text: Chapter 10 Maurice approached the Holy Cathedral cautiously; he’d never been this close to the royalty of The Authority before. He ascended the grand steps that led up to the doorway into the cathedral, slowly and carefully. When he got to the door he stopped for a moment, and then entered. Standing in the middle of the room was a tall, lanky figure shrouded in a black cloak. “Hello, Hepburn,” the figure said. Maurice moved slowly, unsure of himself. The hood of the cloak fell just below the figure’s eye-line, showing his long, crooked nose and and a thin smile. “So, you’ve lost a starpod?” The figure spat. Maurice gulped. “Yes...I’m afraid so,” he replied. The figure wrung his bony hands together and the smile faded. “And how do you suppose you’ll get it back?” Maurice gulped, and then shuffled his feet. “Starpods give off a unique energy signature, as you know,” he said. “All we need to do is look out for that signature.” “So! You’re going to scour the entire galaxy?” Maurice found himself nodding. “Yes, sir--eh, Your Excellency, that is the plan, but--” “But what?” The figure mocked. “--but it may take some time.” “I should think so. But time is slippery, it can escape your grasp in an instant if you’re not careful to grip it tightly.” “I won’t fail you,” Maurice exclaimed, his voice cracking. “Find the unit, Hepburn, and find it soon.” And at that, the figure waved Maurice away, and he found himself walking backwards out the door of the church, unwilling to turn his back to such a bony, death-like creature. Chapter 11 Josiah and Daniel stepped onto the rickety, metal elevator, and began their descent deep into one of Manoor’s many quarries. It’s in these quarries that they once hoped to mine feria , a substance that prolongs the human lifespan. But, much to the dismay of Manoor’s ancestors, none had been found on this planet. “So, you have yet to find any feria at all?” Jo asked inquisitively. Prime Minister Edein responded: “No, none at all. Which is good, for it’s kept The Authority far away from our little sanctuary.” “Because of the energy signature?” Daniel asked. “That’s right. Without the signature radiation from feria, our planet has snuck under their radar. Once, we hinged our entire economic system on finding the elusive element; now, the mines stand empty and barren.” “So, what do you hope to show us down there, then?” Daniel asked. “You’ll see.” And down and down they went, deeper into the quarry until the sun hid behind one of the edges of the great crater. And the closer they got, the more they could swear that there was a buzzz coming from deep within. “What’s that noise?” Jo asked. The prime minister was silent. Finally, they reached the bottom, and the three men, accompanied by four guardsmen, stepped out onto a crimson-red floor. The buzzz was even louder now, but still subtle, as if hidden within something. As they walked down the path, the prime minister said: “We found it thirty years ago, looking for feria.” They turned a corner, and there it was: a ripple in spacetime. Daniel’s jaw dropped, and Josiah stood steady, looking stoically at the slim tear within the fabric of reality itself. “We have no idea what kind of radiation it’s emitting,” Edein began, “but it’s like nothing we’ve ever observed before.” “And The Authority--” began Jo. “--they have no idea about it, as far as we know. This type of radiation isn’t what they’re looking for.” “And the keyblade?” Asked Daniel. Prime minister Edein smiled. “Have you ever seen anything like this before?” “No, but--” “--something cut through,” Edein said. “A blade that serves as a key. A key into another world.” Chapter 12 Maurice’s ship barrelled through space, hurriedly, towards the headquarters of Baxtar Industries. He would scour the entire galaxy, no, the entire universe , to get back the stolen starpod. Maurice’s temper flared, and he angrily slammed his fist on the arm of the seat he was in. His android across from him looked concerned. “Mr. Hepburn,” the robot began, “perhaps you should take ferryar .” “I don’t need any damn feria,” he exclaimed. “I need the starpod back.” “It is a most troubling scenario,” the droid, named AX-7675, continued, “but I have faith that something will turn up.” “You’re an android, you don’t have faith.” Maurice mumbled angrily. “You programmed faith into me, sir.” “So your opinion is a product of my imagination.” AX-7675 went silent for a few moments, then: “Your imagination is a product of your own genetic make-up, your own programming, if you will, and is really no different from mine.” Maurice stared out the window, and thought to himself: “The starpod is out there...somewhere, deep within the galaxy, maybe...and without it this whole operation falls apart.” Chapter 13 Catherine awoke suddenly. The two moons shone dazzling light through her window and onto her bed; she stared out the window at those moons, and sighed heavily. She’d been on Taleyedos for four days as her arm healed; Sonya had been very pleasant and helpful to her, but still the blade remained a mystery. “All in due time,” Pietro had promised, but that time still hadn’t come yet. Sonya told her what she could (which wasn’t much), but her friendly demeanour and genuine sense of empathy helped Catherine get through those early days in Scienca and grow accustomed to her new life. Now, she was growing restless, and needed answers. So on the morning of the fifth day, she walked down the lightly paved road towards the emerald spire and climbed the steps back up to the circular room she’d been brought to when she first arrived, and barged in. The assembly was deliberating about something, and all turned their heads towards Catherine as she made her bombastic entrance. “It’s time you told me who you are, it’s time you told me about the blade that saved my life, and it’s time you told me what you know about The Authority and how we can defeat them,” she proclaimed loudly as the doors swung behind her. Pietro stayed calm, and smiled. “We were discussing yesterday as to whether we should tell you or not. Some of the assembly here does not think so. But, in your favour, enough of us do, so we will answer your questions. But, fetch Sonya. We will not start without her. Let us meet in the courtyard behind the spire in three hours?” Catherine, who’d been given a brilliant, silver watch from Sonya, looked at her wrist and nodded. “Let it be so,” she said, and strutted off. Chapter 14 Catherine walked down the lightly paved road back to her house where there was a kind of telephone she could use to reach Sonya should she need her. She stopped in front of her house, and stared up at the blue-grey sky, speckled with clouds. She smiled to herself. Although the past week had been trying, Catherine was glad to finally be somewhat at peace with herself. Suddenly, however, the sky grew dark; a massive hypership appeared in orbit around the planet, blocking out the sun. Catherine frowned, and looked confused as the bombs started falling. First, they hit the emerald spire, knocking it to the ground in a tremendous bang , then they started dropping on the village hidden within the chrome walls. Boom, boom, boom they went, and Catherine screamed, and ran into her house and into the basement. She covered her head with her arms, and all she could hear was the deafening roar of the explosives flattening the town. Far above her, in the hypership, Sonya stood there, watching. “You’ve made a deal with the devil,” said Maurice, standing beside her. “You’re certain you know the location of the starpod?” “Like I already told you, Catherine told me everything.” She smiled, and Maurice looked on out the window, satisfied. “Goodbye, Catherine E. Ness,” he said, chillingly.