kicked the side of the control panel, hurting his foot in the process.
“I can’t believe this. We’ve come this far and nothing works. I don’t know what else to do here, Oonak.”
“Do not fear, Zahn. A solution will present itself. One moment, I will be right back.”
As he waited, Zahn allowed his back to slide down the side of a nearby column, eventually sitting on the smooth floor of the cavern. Despite the jacket that Oonak had given him, he was starting to feel cold, as well.
To get his mind off of this seemingly unsolvable problem, Zahn examined the floor of the cavern, and as he did this he felt something wet drip onto his hand. He looked up and observed a thick patch of ice high above him near the center of the room. Enough light was filtering through the ice that he might have been able to examine the greyish floor of the cavern even without Navika’s illumination.
On a whim, he decided to take out the knife his grandfather had given him as a child and tried to chip off some of the column. He wondered if this column might be connected to the gate in some way and pressed the blade into the stone harder. In the process, he slipped and cut one of his fingers.
Zahn leapt up and yelled in frustration as blood oozed out.
“Ah! This is stupid. I can’t believe we’re stuck after coming all this way.” Zahn sucked his cut to get some bits of sand out.
“Navika said he heard you yell out,” Oonak said as he ran over. “What happened?”
“I cut myself. Do you have anything? What do spacefarers do when they bleed?”
“Navika has something. One moment.” Oonak ran back toward the ship.
While he waited, Zahn decided to try his hand at the controls again. Perhaps they’d just needed time to warm up. When he got back up to the controls, he gazed at them as though he were in a staring match with a great villain.
“If I were a civilization smart enough to build a machine that creates holes in the fabric of spacetime, what button would I expect people to push?”
Again, he noticed the ring shape in the upper left corner of the panel, and in a mixture of desperation and stubbornness, he pressed the button again.
This time, it worked.
The cavern flooded with light as the gate burst to life. Zahn was so shocked that he felt as though his eyes were going to pop out of his head. Each of the number symbols now glowed a ghostly white, and the circular grooves that he noticed before revealed themselves to be a row of glowing circles that filled the lower half of the control panel. Perhaps most exciting of all, the gate lit up in a bright white ring, and everything became covered in faint geometric patterns.
Zahn was so stunned that he just stood there for a while to bask in the moment, watching the colors on the gate as they gradually pulsed in brightness. When Oonak walked up a few seconds later, Zahn felt that he was just as surprised, yet he expressed it in a much quieter way.
“How did you do it?”
“I
“We have deduced that these are some of the symbols that this machine uses to signify numerical digits.”
On the pad were bizarre, curving symbols that seemed vaguely familiar to Zahn, and he studied the controls again.
“Oon, could these numbers be some kind of address system? I mean, if the gate network is made up of a series of gates all around the galaxy, wouldn’t it need something to identify them?”
“Indeed, you are as clever as we had hoped. That is exactly what we believe the numbers are used for. I would have told you before, but I wanted to get your unbiased opinion first.”
“So how do we activate the gate?”
“Although I removed all of the ice from the gate controls when I first discovered them, my attempts have thus far proven unsuccessful, as you know. We were hoping that if you used the gate’s controls, it would recognize you as an Avanian.”
For a while, Zahn continued to play with the controls, but nothing he did had any effect. Frustrated, he kicked the side of the control panel, hurting his foot in the process.
“I can’t believe this. We’ve come this far and nothing works. I don’t know what else to do here, Oonak.”
“Do not fear, Zahn. A solution will present itself. One moment, I will be right back.”
As he waited, Zahn allowed his back to slide down the side of a nearby column, eventually sitting on the smooth floor of the cavern. Despite the jacket that Oonak had given him, he was starting to feel cold, as well.
To get his mind off of this seemingly unsolvable problem, Zahn examined the floor of the cavern, and as he did this he felt something wet drip onto his hand. He looked up and observed a thick patch of ice high above him near the center of the room. Enough light was filtering through the ice that he might have been able to examine the greyish floor of the cavern even without Navika’s illumination.
On a whim, he decided to take out the knife his grandfather had given him as a child and tried to chip off some of the column. He wondered if this column might be connected to the gate in some way and pressed the blade into the stone harder. In the process, he slipped and cut one of his fingers.
Zahn leapt up and yelled in frustration as blood oozed out.
“Ah! This is stupid. I can’t believe we’re stuck after coming all this way.” Zahn sucked his cut to get some bits of sand out.
“Navika said he heard you yell out,” Oonak said as he ran over. “What happened?”
“I cut myself. Do you have anything? What do spacefarers do when they bleed?”
“Navika has something. One moment.” Oonak ran back toward the ship.
While he waited, Zahn decided to try his hand at the controls again. Perhaps they’d just needed time to warm up. When he got back up to the controls, he gazed at them as though he were in a staring match with a great villain.
“If I were a civilization smart enough to build a machine that creates holes in the fabric of spacetime, what button would I expect people to push?”
Again, he noticed the ring shape in the upper left corner of the panel, and in a mixture of desperation and stubbornness, he pressed the button again.
This time, it worked.
The cavern flooded with light as the gate burst to life. Zahn was so shocked that he felt as though his eyes were going to pop out of his head. Each of the number symbols now glowed a ghostly white, and the circular grooves that he noticed before revealed themselves to be a row of glowing circles that filled the lower half of the control panel. Perhaps most exciting of all, the gate lit up in a bright white ring, and everything became covered in faint geometric patterns.
Zahn was so stunned that he just stood there for a while to bask in the moment, watching the colors on the gate as they gradually pulsed in brightness. When Oonak walked up a few seconds later, Zahn felt that he was just as surprised, yet he expressed it in a much quieter way.
“How did you do it?”
“I
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