The Childrens Rebellion

Imposters & Crewmates

"Polus," Rae said, spreading her hands as they walked across the top of the canyon, nearing a small mountain—literally the only mountain for miles; though the green forest—more blue than green, he noticed from a distance—was about a mile past it. "What we've called our home for—" she glanced at Sykkuno. "Three years?"

"Something like that."

"The air seems breathable," Lani noted, because Drista was still pissy for some unknown reason. "I'm surprised it's not colonized. Or bearing some form of sentient life."

"It seems to be like the other hundreds of small, uninhabited, low-oil bearing planets in the galaxy," Rae shrugged. "Except...it isn't." They rounded the foot of the mountain, and Tommy felt his jaw drop as he stopped in place and stared up at massive stone-built columns that gave way to an entrance carved into the red mountain rock, nestled into one of the many dips and nooks. The stone steps were crumbling, the pillars bearing cracks, but it stood firm and didn't seem like it was breaking anytime soon.

"How old is that?" Drista demanded.

"I'm not an archeologist, nor a geologist," Sykkuno said slowly. "But uh—older than the destruction of Avia, is my guess."

Older than three centuries, then. Not so old, but old enough that he questioned who had left it here.

"There aren't any bodies," Rae said. "It's like—there are no spaceships, no evidence of them being able to leave the planet, but there are no bones. All we know of them are buildings like this that litter the planet." She hesitated. "And, well, I say them because clearly, people colonized it. A long time ago."

Stepping onto the steps made Tommy hold his breath as if something were waiting to happen. Grass grew in the cracks, and he idly watched them wave in the night wind as Rae led them through an entrance into a vast domed arched ceiling—he couldn't quite see the entire ceiling; it was too dim, but he could see the beginning of it from where Rae was holding a lantern up into the darkness.

"What is this place?" Lani breathed out.

"My guess?" Rae shrugged. "Probably a religious site. It seems like that, anyway." She walked over to the side wall, illuminating a small entrance with some sort of blanket covering it. "Come on. This is where we've stayed."

"For like two and a half years," Sykkuno added, and Tommy smiled as he brushed the blanket—handwoven door?—aside to reveal a room that had two doorways leading out, one that led to what was clearly a bedroom and the other with another handwoven mat hanging over the entrance.

"You can put your stuff down on the hooks," Sykkuno said kindly as Rae walked over to the wall and lit a small match against some kind of stone. Tommy watched as it sparked, and the Avian lit the candle sconce, walking along the wall to light the other ones. He swung the bag off of his shoulder and hung it on one of the hand-carved wooden hooks, taking a second to admire them.

Drista clutched her bag, narrowing her eyes untrustingly on Sykkuno, who smiled at her patiently as he sat down on a mat on the ground. Rae didn't seem to notice the Human's glare as she blew out the match and spun around.

"Drista," Tommy murmured, and the girl scoffed but hung her bag on one of the hooks. Lani frowned, and Tommy watched as the blankets appeared one-by-one in her hands, and the girl set them down on the ground.

"Where did you get those?" Rae asked suddenly, and Tommy jumped slightly.

"What?" Lani asked, glancing down at the small pile of rations she now held in her palms.

"That," Rae said. "You didn't have a bag."

"Uh—I'm a Shulker," Lani said.

Rae's eyes were wide, and she squealed loudly. "Oh my God! That's so cool!" Drista stiffened slightly as she sat down across Sykkuno on another woven mat in front of the carved table—it was more a block of stone with a slab of wood over it. "Have you met Hafu?"