The Fold Ship Part 6

Posted on 04 Nov 2013 @ 2:43pm by Commander Allyndra illm Warraquim

1,275 words; about a 6 minute read

"Computer open Log The Fold Ship"

[Log open and recording]

"Well tomorrow we are off to meet the aliens so I will get a little more on my tale recorded. Now where was I? Oh yes......"


"Allyndra, off to bed?" the deep alto voice of Guild Mistress Assira came quite but with that carrying tone that it seemed all the Guild Mistress' had learned.

I stopped and though I knew better then to make a visible or audible voicing to my feelings inwardly I wanted to cry. The Guild Mistress was standing outside my door and she had that look that broached no argument. I stopped and bowed, which was easy enough as tired as I was. "Guild Mistress?"

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

"Nineteen Mistress. 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 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.

I followed along as they 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, they did practice a form of reclusion that many took for a religious type of order. As they entered the 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 Mistress 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 a each to a 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 then 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. "What is it?" 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.

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 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's leader. 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.

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 yet Allyndra illm Warraquim, but know this, the knowledge that you have gained has put you on a precarious path. Now pay attention."

=^=Doctor Warraquim, sorry to interrupt but there is a question of diagnosis on a patient=^=

"Computer stop recording and save"

[Recording terminated and saved]

Allyndra nodded though the computer would not note it and responded to the comm call.
=^=On my way=^=

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