[The White Raven, Chapter 2, Future Echo] I had assumed it would be easy to leave the Temple. The High Priestess wants all the books and scrolls I have collected over the years returned to the library. My room will be maintained so that I may return when I wish, but the wealth of knowledge I have horded must be put back. There is an army of hatchlings hiding in the shadows outside my room to assist in the task. I have dragged a table out into the hall, the hatchlings are too scared to enter the room unless I am safely sitting quietly behind my desk. I drop another armful of scrolls on the little table. "Prehistoric Daraian history," I instruct the shadows and return for another armful. I can hear the next two hatchlings dash for the table and grab the scrolls. They will run them up to the library and turn the scrolls over to the librarian with my instructions for which shelves to place them on. "Hawk-Falcon War of the Quills," I drop a pile of books on the table. "Pre-Industrial Revolution," another pile. "Raven conquest of the Rooks," another pile. "Colonization of Corvus Major," another pile. "Third Invasion of the Kitsune," another pile. "Fall of the House of Crow," another pile. I have been at this for two hours and have barely made a dent in the material to be returned. I think I'll make a suggestion that the next White Raven's room be moved next to the library, it would be much easier. I grab another set of books and turn back to the door… and find two hatchlings standing in the doorway. "You're doing it wrong," says the female hatchling. "They can read." She points out the door at the shadows the other hatchlings are hiding. "Just let them do their chore and it'll be done quick." I am unsure how to respond, no hatchling has ever spoken to me. I walk closer to see them better in the dim light and the two hold their ground, though the male looks like he wants to turn and run. I stop and bend forward slightly. "Boo!" I say softly. The male spins around and runs into the door jam and falls on his backside. The female looks down at her partner and back at me. "That was mean, you shouldn't do jokes like that, you're the White Raven," scolds the female. "Aren't you afraid I'll turn your toes to ice and make them fall off? "That's silly, you can't do that." "Are you sure?" "Nobody can freeze someone's toes," insists the female hatchling. I kneel down and place my hand on the males nose, he is bleeding from his bump into the door jam. The flow of blood stops and I stand back up. "Are you certain that I am not magical?" "You didn't do that," insists the female. "The Goddess did it through you." "You are very smart." "I know," says the female. "That's why you should take us with you." Now I am intrigued, the hatchling is not only brave but audacious. "That would not be possible, your fate is here in the Temple." "You can do anything you want." The hatchling holds her hand out and helps her mate up. "And you need us, you'll die without us." "This is an interesting way to escape the Temple." "We won't runaway. We know you're the one that found Onai and Roai in the garden when they tried to escape, and what you did to them." Yes, I do know. When they went missing I helped with the search and found them. Their fate has caused years of nightmares for me. I took them to the High Priestess's office and turned them over to Gar. I was instructed to wait in the hall outside the office. The most predominant rumor is that their skins hang in the High Priestesses office now, though I can not verify the truth of that. I never went to the High Priestess's office again and only meet with her in the library. I hope the rumor is untrue, but I heard their screams while I waited in the hall. I did not stay to learn their fate, but instead fled as a coward to my room in horror for having taken them there. I have been unjustly feared since. "I did not intend for that to happen to Onai and Roai." "It was you or them, you did what you had to do." I set aside that memory and take a breath to calm myself. "What makes you think I am unable to survive on my own?" "You've never had to find your own food, everyone brings it to you. And you wouldn't have a clue how to hide when there's danger, or find a place to sleep. There are people that would hurt you, Malai isn't afraid of you, he wants to hurt you, and there's others." "Yea, and I bet you don't even know how money works," the male hatchling quickly adds. The hatchlings do have a point, I hadn't thought about what I would do for sleeping arrangements. The Temples are open to me, but they are a great distance apart, and I've never had to use money before. I'm not sure I would even know how to get on a train. "What of your lessons?" I ask. "You're smarter than the other Priestesses, you can give us our lessons, it's the common sense stuff you don't know and will get you killed," says the female. "Have you researched the duties of an acolytus to a White Raven?" "We've served other Priestesses during Temple Ceremonies, how hard can it be?" "I will consider it, but right now I have these scrolls to return to the library." "I told you, you're doing it wrong," says the female. "You always make our chores last longer because you're in the way." The female hatchling motions to the male and he walks a wide path around me to my bed where my pack is sitting, and then begins pulling my belongings out and tossing them aside. "I spent a considerable amount of time packing that." "You don't need this," he mumbles. "Or this…this is dumb…too heavy…you won't need this…what even is this…you don’t need it…this can go…okay, now you're ready." The hatchling picks up my pack and starts to bring it to me, thinks twice, and sets it on the ground and nudges it towards me with his foot. Half the contents of the pack are scattered on the bed. "Can we go now?" asks the female hatchling. "I will need to discuss with the High Priestess whether I can take you with me." The truth is that I already know I can take them if I wish, every Priestess traveling away from the Temple is allowed two acolytus, but I'm stalling for time. I'm not against taking them, if for no other reason than to save at least these two from their fate as First Eggs, but I had not intended to take any acolytus, this will alter my plans somewhat. "Okay, lets go ask her," says the female hatchling turning and marching out the door. The male hatchling scrambles after her. Perhaps it was foolish to think I could travel alone. I pick my pack up and shove the contents the hatchling tossed aside back in. Let the other hatchlings deal with the scrolls and books. It is time to go. **** I am enjoying the extra twenty-seven minutes to sleep in every day, but the additional eight minutes per hour is throwing off my rhythm. We will begin reducing the twenty-seven minutes tomorrow, and then in three days the hours will be pulled back one minute every nine hours until we are synched with Raunu standard time, northern hemisphere plus three from the meridian. Father says we will begin our breaking maneuver outside the Raunu solar system two weeks before arrival. The thirty-two cargo pods we are pushing ahead of us full of copper a significant amount of mass to slow down, and will take time. Today Papa and I are going to check the rest of the cargo pods. We found what caused the imbalance in the engines, one-hundred and thirty tons of cargo shifted two inches when a restraining cable snapped. The engines tried to compensate but a worn out coolant line froze and the engines started an emergency shutdown a fraction of a second apart from each other. Papa's the best heavy cargo pilot there is, at least I think so, and said he was able to do all the calculations in his head and make the corrections. I think he is just really good at guessing, there's no way he did all those calculations in his head. I helped mother fix the coolant line and now we are back at TDS. Mother is an engineer from the Sparrow Academy and is our Captain; I'm the crew. I've been arguing, pleading, begging, and throwing temper tantrums for days to get Mother to change her mind about sending me to the Sparrow Academy. I would rather be a heavy cargo pilot like Papa, and I wouldn't have to leave our ship to do it. Papa could teach me everything I need to know and then in a few years I could take the feather cargo pilot test, then the light cargo pilot test, and maybe in ten more years I could take the heavy cargo pilot test. That's how Papa did it. The cargo pods don't belong to us, they belong to the miners. We own the prime mover; that's the ship. Our ship can push seventy-five cargo pods, but the miners only had thirty-two and we take what contracts we can. "Check the lines over there," shouts Papa. Papa wants every cable securing the cargo checked. The cargo inspectors were supposed to do this, but obviously they missed one. I've found seven cables with stress marks already, there's too much tension on them now and if one snaps it will slice the cargo pod in half. We can relieve some of the stress by adding more cables, but unloading is going to be a pain. The pod will have to be dismantled and a remote tug will cut the stressed cable. It's dangerous work, but that's the life of a cargo jockey. I like it. We'll be put in orbit around a moon used for this kind of emergency. When the tug cuts the cable the cargo is going to shoot into an erratic orbit, we will have seven days to collect our cargo before it becomes fair game. With all the tugs we will have to rent we won't make any profit on this run. "Papa, five more stress marks," I shout. "Blast it, that's too many, lets go Pesa, this cargo container is too dangerous," shouts Papa. I chase after Papa and we head back to the Bridge of our ship. Mother is there waiting for us. "Well, what do you think?" asks Mother. "We could try to make it to Raunu, the inspectors will possibly find the miners negligent of load standards," says Papa. "But, if the cables snap before we get there we could lose the entire load." "And if we do make it?" asks Mother. "There's twelve bad cables," replies Papa. "When the tug cuts the first cable it will start a chain reaction. It will take our entire savings to clean up the mess." "Eject the pod," orders Mother. "Pesa, send the drone out and blast our I.D. markings off Pod 14." "Papa, that's illegal, someone will find out." "We'll buy a stolen pod at Raunu, put our I.D. on it and slip it in with the others, the miners will get back the correct amount of pods. Then we'll add the amount we would have sold the copper for before sending the money transfer to the miners, they will never know. We save them a nasty investigation and save our own family from bankruptcy." I sigh and deploy the drone. Sometimes being a cargo jockey is only one step away from being a pirate. I watch Papa get ready to perform the maneuver, it's very dangerous. Once the drone is finished blasting our I.D. away Papa disconnects between Pod 14 and 15, and slows just enough to form a gap in the train of pods. The front Pods are now in a free trajectory, but if we maintain a steady course they will stay in front of us. "Four foot gap, Papa." "That should be enough." Papa disconnects between Pod 13 and 14, then slows a little more. Pod 14 is separated now. Mother fires the emergency thrusters under the pod and it rises to just above the top plane of the ship. Papa increases speed and pushes the whole train back together. Not many pilots could have done that. I watch Pod 14 slowly pass over the top of our ship, it will hit the edge of the TDS envelope behind the ship and re-enter normal space. I check the pod's trajectory on the nav-computer, it will pass through the Pyran solar system in a couple years, and then after that it will just keep going for a gazillion years or until it hits something. I hope it doesn't hit anything while it's in the Pyran system. I think it will miss Pyra by twenty-million miles, that should be safe enough. I put Pod 14 out of my mind. ***** The hatchlings took an older stair at the other end of the tunnel that leads directly to the Temple above and exits behind the Statue of the Raven Goddess. I'm feeling good and looking forward to leaving. I take the stairs two at a time and find the hatchlings in front of the statue kneeling and asking for good fortune in their travels. I don't want to kneel to the statue, but I know she could make me cease to exist. The Goddess and I had that argument several years ago and she made it clear what she would do if I didn't render the respect she believes she's due. She also warned me about revealing what I know of her. I kneel and give respect. I might as well be kneeling to a battery; that's what the statue really is. I discovered the truth while reviewing Vids of Jon Black holding the Staff of Carina. The Orb at the end of the staff is what interested me. I found the truth in one Vid when the camera was at just the right angle and I noticed an energy surge run along the length of the staff. Several months later I concluded that the Staff of Carina is a 'battery' that recharges the Orb. That, of course, led to the question of why a God needs an energy source. I approached the Goddess and plunged in head first. "You're not a God." "Is your faith weakening, child?" "The Orb is a spacecraft that contains your consciousness, and the Staff of Carina and your statue are batteries that give you near god-like powers. Where do you come from?" "That is not as much a secret as you may suspect, child, and they are not batteries, they are dark matter energy converters." "I will not worship you." "Oh, my dearest child, you will, because you wish to continue this existence." "You would kill me?" "Your mind is not yet advanced enough to know what I am doing here, or why. Until that time you will obey me as I have commanded. If you interfere with a plan that has existed since your species crawled out of the primordial ooze, I will have no choice but to take action." "I...I...refuse to kneel to you." The Goddess surprised me and pulled me into an embrace at that point. I saw infinite blackness. I saw the place she would send me to be punished if I didn't obey. "You are my dearest and most favored daughter, I could not kill you, but there are things worse than death. You have free will, live your life as you choose, but do not interfere. However, I will offer you a reward if you fulfill your role." I am nothing but a trembling hatchling in her arms. "What do you want?" "I will show you the plan at the moment of your last breath so that you may have some understanding of what you have been working towards." I had no choice but to comply. I'm not that brave, and didn't want to be sent to that dark place to be punished. It was told to all Daraians that the Marshal General was sent there as punishment for his crimes against us. He was there for only the briefest of moments, but that to him it was a millennia of torturous darkness. One only has to look at his eyes to know the horror of his punishment. No, I am not brave at all, I will kneel to the Goddess out of fear. The hatchlings have finished their prayers and are ready to leave. I see the High Priestess near the massive wooden doors of the Temple, waiting. I turn my back on the Raven Goddess Statue and walk past the tall ornate support columns carved to resemble ravens holding the vaulted ceiling on their backs. The cold stone eyes of ravens stare down and pass silent judgment on me. "You are leaving now?" asks the High Priestess. "Yes, it is time." "Will you bring those two back in time for them to fulfill their destiny?" I glance back at the two hatchlings. There is a quiet desperation on their faces, all First Eggs have that same look; the look of one that knows it was hatched only for the purpose to be sacrificed under cruel blades. "No, mother," I surprise myself with the decision. "I will keep these two." I expect the High Priestess to argue, but instead she agrees. A little too quickly. The hatchlings are holding their heads down now so I can not see their eyes. "You devils!" I accuse and look back at the High Priestess. "You set me up, Mother." "You would not have taken them if I had ordered you," explains the High Priestess. "I told five of the most clever First Egg teams there might be a way for them to escape the blades honorably, but that they had to discover it on their own. This was the only team that figured it out. Will you leave them now?" "Farewell, Mother," I bow my head slightly. "Come hatchlings." I am no more than half-way down the steps from the Temple than the hatchlings dash past me and out onto the green expanse of grass that surrounds the Temple. I must smile at their antics as they grasp each other's arms and jump up and down and then collapse on the lawn to roll around. I will not stop their celebration, their death sentence has just been lifted. I could not imagine the euphoria they are experiencing. I am nearly two blocks away before the hatchlings catch up with me. "Where we going?" asks the female hatchling. "We are here," I turn and open the door to a shop. "A Sewing Shop?" asks the female hatchling. The interior of the shop is a clutter of cloth, spools of thread, sewing machines, and a plump woman sitting behind one of the machines. The woman looks up and jumps to her feet. "Oh my, Oh my, the White Raven, in my shop, Oh my," the woman looks pale. "Good day, Seamstress," I greet the woman. "I have need of your special services." The woman's eyes grow tight and narrow. I can see the suspicion immediately around the tightness of her lips. "I am aware this is Moeth and Raen's safe house." The woman's lips almost disappear. "Hmm... no... I'm sorry, can't say I have ever heard of those names. What's a safe house, dear?" I wave my hand dismissively and retrieve the Com-device from a pocket. "Moeth, are you there?" There is a pause and then Moeth's voice. "I am here, White Raven." "I am in your safe house." "Hello, mother," says Moeth. "It's okay, we've been assigned as the White Raven's Guard Alliance." "Hi, mother," a male voice adds, it must be Raen. "We'll visit this weekend, can you make some of those sugar cookies?" "I'm afraid you have the wrong person," says the Seamstress. "I don't know anyone named Moeth or Raen." "Oh, terribly sorry, our friend must have went to the wrong place," says Moeth. "We apologize for bothering you." Moeth cuts the connection and I stare at the Com-link. I'm certain I went to the right shop. "Never trust a Com-link, Dear, the Temple can listen in," says the Seamstress. "Moeth and Raen said I can trust you and give you whatever you need." "What?" I am uncertain what has just happened. The female hatchling tugs on my sleeve and I look down at her. "The words 'visit this weekend' and 'make sugar cookies' were probably a code," explains the hatchling. "All the Ravens have code words to trick the Priestesses when we are trying to get away with something." "I had no idea." "Of course not. You're a Priestess, nobody is going to tell you that," says the male hatchling. "How can I help you, Dear?" asks the Seamstress. I can already see that I know less of the real world than I had assumed. Perhaps the High Priestess was correct in tricking me into taking these hatchlings with me. "These two hatchlings are to take position with me as acolytus. I need their hair cut in the fashion of the acolytus; two inches below the ear and tapered down to four inches below the collar, and dye the hair white. I also want a new set of leathers made for them and dyed white as well, and burn these filthy and worn garments they wear. Their wings are to be dyed white also, and for the love of the ancestors, bath them." "And their Talon Daggers?" asks the Seamstress. "Return the Daggers to the Temple, there is a Master Demonian Armorer nearby, have him make two White Ungula Staves. We will stay here while we wait." "I know the Master Armorer you speak of," says the Seamstress and turns to the hatchlings. "Come along, Dears, we have a lot of work to do." The Seamstress looks back at me. "What are their names, Dear?" Their names? I never thought to ask them their names. "Umm... what are your names?" "I'm Kata," replies the female hatchling. "He's Cala, What do you mean dye our hair white?" "You're taking our Talon Daggers away?" asks Cala. "Come along, Dears," the Seamstress herds the two hatchlings towards a staircase. "I don't want to cut my hair..." "I took a bath last summer..." "We'll die of pneumonia..." "I don't look good in white..." "Water isn't good for you..." I think the Seamstress has dealt with hatchlings before. She expertly moves them up the stairs to the sounds of their protestations and apparent impending doom.