Chapter 16
Moglie
I
Henry stood a few feet from the gate; he could hear people yelling at him in a language he could not understand. It had been so dark in the training grounds that the change in light momentarily blinded him. He felt someone run into the back of him, and stop. He assumed it was Amica.
“I don’t understand what they are saying,” Henry said over his shoulder to Amica.
“They want to know who we are, and what the code word is, but I can’t see anything, it’s too bright.” Amica said. She said something in what sounded like the same language, calling out into the light. Henry had not considered that Amica spoke English because she had been on Earth for a thousand years. Henry called himself an idiot mentally. He wondered how many languages she spoke. Henry’s eyes adjusted and he able to see again, and found they were surrounded by a group of men holding what reminded him of gardening tools. He saw a few heavy headed mallets, what looked like hoes, and several items that looked like pick axes. This would have been very intimidating if it were not for the people who held them. To Henry’s quickly recovering eyes, the men looked lucky to be strong enough to be standing at all, let alone strong enough to swing the weapons with enough force to really hurt them. He realized this was a very delicate situation. He heard Amica speaking to the men in their language, but judging by the tone of their responses it was not going well.
“Henry, put this on. Sir meant to give it to you before you left, but everything happened so quickly,” Amica said. Henry reached his hand back slowly, and found her hand. She handed him a pair of glasses, and what felt like a necklace. He looked down and found it was the translator he had bought for his mom. Sir must have gotten it out of his locker, where it was stored. Very slowly so not to disturb the men, he put the necklace around his neck, and slipped the glasses on his head. He tucked the earpiece at the back in his ear, and the shouts turned into words just as a new man came into the room quickly from another part of the building. This man did not look the others, he looked thin, and undernourished, but he did not look weak. He looked to Henry a man in his mid thirties.
“Who are you? If Sostenitore, and Fratello had sent you then you would know the code. Who are you, and how did you know where we were?” the new man said. He had a voice that was full, and carried over the din of the room, even though he had not spoken loud, or raised his voice. It was clear to Henry this was a man in charge. If the way he spoke, expecting an answer had not been enough then the way every man in the room’s eyes continually shifted to him would have been enough of an indication.
Amica looked to Henry at a loss for words.
“We are from Earth,” Henry said. He could hear his words being translated as he spoke. “We were given these coordinates by a friend. We are looking for Moglie, we were told she would help us,” Henry said. He looked at Amica who was looking at him as if he had gone insane. He realized that she had not heard Sir give him these instructions. He hoped this man would help them, because the men with weapons moved a little closer when he mentioned the name Moglie. Henry was very glad that he had not closed the gate yet, and they still had a way out if things went very wrong, but he was beginning to feel the strain of having a gate this powerful open for so long.
“I am called Marito, and Moglie is very ill, she sees no one,” Marito said. “I asked you who you are, if you are not from…” his voice trailed off as a woman placed her hand on his back. She was a very frail woman. She wore brown tattered rags that looked huge on her slender frame. Her eyes were sunken, and her hair was thin, and listless.
“I am Moglie, Daughter of Agostinio,” the woman said. She had a warm melodic voice that was slightly slurred, but hesitant as if looking for the right words; he was surprised to find that she was speaking English. “I do not know who you are young man, but I do know you young lady, although it is a fair bet you do not remember me,” Moglie said pointing at Amica, and motioning her to come closer. “Amica, Daughter of Melchiorre if I am not mistaken, although I will admit my mind is not what it once was since the sickness began. My body has been the strongest hit. Thankfully my mind has been left mostly untouched, other keepers have not been so lucky,” Moglie said. Henry was startled when he realized what sickness she was speaking of. He had not understood how easy it was to become overworked, and ill as a keeper. He would have to speak with Roberts when he returned about the best way to take care of his body, and prevent this from happening.
“I am Henry Thomas, I am a friend of Amica’s we have some medication for keeper sickness with us, we will gladly share it with you,” Henry said. Amica had walked over to Moglie, but as she got closer the men with weapons moved closer still, and Henry realized that the situation was still a little volatile. “We mean no one here any harm, we were given this address by Albert Wilhelm, we are only here to try to find Melchiorre, and return him to his family in exile, please lower your weapons,” Henry said calling to the men in the room.
Marito looked to the woman, who nodded her head.
“The men are nervous about the gate still being open, would the keeper please close the gate?” Marito said. Henry looked to Amica, but found nothing that would help him there. She was examining the face of the woman, as if she was trying to solve a puzzle.
“I will gladly close the opening if you will assure us that we are safe here, I am nervous about closing the only avenue of escape while you hold those weapons,” Henry said. He thought his words might have come across as rude when the man frowned. He looked around the room at the men with their makeshift weapons, and smiled at Henry.
“I assure you that no harm will come to you, or the girl; at least none from me or my men. Although I can not promise you will be safe, after all none of us here are truly safe,” he said with a frown, but Henry hear what sounded like a laugh come from some of the men.
Henry walked over to where the gate stood open into the darkness; he could not see Sir anywhere. He closed the gate
“Thank you young man. Marito, please take us back to our room so I can rest, and we can talk,” Moglie said. Marito looked down at her, and smiled warmly.
“Of course dear, you should not have gotten out of bed to begin with,” Marito said. Henry couldn’t help, but agree with him looking at her, but could not imagine what may have become of the situation if she had not been there. m
“You worry about me too much love. I told you things would be okay eventually, and look today we were gifted with not one, but three happy, and amazing events; Amica, Daughter of Melchiorre has returned home to us, and she has brought one of the most powerful natural keepers I have seen since her father, and they have both brought medicine. All in all an event worth leaving my bed,” Moglie said with a smile.
They began to walk, and for the first time Henry was able to really look around. They were in a long room, with high ceilings, and large skylights that let a great deal of sunlight through them. The walls were made of a transparent material Henry couldn’t identify. He could tell by looking around that he was in some type of transportation hub in the woods. Deep in the forest from the size of the tree trunks he could see through the walls, but all of the gates with the exception of the one he had just left; looked to have been damaged. There were large sections of the walls that had been knocked down, or more likely blasted down, by the looks of the scorch marks around the holes. The floor was made from a finely grained wood Henry had never seen before. He did not know if it had been stained, but it was a lovely color that reminded him of redwood. The floor had been sealed with some type of hard lacquer layer that gave it a nice shine.
“How did you know Henry was a natural?” Amica asked. It was the first time she had spoken since Moglie, had said her name. That she would ask about Henry, and not how the woman knew her was quite a surprise to Henry.
“Only a natural would have been able to maintain an opening like that for as long as he did, and not be a quivering
bag of mush at the end of it. The body of a natural is different from other keepers, or at least that was what your father believed. He believed that a natural’s body had more mitochondria to produce the electrical energy needed to open the gates with out overburdening their other biological system. A natural can get keeper sickness, but they have to be expending a lot of energy. I only know that naturals have a harder time getting sick than the rest of us. It is one of the things that has made a natural such a sought after commodity in the universe,” she said. They left the building through a high arched doorway. Henry stepped out onto a surface made of hexagonally shaped stones that had been laid making a path through the woods. Henry found himself in the largest forest he had ever seen. The path wound down hill towards a small group of buildings that looked similar in style, but much smaller than the building they had just left. Surrounding the buildings, and scattered through out the forest where trees of enormous size. The smallest looked to be nearly thirty feet across and hundreds of feet tall. To Henry it reminded him of the Giant Sequoias forest on earth. He had never been, but as a camper he had always dreamed of going there to camp.
“You know, my father?” Amica asked. She had stopped walking, and Henry turned, and looked at her.
“Is that how you knew who I was? How do you know him, is he safe? Where is he?” Then she turned to look at Henry who was smiling at all of her questions. “And don’t think you’re off the hook for not telling me what’s going on.” she said scowling at his smile. He couldn’t help but laugh, which caused her scowl to deepen.
“Hey you know as much as I do now, Sir told me to ask for her,” Henry said. He noticed Marito was scowling at him.
“Who is this Sir?” Marito asked.
“Let us settle, and take some medicine. Then we can share a meal, and knowledge,” Moglie said. Not far ahead of them they saw another building. It was about 20 yards up, nestled in under the trees. Henry could see the sun reflecting off the clear walls of the side of the house. He was surprised by the amount of light that filtered through the multi-layered canopy above them.
II
Henry sat in a comfortable chair in the home of Marito, and Moglie. The home was a small affair with one bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, and a living area with a small table for meals, and a comfortable seating area that he was now in. Henry had asked Marito about his home. The walls were made of a clear crystal material that allowed the resident to see out into the forest, and allow in light. The walls could be turned opaque with the push of a button on the wall. The Scultarians were very nature orientated. They believed in developing the planet according to the lay of the land. While Amica helped Moglie go to the bathroom, and take her medicine Marito told Henry about his people.
“Our planet was originally populated by people at peace with nature,” Marito said. “We had large forested areas similar to the one we are hiding in now scattered through out the surface of the planet. We built our homes nestled in the hundred-foot Rosso wood trees. We left the giant trees alone only clearing some of the smaller trees, and greenery mixed in, but only when necessary.” Marito said. What Henry had seen was beautiful.
“How did you get around?” Henry asked.
“we used the gateways, each town has, or had a transportation hub similar to the one where you arrived, most of those have been damaged, pretty badly now.” Marito said sadly.
“What about food, and other materials? Where do these amazing walls come from?” Henry asked amazed running his hand over the clear surface; it was smooth, and warm to the touch, especially where the sun shone through.
“The walls are grown crystal, but our planet is more than just forests. There are large areas of the planet where the fields of crops are so large they grow food for the rest of the planet. The fields are maintained by whole cities. Large mountain ranges where the materials for the crystal growing are mined, as well as the metals that are used to build the gates which are the main method of travel from city to city. The royal family distributed all of these supplies so every citizen had enough work, and food to keep them fit, and healthy,” Marito said.
“It sounds like it was a very nice planet,” Henry said. Marito nodded sadly.
“Worth fighting, and dying for, when you came through the gate we hoped you were Sostenitore, and Fratello returning with food, and weapons so we could begin to fight the Angriff,” Marito said.
“Well Nathan may send them, he is a war mongering fool no more fit to rule this planet then the Angriff, but he will want to be in charge of the resistance,” Amica said walking into the sitting area.
“Well we worked too hard, for too long to turn everything over to anyone. The royal line is all but extinct now, they were good people, but I think many of us have had too much abuse to willingly turn control of our lives back over to anyone,” Marito said thoughtfully.
Moglie looked better after taking her medicine, some of the color had returned to her skin. The pink undertones that Amica, and Marito had were returning to her skin, he was not sure but thought her eyes were a little less sunken as well.
“If you sent men looking for Roberts I would not count on her sending weapons. The last information we heard before walking through the gate was the Angriff have no more use for our planet, and are with drawing. With in the next 24 hours they will be gone,” Amica said sitting across from Marito.
“That is great news if it is true,” Moglie said.
“Who told you this information, and how did they know?” Marito challenged.
“We were told by our mentor Albert Wilhelm,” Henry said.
“Who is that?” Marito said. Moglie placed her hand on his in a comforting gesture.
“Peace love, peace. I guess I should not be surprised to hear he is still alive, although I must say am surprised he is teaching again. If he says the Angriff are leaving then we can trust his visions.” Moglie said.
“I think he came out of retirement for Henry,” Amica said whispering conspiratorially to Moglie. Moglie smiled looking over to Henry.
“I am sure you are partially right, but from what I hear Albert always had a soft spot for your father, I would bet your presence was what pushed him into actually doing it. I only met him once; he was not my teacher. Your father was the one who trained me,” Moglie said.
“Is that how you knew me?” Amica asked.
“I was at the hospital the night you were born, young lady. Your mother, and I were good friends we met in training; we were like sisters. Your mother was never much of a keeper, but she never came across a gate she could not fix. The three of us met in keeper training, your father the teacher, and Alessia, and I were students. Don’t worry your parents didn’t actually date until they were not student, and teacher, well at least that was what they claimed anyway,” Moglie said smiling.
“Your father was not that much older than your mother, but he had trained his natural ability for many years by the time they met, starting when he was very young. Our planet has had many keepers, but very few naturals. His parents shipped off for training very young. He said he was always home sick for his own planet, so he returned here to make his home, and to teach others,” Moglie said.
“All of this is very interesting, and I know Amica would love to know all about her parents, but we are in a time crunch. The Angriff are taking keepers with them, and if we can not get to her father in the next 22 hours or so, he will be lost to us, maybe we could move to current events,” Henry said.
“Yes I think Henry is right, I know you want to know about your father, but assuming we live to see the end of this thing we can talk all you want. How does that sound?” Moglie said
“That would be wonderful,” Amica said sounding excited.
“Over the last 10 years after the resistance fell, and your father was captured things on this planet got bad,” Moglie began. Henry was confused for a moment then remembered what Amica had told him once about the way they measured time on her planet. T
en years here was around a thousand years on earth. “The Angriff were after gate metals, what they planned to do with them is beyond me, but all of their efforts have been directed towards that. We already had mining towns through out the mountains but we mined for many different minerals through out the planet, they abandoned the towns where materials were mined that were of no use to them. The ones that were left were not large enough; they expanded them creating large labor camps at the entrances to the mines. The mineworkers like Marito were given extra food rations, but they were forced to eat sleep, and work in the mines never seeing the light of day. The farms were the same way, with some field allowed to go fallow because the temperature or weather conditions prevented the growth of the foods the Angriff liked to eat. Even the keepers were treated poorly, many of us were worked to death; forced to continue opening gates long after their body was all but used up, all in an effort to move the ore they mined here to their home world” Moglie said.
“How did you escape,” Henry asked. He knew that there were time constraints, but he was caught up in the story.
“The keepers were kept separate from the mineworkers. The miners lived in the mines only coming out to bring the ore to the gate, but the keepers, we lived in dormitories where they could keep an eye on us. Many of the keepers were shifted around a lot, moving from location to location. They were following ore shipments, or certain Angriff officials. Some officials had favorite keepers that they used like personal servants, but I was always assigned to the mine at Cold Pass Mountain. I had been the head keeper there before the invasion, and Marito was a miner there. We had been bonded for many years before the invasion. I had been sick for a long time when there was a collapse in one of the side tunnels; Marito, and two of his friends were believed lost. I cried for days after the accident, but they were not killed. They managed to find their way out of the mine, they came for me in the night. I was too sick, and the gates were too closely guarded for us to escape that way. The four of us made our way down the mountain, hiding at night when the Angriff were the most active,” Moglie said. She paused to take a drink of water from a glass that Marito had brought her.
“Why are the Angriff more active in the night?” Henry asked.
“They come from a dark planet, they spend most of their lives in the dark. Or at least that is my understanding,” Marito said.
“They have a hard time seeing well in bright sunlight, it hurts their eyes,” Moglie said. We worked our way out of the mountains. The farther we got from the mines the less of the Angriff we saw; although as we went we found others who had escaped from different areas, eventually we found this forest town. From what we were able to tell, the Angriff had taken the inhabitants to work elsewhere on the planet. They destroyed the transportation hub, but left most of the town itself untouched,” Moglie said.
“We have close to 30 inhabitants at the moment, but not nearly enough food to feed them. There is not much animal life left in the area to hunt, and not hardly enough weapons to make the energy expended worth the food brought back,” Marito said.
“I don’t understand if the Angriff destroyed the transportation hub how could you open the gate to the Milky Way terminal, and why didn’t you all go?” Henry asked.
“Amica’s mother was not the only one of us who was good with broken gates, it took a while because I was so ill, but we were able to scavenge parts from all of the gates, but there were no gates powerful enough to reach the distance we needed to get to the Milky Way Terminal, even then we still had to hope that Brigid Roberts was still there, and could help us find supplies. We unwound several of the other gate control cables, and rewrapped a new one that could be used to build a golden gate,” Moglie said proudly.
“I understand the need, and desire to fight, that’s why I’m here, but with you so sick why didn’t you go through the gateway, and find medical help. I mean you have only had a dose, and I can already see a difference,” Amica asked.
“We are in charge here for good or ill, it has just kind of fallen on our shoulders. We could be found at any moment, and I am the only keeper here, even sick maybe I could open the gate, and get most of to safety,” Moglie said.
“I have a proposal for you both,” Henry said. He had been worried about how they would find Melchiorre, but with luck this might work. Every one turned, and looked at him. Moglie, and Marito looked inquisitive about his proposal. They looked at him respectfully as an equal. It was so unusual for people to look at him as an equal. His parents treated him like their son, that was to be expected, and it was nice to be taken care of sometime. At school he talked so rarely that when he did people looked at him as if the desk had talked. Then they usually dismissed what he had to say. This was not the case with Marito, and Moglie. They did not see a child, or a loser they saw a powerful keeper who had come to their home to help a friend. It was refreshing to be treated that way; he just hoped he wouldn’t blow it.
“We don’t know how to find Melchiorre, but we do know the address of a gate to a safe place away from the Angriff,” Henry said. He could tell already that Marito did not like this plan, but he put his hand up signaling him to wait. “The Angriff are leaving, there is no reason to drive them from this planet losing more lives than have already been lost during the occupation. They are kidnapping your people, they have stripped your planet, and I can understand the desire for revenge, but right now we need help rescuing as many keepers as we can before it’s too late,” Henry paused to let his words sink in. As he was talking he saw Moglie nod her head yes. He was not sure if it meant the same thing here as it did on earth, but he was hopeful, he thought that if he could get Moglie on his side then Marito would follow eventually.
Marito sat for several moments his face impassive; then stood, and walked to the window looking down on the small village center nestled in the woods below. He watched the people moving around the square for a few moments.
“What do you have in mind?” Marito asked.
“You chose a small force that can move quickly, and are healthy. Then I open a gate to the Chicago Terminal, and send everyone else including Moglie where they will be safe. Your men who have already gone through the gates, and Ms. Roberts can look them after. Moglie can get the medical attention she so desperately needs, and the rest of us come up with a plan to rescue as many keepers as we can,” Henry said.
Marito turned, and looked at his wife, she was sitting in the chair with her head back, and her eyes closed, she was trying to stay awake, but it was obvious she was exhausted from the events of the day.
“Do you really think you can open the gates, that we won’t need any other keepers?” Marito asked.
“I haven’t seen a gate he couldn’t open yet,” Amica said. “Let him take her where she can get better, help me find my father, please before it’s too late,” Amica pleaded.
“Okay, but I don’t even know where to begin to look,” Marito said.
“I do,” Moglie said surprising everyone in the room. She had been silent for a long time with her eyes closed, and Henry had thought her asleep. Judging by the startled jump from everyone else, they had too. She opened her eyes. “When I was in the camps many of the keepers would come, and go as I told you. They said the Angriff had created a main camp in the central planetary distribution hub. The Angriff would funnel all of their materials from the various mines there, and then move them off planet through the golden gates that were located in the hub. I believe that is where we will find the last of the keepers. There is a woman in camp, her name is Elena, and she used to work as a clerk in the distribution hub before the occupation. She escaped from the farms not far from there; you should find her. She could be helpful,” Moglie said. She laid her head back, and closed her eyes again.
III
Henry stood once more in front of the gate, the last 3 hours had a been a mass of confusion. Shortly after Moglie had closed her eyes drifting off to sleep, Marito found Elena, and confirmed t
he story that Moglie had given about her life. She was indeed from near the central planetary distribution hub, having grown up in the area. She had worked most of her adult life there until the invasion when she was sent to work on the farms. She thought she would be able to help them find a way in. Marito asked her to find anyone else who may have been in the area recently, and bring them here to begin drawing a map of the area, he then sounded the evacuation alarm to prepare the people to move out.
The whole of the camp now stood behind Henry waiting for the gate to be opened. As part of his training he had taken the opportunity to learn the addresses of some of the gates near popular locations on his home world as a matter of curiosity. He was going to try to open the gate to the Chicago Terminal. With any luck the gate would be free, and not engaged. He also hoped Roberts would not block the opening as an unwanted intruder. He hoped that she would recognize the incoming gate address from earlier tonight. He closed his eyes, and placed his hands on the gate.