The Rock On Star Trek: Voyager Novels & Stories

She reached out to touch my arm. "Don't touch it!" I recoiled, my voice harsh. "It's freezing. You'll get frostbite." Mom pulled her hand back, hurt flashing in her eyes. "It's leaking," Valerius whispered, pressing his back against the far wall of the cabin as if trying to get as far away from me as possible. "The Entropy. The stone was a shell. Now the shell is breaking." "It's fine," I said, pulling my tattered sleeve down to cover the glow. But even through the fabric, the cold radiated out, frosting the air. "We just need to get to the surface. Dad, can you get this thing moving again?"

He groaned, pulling it and jerking the ship to a hard left as a beam grazed past the viewport. When he finally settled, I saw it–the worm gate. The thing was massive–an ancient ring suspended in space. Lights blinked across the metal frame as it tilted and spun slowly–very slowly. Metal debris floated around it like a ring of scrap and a spark arced across its surface. The fucking giant looked like it had been abandoned for centuries.

In the center of the room was the Lunar Anchor, a massive tuning fork made of crystalline quartz that stood fifty feet tall. ​Standing at the base of the Anchor was the woman from the distress call: Lyra Vane. ​She looked exactly as she had in the recording, but her starlight hair was now matted with blood. She was chained to the Anchor by violet energy-shackles, her own Resonance being bled out to fuel the Council’s "Kill-Switch" transmitter. ​"You came," Lyra whispered, her eyes meeting Leo’s. "The prophecy of the Seed... it’s true."

She reached Vane in seconds, her blade hovering an inch from the Inquisitor’s throat. ​"Your audit is denied," Rhea hissed. ​Vane didn't look afraid. She reached into her coat and pulled out a small, glowing crystal—a "Relay Stone." "You think this is a battle of muscle, Rhea? It’s a battle of geography. Reset Protocol: Phase One. Ignite." ​A low, subterranean rumble shook the docks. Far above, on the peaks of the Black Ridge, orange light began to glow from the ventilation shafts of the old mines.

ASH “You have one question left.” I’d suspected all this time. It was too convenient. Lost parents. Lost past. I, more than anyone, knew that only spelled trouble. I just didn’t realize how big. I didn’t lie. I wasn’t a magic user. Didn’t mean I didn’t know where to find one. I'd kept a very special rock, buried at the entrance of this room. A rock that was able to keep vampires out. And if she claimed she couldn't get in…

he said. I managed to nod once. It was all I could muster. Here was my true mate, trying to reunite with his love, while I had just resorted to using magic to break my own bond. Why were the fates so cruel? --- As I arrived at Star's home, I noticed a trail of rocks that hadn't been there before. The rocks were of varying sizes, leading from the front door, stretching into the soft grass, and disappearing towards the waterfall. "What is all this?" I asked.

The girl turned around… she was buzzing in horror. A pointed cone of rock seemed to float; later Venus realized it was so parallel to the big belly of Langit. Venus refused to agree with the thought that suddenly her mind gave. However, that is the truth. The stone twisted like an arrow apart from its bow. Venus shouted. However, the stone suddenly stopped only a few centimeters from Langit's stomach. Her hands were clenched into both sides, and she slumped with fists pounding the floor below. The pointed stone in front of Langit disappeared slowly.

The memories receded, pushed back into the dark corners where I kept everything I couldn't afford to deal with right now. The rockfall appeared about an hour later, a massive tumble of boulders that blocked the path ahead. It looked completely impassable. Eron dismounted and walked toward it without hesitation, pressing his palm against the largest boulder. Nothing happened for a moment. Then a faint purple glow spread from his hand, tracing patterns in the rock that hadn't been visible before. Ancient symbols, angular and strange. The boulder shifted. Slowly at first, then faster, rolling aside to reveal an opening in the mountainside.

He took my hand, and we returned to where we had earlier. We looked for our companions, and we found them with their backs to a large rock. "Is this the big rock you were talking about, Remus?" Viktor questioned Remus. "That's how it may be, Prince Viktor," Remus said. Remus pondered: "If you look at the rock, you'll notice strange letters inscribed on it." Viktor simply nodded in agreement with what Remus had said. Viktor decided it was in the best interest of the entire group to open the rock, so he gave the order.