Preda's Voice (Guardians of Vaka Book 1) (10 page)

22

L
aney Ceren pushed rocks into individual piles that morning as she usually did when she had time off. She tied her long, curly blond hair back from her face to prevent the wind from tangling it while she worked. She imagined the rocky shore was almost like her personal Zen garden.

Afterward she sat back and watched the male chinstrap penguins cautiously accept the rock piles as the gifts they were. Many immediately climbed to the top and trumpeted to the females below as though they themselves had worked on the miniature mountains. Laney had always felt a certain level of satisfaction watching others benefit from the hard work she had done.

Besides the penguin colonies, Deception Island was completely desolate. Laney had lived there her whole life and had not known anything different. Her family name was Ceren, and as such their roles had always been to serve. Her father had taught her from a young age that the traits her family possessed were the most honorable and selfless. The Ceren were the quiet ones and the builders of society. They never took credit for their work. That was not their way.

Laney had been told stories of the Vozia. When they were ruling back home, there was no greater honor in life than to serve them. Her mother had told her of all the times a Vozia had singularly recognized her for her loyal service. The way she told it, it was like being touched by a god. While Laney had grown up in the underground base that was Deception Island, she had dreamed of the day the Vozia would rule again. Then they could return home.

Laney secretly feared she would never see Vaka while she lived. It was a fear she could never tell her family. It would be considered dishonorable to bemoan her chosen role. No one spoke of it, but it was well known that the original Soundless were from the Ceren family. That stain in their history could never be erased—no matter how hard they worked.

Laney watched as a particularly aggressive male penguin knocked a smaller bird off the top of the rock pile she had just made. Without thinking about it, she got up and knocked him off as well. She gasped as he rolled down the incline of the shore into the water. He was squawking loudly at her from the water, but she knew he would not come after her. He was all talk.

As she was laughing at the blustering bird, Laney saw a ship’s prow in the distance. Ships would often appear during this time of day, but this one was different. Having grown up on the island, she recognized it immediately. This was no tourist cruise. It was the SS
Ryndam
. This one had only ever carried the Kait family as they traveled back and forth after their missions involving none other than the last Vozia herself.

Laney was around the same age as Preda and had always imagined what it would be like to meet her. If the recent rumors were correct, she might be on this very ship. A wave of excitement washed over Laney, and she turned to run back along the Port Foster caldera—the intermittently active volcano she knew as her home. She had to tell everyone the
Ryndam
was coming.

The Vakan base of operations ran under the caldera, and the entrance was underground near Pendulum Cove. Laney’s favorite penguins were about three miles away, and she would have to run fast to be the first one to get word of the ship’s arrival to the base. She knew it was selfish of her to want that kind of glory, but she couldn’t help it. The excitement of a Vozia here on the island was too much for her to contain.

The caldera had been a perfect cover for them. The volcanic activity created areas where the water was so hot, it was untouchable. It was near one of these areas that the entrance had been built using foreign metals that could withstand the heat.

Furthermore any underground activity they inadvertently caused under the water-filled caldera could have easily been mistaken for seismic activity. An increase in the perceived seismic activity was an immediate signal to any visiting tourists that they should leave. In this way the Vakans controlled the island, and no one was the wiser.

Amid the rumors of the return of Preda Vozia—way ahead of schedule—the Vakans had amped up the volcanic activity warning to the red zone. This had caused tourists to flee in fear of an impending eruption. The island was practically deserted but for the Vakans, and they were mostly underground. There were approximately five hundred people living underground at any given time. Ships would come and go from the mainland to add or subtract to the population, but Laney and her family had never left. They had been the family who attended royalty back home, and they would not leave their post while here on Earth.

Laney ran at an easy pace. Living on the island her entire life, she would often spend her time running the perimeter until she couldn’t run anymore. The warm water currents heated the surrounding air, so it was never too cold outside, but glaciers still partially covered the island. The contrast was beautiful, and she would sometimes lie on her back on top of a glacier and imagine she could feel it move underneath her.

As she ran back home, Laney passed the familiar rusted metal remnants of long-abandoned whaling stations. As a child she had played among these ruins. It wasn’t until she became an adult that she made the connection between these metal skeletons and the whale skeletons scattered around the island. Now she avoided them as much as possible. Her loud footsteps in the quiet air felt disrespectful to the long-dead whales sharing her island.

Laney made good time getting to Pendulum Cove and trotted over to the hill on the south side that overlooked the water. By the time she moved the large volcanic rock sheltering a hidden keypad and entered the weekly code, she was hardly out of breath. The latch underneath gave a satisfying click, and she replaced the rock before moving to the north side of the hill to lift a camouflaged grate. A person would have to know the location of both things to be able to enter the underground city. This was the only entrance from the outside, but Laney knew there were three possible ways to get to the surface in the event of a real volcanic eruption.

She quickly descended the spiraling stairs carved out of the rock that led into the natural cavern system underneath. Her father’s hands had helped sculpt this stairwell, and she had been told that it had taken nearly three months to finish it. Laney took the stairs two at a time. Her long legs moved with perfect, quick precision.

She slammed open the door at the bottom of the stairwell that led into the main cavern and ran to the railing overlooking the enormous chamber. The main cavern itself was at least a mile across.

“The
Ryndam
is coming!” she called out.

Laney was satisfied to see the instant flurry of motion and discussion from the people below. She smiled as the colony underneath Deception Island sprang into action in preparation for the possible arrival of Tamron Fox and the last Vozia.

23

P
reda stood on the ship’s prow as it approached the island. The salty ocean spray felt good on her face, and when she smelled the air, it smelled like nothing. It was a strange sensation to smell absolutely nothing. When she came out of her cabin, Jim had been dutifully standing guard outside her door. He had politely suggested she stay inside and rest, but she had decided to test her level of freedom.

“I think I’ll go outside,” she said and walked right past him.

Jim could do nothing but follow after her. When she came out into the sea air, she felt free. The people on deck stared at her as though she was an apparition. She didn’t know how to respond to the constant genuflecting, so she found the only place above deck she could face away from everyone—the very front.

An island started to come into view, and Preda felt a thrum of excitement at the prospect of reaching a destination. Jim wordlessly stood just behind her right side and faced away from her. She turned back to him briefly and asked loudly over the sound of the waves, “Have you been here before?”

“Yes,” he replied.

“What is it like—Deception Island?” Preda asked seriously.

“Deceptive.”

Preda laughed aloud, and it felt good. “I heard you were funny, but I never knew.”

“It wasn’t that funny,” he said, but Preda could see the smile he was trying to hide. “It’s like a perfect dichotomy. The open air is desolate, but then underneath it is a bustling city. Underground it has the culture and feel of Vaka,” he continued wistfully.

Preda sighed and wondered what it must be like to know two worlds. “I’m sorry,” she said more quietly.

“Sorry for what?” Jim asked.

“I’m sorry you’re here. It’s because of me I think. I’m sorry you’re not home,” she said.

“You don’t get it, do you? We don’t hold our concept of home with a place. It is the people we follow who make it our home. We have followed the Kait as long as I have been alive. Now we follow you,” he finished with a bow.

If he hadn’t had such a serious expression, Preda would have laughed again. Jim Acres—no, Landi—wasn’t the vapid class clown she had always known him to be. He was some sort of technical genius, and he was bowing to her. This whole experience was surreal. She felt as though she had done nothing to deserve it.

When he straightened, the easy smile she found familiar had returned. She thought about telling him this was all a mistake. She should be put somewhere isolated so other people could be safe from her. She didn’t even know how to use her own voice and could never be a leader.

Ever since she could remember, Preda had hidden from other people in fear. She wasn’t brave, and she definitely wasn’t worthy of her supposed family name. Before she could say anything, though, a trumpet sang from the island, and the ship answered it with a blaring foghorn.

“That’s the signal,” Jim said.

“What signal?” Preda asked.

“The signal we’re OK to anchor and come ashore. They have to ensure there are no innocent people on the island. You know…tourists,” he answered.

The level of coordination involved in this trip bewildered Preda. There were so many silent partners working behind the scene like stagehands essential to the show. Yet she had met only four of them—those on stage with her.

“Come on, Preda. They’re getting the rowboat ready,” said Jim, and he offered her his arm for support.

Preda thought this was a not-so-subtle hint that she still looked unsteady on her feet. As she let Jim lead her to the rowboat that would take them ashore, she thought about how much she actually liked talking to people. What would her life have been like growing up and being able to have friends? Then she had an even more ridiculous thought. What would it have been like to grow up on Vaka?

She saw Foxy, Al, and Will waiting for her next to the tiny wooden boat that would take her to shore. This broke Preda’s reverie. Al was smiling and holding Fiver for her. Foxy was as serious as ever.

“I thought you would have understood she was to remain belowdecks,” Foxy said to Jim.

Jim bowed to both Tamron and Al and smoothly replied, “I heard it was quite difficult to tell her no. I was not misinformed.”

Al smiled at that, and Preda immediately started apologizing. “It was my fault. I needed the air. Jim was protesting the entire time.”

Foxy looked defeated as Preda tried to smooth things over. He just sighed and indicated the boat. “Shall we?”

Preda happily got onto the little boat with the help of Jim’s arm, and they all followed suit behind her. An additional ten crew members also came along and were happy to take up the oars while Preda sat in the middle.

The boat was lowered alongside the enormous ship, and Preda was amazed to see its true size in the daylight. When they hit the water, she felt drenched in ocean spray. The lurch of the waves after being on the smooth ride of the SS
Ryndam
was shocking. It wasn’t long until Preda discovered she was actually seasick and was forced to put her head between her knees while Al held her hair just in case. It was embarrassing.

Jim laughed. “Don’t worry. If you think this is bad, wait until you’re being launched into space!”

Foxy slapped Jim in the back of the head, and Will laughed at Jim’s misery. Will clearly empathized. The rest of the trip was miserable for Preda, and she was grateful when the boat lurched against the shore. She stumbled onto the rocks and barely noticed the penguins until she nearly stepped on one. It squawked in penguin indignation, and Preda was speechless. She had never seen a penguin before except on TV.

The people unloaded the boat and her damp cat, and for a moment she sat down on a rock and watched the penguins move about their day as though no one had intruded on them. She forgot all about the pain in her left side, the receding nausea, and her impending responsibility to a people she knew nothing about. She just enjoyed the antics of the flightless birds. Will broke her out of her reverie with a soft touch on her shoulder. Preda jumped, and he quickly apologized for startling her.

She smiled to ease the tension. “I was just lost watching the penguins.”

Will smiled back. “They’re actually kind of jerks once you get to know them.”

Preda couldn’t tell if he was joking or serious, but she laughed anyway. He helped her stand, and she immediately remembered she had recently been stabbed. The pain in her left side flared. Foxy came over and offered to carry her, but she refused. She would walk with the rest of them. Preda came to secretly regret that stubborn decision when she found out their destination was miles away over rock and ice.

24

T
amron Fox considered his son as they walked from the shoreline of Deception Island to the city under the caldera. Will had grown considerably during the years spent training in Vaka. Tamron had missed a lot of time in Will’s life. He thought he knew more about Preda Vozia than he did his own son.

The time spent apart from Will had been necessary. Military training meant years of separation regardless of where Tamron was. Boys and girls chosen from the Landi and Ceren families joined the Kait when they turned twelve. The fifth family, the Vank, stayed home to continue the scholarly pursuits of their families. The others who were chosen were sent to live on a fifty-mile-long island designated just for training purposes. The island was known only as Shey.

Tamron shuddered as he remembered his own five years training there. Shey’s location was in the Vakan equivalent of the tropics, and the environment there was similar to that of a jungle. Because of Vaka’s proximity to its sun, the average temperature ran at least ten degrees warmer at any given latitude than Earth. Shey was known for its occasional heatstroke casualty. The vegetation had been allowed to overtake the area, and fighting through the thick undergrowth occupied at least half the time spent training. That sweltering location was responsible for weeding out many weak young men and women early on.

Will had graduated number one in his class from Shey. It had not been because of his lineage either. If anything, Tamron’s influence had made Will’s life twice as hard on that island than any other trainee’s. Tamron knew this because he would check in with Will’s superior officers and suggest added details for his son. He wanted no hint of favoritism. Reports of Will’s quiet determination and leadership had come back to Tamron early, despite the increased pressure.

Tamron smiled a little to himself as he considered the ridiculous plan his son had hatched at the rendezvous point in Argentina. He would never admit it, but modifying that field to protect Preda against the ambush had been a stroke of crazy brilliance. However, his son’s persistent need to be on the front lines angered him.

Looking at Will now, he felt a surge of pride. Will had ordered Jim to run a perimeter and was quietly calculating distances without any prompting. He moved with an athleticism Tamron knew came from him. His easygoing attitude was a front for the calculating machine just under the surface.

Tamron sighed and thought about how his son seemed constantly aware of Preda’s location. It was as if Will was a spinning arrow in a compass that always returned to point north. Preda was true north. He had not wanted this life for his son, but it seemed inevitable.

Preda suddenly slipped on a patch of ice. In an instant Will was behind her. He deftly caught her before her head could hit the ground. Al stopped walking, and they watched Will make sure she was steady on her feet before letting her go.

“We have got to work on her balance and defense training as soon as possible,” Tamron muttered under his breath.

“Not if your son is always going to be around to catch her.” Al smiled and winked at Tamron.

Tamron growled at his friend. “Let’s keep moving!” he yelled to the rest.

Despite Preda’s stab wound, the group made good time across the island. It wasn’t long before they came up to a ridge where a well-camouflaged lookout waved them forward. When they came around the other side of the ridge, the caldera was in sight. To Tamron’s surprise, a group of twenty men and women were standing in straight lines on either side of the hill that hid the city’s entrance. At his signal Tamron and his people fell back slowly behind Preda so that she walked in front of them. She tried to fall back with them, but they remained a step behind her as a symbolic gesture.

Preda looked back at Foxy with a questioning glance, and he said, “You lead us. Not the other way around.”

In a show of vulnerability, she asked, “Am I really the right one?”

Tamron nodded sternly in response, and she turned around in resignation. As they approached the Vakans waiting at the entrance, Preda straightened her back and held her head higher. Using her voice as much as she had was already changing her outward appearance, whether she recognized it or not. Her eyes were starting to glow green in certain lights, and her cheekbones were slightly more prominent. She had already come a long way in the past few days from the girl who used to hide her face behind her hair.

Preda started to hum the lullaby she had supposedly made up in her head as they walked forward. She wasn’t even aware she was doing it. Tamron would have to tell her as soon as he got the chance that this was the melody of the coronation song that the Vozia had sung since the birth of their lineage.

Though she did not know the words, she projected the melody with barely audible humming. Tamron and the others could feel it in the soles of their feet every time they stepped on the ground. He looked around as they approached the entrance leading to the stairs and could see tears in the eyes of the people around her.

He knew this one would be more powerful than any Vozia who had come before her.