Dark Matter by Luke Donegan

Author:Luke Donegan [Donegan, Luke]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780648500513
Published: 2019-02-15T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13 BETRAYAL

Erys woke with a start. Something was coming. Something bad.

He looked through the bedroom window at the city and the desert beyond. The sky in the east glowed with violet light. Orange fire crusted the horizon. The three buildings of the Ascendancy squatted like massive black creatures, lurking before the dawn. Inside, the Ascendants were also watching the dawn. Endlessly thinking, they pondered the betrayals of the past and the wretchedness imposed on their wards in the city below. As light spilled over the horizon they were reminded of the relentlessness of time and they wondered what horrors the future held.

There was much to do, for everyone.

By the time Erys met Masodi, now Curator of Science, in the Science Dome, his unease on waking was forgotten.

Masodi steered a hover platform through the huge and detailed hologram of the Milky Way. As they flew through spiral arms of the galaxy, stars glanced across their faces.

“I didn’t actually see the Director,” said Masodi, explaining the events of three days before. “We arrived at the Ascendancy and were met by the Administrator and the Doctor. They led us to the Chamber of Passage, this large, circular room in the centre of the building. Only the Curator of Science could go in, the Administrator told us. ‘Passage and the passing of knowledge is shared between the Director and the Scion-Director. No-one else.’”

They examined the centre of the galaxy before them. The black hole rotated slowly, sucking in plasma from nearby stars, consuming all before it.

“Before he went inside, the Curator told me ... he said: ‘Masodi, much now will fall to you. You know what you have to do. As the Curator of Science, it is your responsibility to complete our work. We will not meet often, and will speak even less. But, Masodi, while I may not be able to help you, I will be with you in spirit. I have faith in you, and you know what you have to do. Talk to the Teacher and his scion. One of them must be convinced. It is the only way.’

“Then he hugged me, which he never has before. And then, he was shown into the chamber. I waited outside with the Administrator and the Doctor. We were there for hours. After a while I fell asleep. Then I woke when I heard screaming. It was happening. The Director’s Passage. The screams were terrible.”

And Erys thought about the Teacher, about Ariel, and how she had screamed with the agony of those final moments, as Dark Matter consumed her Spirit.

“After another hour, the Administrator went in. The Doctor wanted to join him but he was prevented. When he returned the Administrator told us it was done. The Director was gone and the Curator of Science was now the new Director. He told me I was now the Curator of Science. Again the Doctor was refused entry. And that was that.”

The platform hovered twenty feet from the centre of the galaxy. The black hole tugged on a nearby star.

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