Chapter 41

FORTY-ONE

"What is that? " Jade stared at the thing in the Kordolian's hands.

The Kordolian in question was an elder; his once-sharp features softened with age.

Jade had never seen an older Kordolian before. It was something of a relief to know that they physically aged like humans. She wouldn't have been surprised if they were undying or something. With all the longevity science floating around these days, it wouldn't be so difficult to imagine that they'd cracked the secret to immortality.

But this guy actually looked old. The corners of his eyes were etched with wrinkles, and his movements were a little less fluid.

His name was Elgon. At first glance, he gave off wise, benevolent old-man vibes, but Jade had caught a sharp glint in his eyes now and then.

Noa seemed to trust him, though. That was reassuring… right?

Elgon held up the artifact, momentarily silhouetting it against the backdrop of the stars before taking a step forward to offer Jade a closer look. "This is called a krisalix. Although a number of these were supposed to have been made, it's the only known example we've come across. After an extensive search, it was found on an abandoned planet in Sector Two. "

It was an oval-shaped thing made from dark metal similar to the stuff she'd noticed seemingly everywhere on the fleet station.

A ring-like thing, only it was large, about the size of her head. It was perfectly symmetrical, one edge smooth, the other shaped into undulating, asymmetrical waves.

A strange, otherworldly crown.

As he rotated the object, it caught the light, and Jade realized it was inset with hundreds of smooth, polished gemstones. They were arranged in an intricate interlocking pattern that was both alien and familiar.

They looked like… fractals?

That was what they were, right?

The craftsmanship was insane. She knew how difficult it was to cut and shape gemstones. Human hands couldn't have made this. Nor could machines.

But that wasn't the most astonishing thing about the krisalix.

The thing hummed.

Not through sound but through the very essence of the Universe itself.

She wasn't imagining it. She could feel it in every fiber of her being.

A low, powerful, mesmerizing hum.

It was immensely soothing. The murmur of a hundred voices in the background was completely silenced, and she immediately felt a great sense of relief. She hadn't realized how taxing it was to have to filter the noise all the time.

Before she realized it, Jade was reaching out. The urge to touch it overcame everything else.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Noa remarked. "It makes me feel like I'm a toddler reaching for a pretty, shiny thing, only I feel the need for it in my bones."

"Have you tried it?" Jade couldn't help but feel wary. Shiny, attractive, addictive things could be dangerous.

"I have. It's… something else. Not bad, just… intense. "

"Are you sure I should be doing this? I have literally zero experience with any of this."

"I would suggest you try it first." Noa projected complete certainty, and after peering into her innermost thoughts, Jade couldn't distrust her.

"Right now, your ka'qui is greatly amplified by the Mating Fever," Elgon said. "It must be exhausting to have to block out all the noise. This device acts like a filter. It will organize and concentrate your raw Talent. It can be used by others—Noa and I, for example—but only in short bursts because it's very taxing. You, on the other hand, are in a very unique position right now. A sarien at the height of the Mating Fever." He shot Noa a meaningful glance. "Interesting things can happen."

Noa looked away. "You could say that."

Elgon snorted. "She once destabilized the core of Kythia itself."

Jade's eyes widened. "An entire planet? You're joking, right?"

"I wish he was."

"You're that powerful?"

"Not just me."

Jade shook her head as she realized Noa was referring to her . This was some superhero-level shit. She felt like a character in a comic book.

She wasn't ready for any of this.

At the same time, the promise of all that power was dangerously tempting.

Jade turned the krisalix over in her hands. Her attention was captured by the intricate fractal design of the gemstones. They were beautifully contoured and flattened, perfectly smooth to the touch, like a mother-of-pearl design inlaid in polished wood.

Only these gemstones reflected all colors of the rainbow.

Her eyes narrowed.

I think I know what this is.

Were they… opals?

Red, black, white… they sure looked like it. Did opals exist in other parts of the Universe? Surely, these hadn't come from Earth.

Jade's blood ran cold.

The red opals she was mining in Coober Pedy...

She'd been planning to sell them on the black market.

To aliens.

Coincidence?

Surely, these things weren't connected.

"The pattern helps synchronize the frequencies of your mind. This gem-mineral is called oura. Its molecular structure is unique and can only be found in nature. Molecules of the pure element—you humans call it silica— arranged in a perfect array. As much as our scientists have tried to replicate it, they cannot. After all, it's taken millions of revolutions for these gemstones to form." Elgon chuckled softly. "There's only so much we can do, after all."

Oura?

They were bloody opals. She was certain of it.

Jade marveled at the way the light danced off the surface, reflecting every color in the spectrum. Opal was the only gemstone with this property. She would never tire of the sight.

"You just have to channel your ka'qui through the patterns, through the array," Elgon said softly. "Then you can focus it anywhere, like a laser beam."

"Anywhere, huh? How will I know where to focus?"

"You can feel him, can't you?" The way Noa said it made it sound like the most natural thing, but she was probably the only person in the Universe who could understand. "It's intuitive, isn't it?"

Jade turned the krisalix over in her hands, marveling at the sheer beauty of the craftsmanship. The device resonated through her: raising the fine hairs on her arms, sending a ripple down her spine, making her breath catch in her chest.

Her heart was fluttering like the wings of a hummingbird, so fast she felt like she was about to levitate.

"I still don't understand a thing, but I'll give it a try." The krisalix had a calming effect on her. It felt good to touch. It sang to her.

It felt right.

"To be honest," Noa admitted, "I don't completely understand it either, but Tarak has specifically asked that we do this. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't be so hasty, but he's… Tarak . He sees things coming from a hundred miles away, and we just have to trust there's a very good reason for all of this."

Jade let out a puff of exasperation. They all trusted this Tarak way too much. But what else could she do now? The damn thing was practically beckoning to her, and she wanted to communicate with Dragek so badly. Logic wasn't a consideration anymore. "So what do I do? Just stick it on my head?"

"Try it," Elgon encouraged. "If it causes unwanted effects, you can take it off immediately. We'll monitor you closely, and Noali will be there to catch you if anything untoward happens."

"Uh, all right." For such a monumental-seeming thing, it felt too simple.

"Relax. Place it on your head. You should be able to feel its effects immediately. Then, all you have to do is channel your ka'qui through the structure."

"And follow that connection you have," Noa added.

"There's no manual on this, huh?"

Elgon's expression grew terribly serious. "That's the thing about the Talent. By its very nature, it is intuitive, and no two individuals with the ability are alike. There's no set way of teaching because one way doesn't work for all, and so we rely on the experience and knowledge of those who have come before. We can assist, but ultimately, you have to carve your own fate."

A trace of bitterness entered Jade's chest as she thought of Dragek and the way he'd been taught.

How cruelly they'd shaped him.

In comparison, she was fortunate. These people weren't ruthless or evil. Even if they were using her for their own ends, she had something to gain, too.

Control.

Do it.

The krisalix practically vibrated in her hands. Jade ran her fingers over the impossibly intricate design, which could have been crafted by magic. She tried to imagine where it had come from. How had they made it, and more importantly, who?

She got the feeling it was very, very old. Older than human civilization itself.

At that moment, she wasn't Jade Gannett anymore.

She was nobody.

Just a curious creature with a window to the Universe in her hands.

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and put the strange object on her head.

And suddenly, the chatter of hundreds of minds in the background went dead silent.

What a blessing.

Instinctively, she knew what to do.

She gathered her energy, the way Dragek had taught her, and placed it inside herself—inside the glass walls she'd created in her mind.

She was contained.

She felt for the thread of their connection. It was still there, intact but tenuous, fueled by longing and curiosity and something else—hard-wired, biological, and impossible to quantify.

They kept referring to this thing, this Mating Fever.

Was this what it was?

"Now what?" She reveled in the crystalline silence. More than ever before, she felt in control.

She could do this.

Change or stay the same.

Take a chance, or die wondering.

"You can feel it, can't you?" Noa's voice was calm and detached. "The way it organizes the chaos of existence into perfect order."

It was true. In her heart, in her mind's eye, she could sense it. Fractals and grids. A spectrum of color; every single visible wavelength arranged by frequency.

Everything in its right place.

"Destroyer of chaos," she murmured, the words coming to her spontaneously.

"That's what krisalix translates to in the old language," Elgon said, not sounding surprised in the least.

Tentatively, Jade started to channel her energy through the device. At first, it was difficult, like threading a needle, but once she got the hang of it, it started to feel natural. The krisalix itself pulled her ka'qui through, drawing it like a magnet, amplifying it.

And suddenly, with her eyes still closed, she began to see.

It was like having a thousand eyes, all seeing different things at the same time in perfect sync and clarity.

In perfect, unnatural order.

She saw the Fleet Station in its entirety, a detailed blueprint brought to life in excruciating detail, complete with machines and workers making their way along the labyrinthine corridors.

She saw the Kordolian fleet—hundreds of sleek, intimidating alien warships created with unfathomable technology.

She'd had no idea there was so much devastating power lurking just beyond the reaches of Earth's orbit.

And it had been here all this time.

Humans never stood a chance, did they?

Her awareness began to spread outside the Fleet Station. She saw the void of the Universe, filled with infinity: stars, planets, and slowly drifting meteors. Asteroids, suns, and rare bits of space debris. Supernovas and dying stars. Nebulas. Life on other planets clinging tenuously, ephemeral in the grand scheme of things. Then, there were the oddities. Phenomena she couldn't even comprehend because they hadn't been discovered by humans yet.

She saw something dark and all-encompassing, a void that sucked in everything in its immediate vicinity.

Meteors, fragments, dust; the very fabric of space itself.

It, too, was a destroyer of chaos, transforming disorder into nothingness.

The krisalix drew her toward it.

What is it?

I've heard about this sort of thing.

A wormhole?

A black hole?

Were they one and the same? Was this the very portal Dragek had traveled through?

Her power was being pulled and twisted together like the skeins of a rope. Now, she could see inside the void; that it went in one side and out the other.

All she had to do was follow it.

So she did.

In her current state, she could go anywhere.

That's when she understood that in certain hands, the krisalix could be a very potent weapon. A scrying device that allowed someone like her to cast her power across a near infinite distance.

An all-seeing eye.

She momentarily lost the thread of Dragek's presence, but she didn't panic. Time was different here, that was all.

Then, time ceased to exist.

It should have been terrifying, but it didn't matter because she'd pinpointed him.

It should have been exhausting, but she was flush with power, filled to the brim with the energy and tension of a bond unfulfilled.

She knew exactly where he was.

She wouldn't let any harm come to him. If she had to, she would pull his very soul from the embrace of death itself.

In her current state, she was fairly sure she could.