NOTE: The following story is technically a sequel to my book Next Star Over: Into the Past. That said, I did my best to structure this story in a way where it can be read without needing to also read the book that precedes it.
THE KNOWING STONES
Henry N. Silva
Year 9007 A.V.
The young woman makes her way through the chrome space station she has come to know as home…
Hallway after hallway, Menda Veytus sees exactly what she has come to expect. Other Wiseones, complete with leather trench coats and face tattoos, not unlike her own. All of them come and go from the station, studying the secrets of the universe…
Discreetly, she arrives at a metallic door, a keypad by its side. Carefully, she enters a numeric code, and the door lifts open. She steps inward, the door closing back shut right behind her. As expected, three other Wiseones are already there in the room; another young woman named Lucy, and two older men, Kyle and Artemis.
At the center of the room are two small stones, one silver and one gold, floating in the air. Menda knows these objects all too well. They are the knowing stones. The magical keys to all knowledge in the universe, able to answer any and all questions…
Slowly, Lucy makes her way to the phenomenon, closing her eyes as she places a hand on each stone. A few seconds pass, and then, she puts her arms down, backing away, her eyes now widened with shock, “They… They work! They actually work!”
Kyle raises an eyebrow, “How long have they been here?”
“I brought them here to the station just yesterday,” Menda explains. “I also deactivated the security cameras for this room. As of now, you three are the only others I have shared the door combination with. I advise being cautious when allowing other Wiseones access to this room. Only share the combination with those you absolutely trust. This is dangerous power we are dealing with here. We need to share it with everyone slowly.”
Kyle scoffs, “Too dangerous. No one in the universe should possess that much knowledge.”
Artemis shrugs in return, “But if anyone does, should it not be us? It is quite literally our job to uncover the secrets of the universe, after all.”
“That it is,” Menda agrees, just before turning to face Lucy, “Will you come with me for just a moment?”
The two women exit the room, leaving the pair of men behind… Together, they traverse further down the hallway.
“So what did you see just now? What question did you ask?”
“It is difficult to explain,” Lucy begins. “When I was younger, I had heard stories of Wiseones existing in other galaxies, but in all my studies, I have found no such evidence to support this.”
“And what did the stones tell you?”
Before Lucy could answer, the pair are suddenly interrupted by the sound of a small explosion, reverberating through the station…
“Come on!” Menda motions for her companion to follow her, back the way they came. Hastily, they re-enter the room where they just were, only to find Kyle and Artemis now lying on the floor, on opposite sides, each against the a window… And the ruins of the knowing stones, lying there in the center…
Sorrowfully, Menda steps towards the tiny pieces of gold and silver, there on the floor. Piercing her eyes, she notices smoke rising from some of the fragments, mixed with ash and green shards, of some sort…
She looks back upward, swinging her head back and forth between the two suspects, “What happened?! Who did this?!”
The two of them stumble to their feet, groaning in pain.
“I did nothing,” Kyle insists. “I faced away from the stones to look out the window.”
“As did I,” Artemis chimes in.
But Menda shakes her head in disbelief, “Someone has to be lying… And we will find out who.”
***
Menda and Lucy prepare to enter the interrogation room…
“I still do not understand why you asked me to be your assistant with this,” Lucy confesses.
“You’re the only one who I know for sure was not in the room when the incident occurred,” Menda clarifies. “We cannot rule out the possibility of invisibility devices being used, or more of the like.”
“So do you still feel that either Kyle or Artemis are guilty?”
Menda shrugs, “Now I’m not sure what to feel, but they are our only leads at the moment, and we must start somewhere.”
“Kyle did seem quite against the idea of the knowing stones in general.”
“He did,” Menda nods. “But Artemis was in the room as well. For now, all possibilities must be considered.”
With that, the two of them enter the small, dark room, each taking a seat at a lone desk, with Kyle sitting on the other side…
He clears his throat, “I must admit, I never expected to be in this position.”
Menda leans forward, “Because you never expected to be caught?”
“Because I never did anything wrong.”
Lucy chimes in, “We will need an alibi, then.”
Kyle sighs, “Unfortunately, I have already told you two everything. I turned to face the window closest to me, and then the explosion occurred. Artemis was on the opposite side of the room. He claims to have been looking out the window that was on his side, but he must be lying.”
Menda holds her gaze, “We will need more than that.”
The older man sighs again… And then, his eyes suddenly light up, “Wait… There was a buzz!”
Lucy tilts her head in confusion, “A buzz?”
“Yes, I just remembered! There was a brief buzzing sound, just before the explosion. Sounded like a bug of some kind, flying around, but something about it also seemed mechanical, if that makes sense.”
The two women face one another, before facing their subject once more.
“Alright,” Lucy nods. “You are free to go for now, Kyle. We will contact you if we have further questions.”
With that, he leaves.
“Could there be something to that?” Lucy asks, “Perhaps you are correct that someone or something else may have entered the room without them knowing?”
“Perhaps.” Menda turns to her once more, “When we question Artemis, do not say anything regarding the buzz. Wait for him to say it first. I want to see if their stories match up.”
“Understood.”
***
The pair of women sit in the interrogation room once more, with Artemis now on the other side…
“With all due respect,” he begins, “I made it fairly clear before the incident occurred that I was in support of our use of the stones.”
“Yes,” Lucy answers, “but you were in the room when it happened nonetheless, and we must take everything into account.”
Artemis sighs and nods, “Very well. As I said, I was facing the window on my side of the room when it happened, staring out into the vastness of space. I enjoy doing so from time to time. It is a humbling reminder of just how expansive the universe is and-“
“We understand,” Menda interrupts. “Let’s just keep our concentration on the room. Are you sure there is nothing else which you may remember?”
Artemis leans back and strokes his chin, pondering to himself for a moment, “Come to think of it… I may have heard a flying insect of some sort, just before the boom. Or perhaps my memory is playing tricks on me. I cannot be sure.”
“Thank you, Artemis.” Menda smiles, “You may go, for now.”
With that, he leaves.
Lucy leans forward, placing her head in her hand, her elbow resting on the desk, “So they both heard the bug.”
“It would appear so, yes.”
“Does this mean that whatever they heard was the direct cause of the explosion?”
“Possibly… Or it could be a red herring. Or reverse-psychology, of some kind.”
“True,” Lucy agrees. “But for now, it is still our only lead.”
Menda nods, “That it is.”
***
Lucy makes her way through the hallways alone…
All is quiet, until suddenly-
“Hey!”
She turns around, only to find Menda, coming up behind her.
“I have a new theory.”
Lucy raises an eyebrow, “Is that so?”
“Yes,” Menda assures. “I prefer to speak about this in private. May we go to your room? It is closer than mine.”
“Oh.” Lucy shrugs, “I suppose so.”
Together, they make their way into Lucy’s private quarters. Instantly, Menda notices a small, green crystal, resting on a nearby desk. Without hesitation, she produces a small communication device from her pocket, bringing it to her lips, “Alright, come in.”
In that very moment, a pair of security androids enter the room, aiming their ray-guns directly at Lucy, just as she lifts her hands in the air, “What’s going on?! What is the meaning of all this?!”
Menda points to the crystal beside them, “If that substance is what I think it is, then it can be made into an explosive when exposed to enough heat. I saw shards of it, mixed in with the remains of the stones.” She puts her arm down, “Furthermore, I went through some records, and discovered that you visited a market known for selling programmable robot creatures, including flying insects. I was correct that the buzz was merely a red herring, only it did not come from Artemis or Kyle. It came from you.”
Lucy scoffs, “Artemis visits that market all the time.”
“Yes, as a hobby. One which you had hoped to use as a means of framing him. But he hasn’t visited that place in quite some time, whereas you have.”
Lucy lowers her hands and sighs, her face morphing into a look of guilt.
“I had suspected you from the beginning,” Menda continues. “You were the last individual I had seen touch the stones, after all. I had a feeling you had placed something small on each of them. The stones emit heat. I know because I’ve touched them before myself.”
“If you suspected me from the beginning, then why did you ask me to be your assistant in all of this?”
“I needed to keep you close,” Menda explains, “in a way where you would not detect my suspicions. But there is still something I am unsure of… What was your motive?”
Lucy smiles, twistingly, “As Kyle said, no one in the universe should possess that much knowledge.”
Special thanks to Shalome Sine for the above depiction of Menda.
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