Wind-Scarred (The Will of the Elements, Book 1)

By Sky Corbelli

Ezra Hawkins is going to change the world.

Although, honestly, there isn't that much world left to change. After the Great War that nearly destroyed the Earth, mankind has been reduced to a single city: Sanctuary. Hidden from the ravages of the world, the last scions of humanity have eked out their existence through hard work and ingenuity, managing survival, maybe even a little happiness.

But Ezra Hawkins, last heir to the legacy of wormhole technology, will show them something that no human in over a thousand years has known: Hope.

This is a story of science against magic, of people who can bend the elements to their will and the shadowy forces that police them. And most of all, Wind-Scarred tells the tale of a young man desperate to learn the true nature of the past, and of a planet that has its own ideas about the future.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sky Corbelli
• Release date: Apr 15, 2012
• ISBN: 9780985516406

Sky Corbelli

Sky Luke Corbelli is not a jedi. Nor does he have much business writing a book. His youth was spent in the water, getting chlorinated, and working at the San Francisco Zoo. The man has literally been bitten, clawed, constricted, quilled, or otherwise assaulted by more animals than most people could shake a stick at. He majored in mathematics, of all things, while simultaneously delving into the depths of chemistry and physics. He delighted friends and colleagues with baked goods at every turn, and after all of that he went on to become a programmer. Why he would dare think that writing a book was acceptable after such a mundane life is beyond mortal ken, but it happened, so maybe someone out there will find a few hours of enjoyment in his mad creations.

Book preview

Prologue

Sunset

It's so beautiful. Ezra stared out the viewport window, looking down at the Earth. Clouds swirled through the atmosphere with a stately beauty, the blue and green of the planet spread out beneath them.

He shook his head in wonder, glancing around at the other passengers aboard the Millennial Legacy. His parents sat with a few of the other science Legacy families, chatting. How anyone could ignore the view was beyond him. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity!

He turned back to the window, pressing his face up against the transparent super solid, trying to catch a glimpse of Sanctuary far below them. Flickering flames from the engines danced into view. Ezra frowned, staring. If he looked at it just right, he could almost imagine that the fire actually was dancing. There! That... that looks like a woman, a woman in the fire...

Something glimmered off in the distance. Ezra glanced up, and his jaw dropped. Highlighted against the backdrop of space, just a few klicks away from their shuttle, the space elevator cable was glowing. What might have been lightning was coiled around it, slithering up behind them like some kind of gleaming serpent. As he watched, it caught up to the ship and bunched into a writhing mass of energy.

Mom? Dad? Ezra took a step back, eyes fixed on the orb of power. It felt like it was watching them, somehow... waiting...

The ship shuddered. The lights in the cabin flickered. The lightning struck.

Ezra yelled, stumbling back as the beam of energy reached mindlessly for the ship. The window flashed white... and a wall of fire blocked Ezra's view.

He jumped forward, eyes searching. It looked like the flames from the engine had leapt up, catching the bolt of lightning, holding it back. But... that was impossible. It didn't make any sense. Fire... fire couldn't move like that.

Ezra!

He turned to see his father holding out a hand for him. He took a running step toward his family, casting one last look back at the battling elements.

And the lightning broke free.

With a bone-shaking thump, the fuel compartment went up, ripping the hull apart. Metal shrieked in agonized protest. Ezra was tossed to the floor like a toy. Everything spun as he squeezed his eyes shut.

Mom! he yelled, but hardly made a sound. He tried to suck in a deeper breath, to call out again... but there was no air.

Because you're in space, he realized. Probably only being kept alive by the dispersing atmosphere of the cabin. His eyes flew open. He saw the Earth below him, through the wreckage of the shuttle. His body rotated, spinning freely, and the orbital station came into view, sitting serenely atop the space elevator, only a few klicks away. The docking port was just beginning to extend toward what was left of the ship. He continued to spin past. His lungs burned, his vision tunneling as his oxygen-deprived body began to shut down. Ezra took one last look down at the Earth, beautiful and pristine and perfect.

And something moved.

From the guttering fires of the devastated ship, an angel spread her wings. Her skin was like velvety smoke, her hair the deep red of a burning coal. She smiled, reaching out toward Ezra.

I wonder if everyone sees something like this when they die, he wondered as slender arms wrapped around his neck and back, pulling him to her warm embrace, sheltering him beneath wings of light and heat. Her mouth moved, but no sound came out. He returned her smile, letting his eyes close, surrendering to the inevitable.

Suddenly her mouth was pressed to his, breathing life into him. His lungs expanded with air and his eyes fluttered open. He caught one last glimpse of the angel falling away, tied to the still-burning corpse of the ship, a look of divine peace on her face, her arms spread as if releasing him...

==

Ezra Hawkins woke with a start. Outside, the sun was just beginning to dip below the Barrier Mountains that surrounded Sanctuary. That's what you get for falling asleep while watching the sunset, he mumbled savagely to himself.

He leaned back in his chair, yawning as he stretched his lean frame. He ran a hand absently through his curly, dark brown hair. His eyes wandered over the virtual console in front of him, lighting as he went over the results of his most recent simulation. Every test passed, all well within his margin of error.

A fierce smile spread across Ezra's face. He uploaded his flight trajectory into the test glider, locking in the last piece of his brilliant plan. Everything was set, and no bad dream or remembered terror was going to spoil it for him.

Tonight, he was going to see the world.

Chapter 1

Secrets and Secretaries

Department of Ordinances and Lawful Temerity, a bored voice chirped as the dispatcher materialized in front of Ezra. Border Dispatching Coordinator, how may I help you? Ezra cleared his throat and read from the carefully prepared speech he had hidden amongst his research notes.

Hello, this is Ezra Hawkins of the Hawkins Legacy family. I will be preforming a standard glider retrieval test – as I have numerous times over the past eight months – tonight at approximately a quarter after five. I am calling to notify you of this occurrence. He paused, waiting for the answer. Because who would be performing a mundane experiment on Founder's Day?

Well, Ezra Hawkins of the Hawkins Legacy family, the woman responded, voice wry, let me just alert the patrols that they should be seeing something come up so we won't cause a panic.

Ezra frowned. He had a feeling she was mocking him. He opened his mouth to say something about it, but before he could get a word in she blurted out, Wait, tonight? Working on Founder's Day? Don't tell me that you're going to miss out on all the fun for an experiment!

Ezra nodded, clearing his throat. Now things were back on track. He checked over his response, put on a confused tone, and answered, Is today Founder's Day? Oh, I must have lost track of things. You know how it can be what with the research and development and testing. It must have just slipped my mind. If this is going to be a problem, he sighed, I suppose that I could recalibrate the generators and set it up another day...

He trailed off in a disappointed, reluctant, and slightly resigned tone of voice, shoulders slumping to create the perfect picture of a dejected scientist. He had, after all, practiced it extensively.

No, no, it's no problem. Just a shame that you can't get out once in a while. I hear the Guild of Sundry is really planning to out do themselves this year. I can't wait to see what they've come up with!

Ezra rolled his eyes. The Guild of Sundry – a bunch of misfits who couldn't handle real science and instead played huge practical jokes. Everyone was always so excited when rumors of a new 'event' came up. But the main attraction tonight would be something entirely new. Something world changing. Nobody, not the Guild, DOLT, not even the Chancellor himself could trump what Ezra had in store for Sanctuary.

Well Mr. Hawkins, the patrols have been notified. Thank you for telling us this time.

Okay, Ezra, just relax, he told himself. Only one more thing to worry about... Oh, I almost forgot. The words tumbled out of his mouth. There will be a, um, biological signature aboard the glider. Just standard testing procedure to check that nothing is out of phase coming back through the wormhole, it's really nothing to worry about and–

That's fine, thanks for the heads up.

Ezra blinked. That was not in the script. Shaken, he continued from where he had left off.

And I've already cleared it with the Department of Fair and Humane–

Yes, bio sign on the glider, got it.

And the Chancellor himself is very insistent that we get this project pushed through to completion as soon as–

Will that be all Mr. Hawkins? Yes? Thank you for contacting us and have a happy Founder's Day.

The connection went dead. Ezra stared at the space his neural net call had occupied, relief struggling with annoyance within him. He had half a mind to call back and demand that they treat his flagrant disregard for proper protocol with the severity that it deserved. His carefully crafted arguments could have convinced the most hard-line, play-by-the-book DOLT officer in all of Sanctuary!

He took a deep breath. No, he thought, everything is still going according to plan. She's just a dispatcher, after all. It may be an empty victory, but it's still a victory. Nodding, he carefully placed his equipment on the wormhole staging area, double checked that everything he would need was accounted for, then packed up his glider and set out to face the biggest challenge of the night.

==

Ezra eased his way out of the laboratory, glider in tow, careful not to make a sound as he snuck down the hall. He cut through the guest rooms and took the back staircase down to the kitchen. He held his breath, peeking inside. Empty! He had long suspected that the cook was against him, always offering him something to eat in that booming voice, alerting everyone to his covert operations. Ezra ghosted across the kitchen, not disturbing anything.

It appeared as though everything was well in hand as he stepped out of the kitchen and into the greeting hall. He rounded the great staircase and froze. There she was.

At twenty three, Kirsten O'Donnell was only two years Ezra's senior. She still made him feel like a kid. Her vibrant red hair was caught up in a bun, leaving her slender neck bare. A few loose strands were artfully arranged to frame large, striking green eyes, a delicate nose and a sharp chin. She was elegant. She was poised. She was Ezra's worst nightmare.

She was his secretary.

Ezra gulped, knowing that any sudden movements would alert her to his presence. Kirsten studied the console in front of her, briskly making adjustments to whatever horror she was concocting. A day's schedule or, Ezra shuddered, another date with a Legacy bachelorette? Slowly, carefully, he eased forward into the greeting hall. He was almost there! Just a little bit further and he would be out. His hand reached out to activate the door...

Ezra, are you going out tonight?

Kirsten appeared not to have moved her eyes from the nebulous displays hovering before her, fingers still flicking through menus.

Just keep it simple, there's no reason for her to be suspicious. Ezra cleared his throat and responded. Yes, Miss O'Donnell. I'll be running some tests tonight, sending out a glider. You know, standard protocol before a system update.

And where will you launching the glider from?

Oh, nowhere in particular. It's a nice night; I'll probably just head to the barrier and send it out from there.

Kirsten stopped what she was doing and turned to face Ezra, eyes narrowing. He fought not to audibly gulp. What had given him away? Mentioning the barrier? Of course! He'd tipped his hand about his interest int the barrier, and a simple examination of the glider would prove that he had no biomass of any kind with him. She would know he was lying about the bio sign! How had she heard about that so quickly? Was the DOLT dispatcher in on it? Was that why she'd cut the call so suddenly? He would have to think fast if he wanted to get out of this in one–

Ezra James Hawkins! I know what kind of people hang out around the barrier. If you're planning to have some sort of wild Founder's Day experience on my watch I will have the cook carry you to your room and sit on you until morning.

Ezra stared at her in disbelief. What?

"Don't think that I am unaware of the kinds of things a young man can get himself mixed up in out there, what with Guild of Sundry running wild and doing who-knows-what with who-knows-who. And you know that you have an appointment with the inheriting daughter of the Crawford family early tomorrow morning to which you will not be late. If you even think of meeting her in a state of the slightest dishevelment I will personally see to it that you curse the day Sanctuary was founded for the rest of your natural life."

Ezra's brain tried to process what was happening. She didn't know about the call? Then... she didn't know about his plan? And Crawford family... Crawford family... where did he know that name from... ah!

Liza Crawford? But... they're bookies! All they do is write history and look for news so they can write it into history later! The whole family has hardly a scientific bone between them!

Kirsten stalked forward, one deliberate step at a time. They are an old and respectable family with data banks that go back to nearly the Founding itself. You could learn a thing or two from a proper historical perspective.

Ezra scowled. Speaking of historical perspectives, isn't she something like ten years older than me?

Kirsten's eyes narrowed to emerald slits as she planted her hands on her hips. Five years, seven months, and you said that Mitzi Parnasus was too immature.

Ezra couldn't keep the exasperation out of his voice. She spent five hours talking about how pretty butterflies were!

Kirsten held up a mollifying hand. I am willing to admit that Miss Parnasus was not the most suitable match for you, but the Special Division assigned me to keep your household and affairs in efficiently running order. As the last of your bloodline it is your civic duty to wed and procreate so as to ensure that your family's knowledge is passed on and your Legacy continues.

So I don't get any say in the matter? Because I say that Liza Crawford and any of my other former babysitters should be off the list.

Of course, the final decision is up to you. However, I do expect you to seriously consider the social and technological aspects of each and every match that I have deemed suitable to your current situation.

I don't have time for this. Yes, I will consider aspects. No, I will not be unreasonable. I'll launch the glider from the university. Is there anything else?

Kirsten continued to glare up to Ezra for a moment. You will finish your experiment and come home immediately. You will be back by no later than seven o'clock. At one minute past seven I will call the Department of Ordinances and advise them to collect you. Ezra gulped at the fury in her voice, immediately regretting his rash words. Will that be all, Mr. Hawkins?

Ezra nodded mutely, leaning back and away from the enraged woman. She whirled and stormed back to her console, heels clicking in outrage. He opened the door and fled.

Chapter 2

Please Step Outside

Ezra didn't stop running until he had cleared the family property and entered Sanctuary city proper. He paused to catch his breath, panting with relief. Looking up, he caught the sun's last rays striking the barrier – a protective bubble that kept their air clean and blocked harmful radiation – bathing the landscape in various hues of pink and shades of violet. Unnatural colors, Ezra mused, looking out over the rest of the Legacy hilltop. Graceful arches and ornate columns, styled after the estates of the ancient Romans, played games with the light and shadow. But pretty in their own way.

He checked his time display. Two minutes until five. Slightly behind schedule, but still well within the safety zone. Hoisting his glider, he set off at a jog for the nearest transport station. Dialing in his destination for the university district, Ezra paid the transport fee and hopped onto the wormhole generation platform. The scenery abruptly changed as the generator engaged, the elegant station's interior replaced with the open-air port at the university plaza.

Ezra jumped on a museum shuttle just as it was leaving on its route. As they passed the Webatorium, bright banners featuring the triumphant return of the Lolcats exhibit, he went over the plan in his mind.

It was simple, really. Eight months of sending out unannounced gliders and timing DOLT response units had provided plenty of data. Finding the area with the longest time between barrier breach and actual contact from the officers on duty given him with the ideal flight path. A little digging through old surveys of the Barrier Mountain range had led him to a set of coordinates for a small ledge on the far side of the mountains. The side that faced the world.

Suppressing his parents' research on remote creation and deployment of portals was no problem. Wormhole research and technology was his Legacy, after all, at his sole discretion to develop and release.

From there, it was an easy task to make it seem as though he was beginning his testing phase, when in fact he already had a reliable working mechanism for throwing wormholes to the nearest receiving port, and even to locations where no port existed at all. The only obstacle was where to make the portal. Naturally, all wormhole travel originating within Sanctuary or on the space station above was strictly monitored by DOLT. Through extensive testing, however Ezra had determined that they couldn't detect incoming wormholes at all, so long as they were instantiated outside the barrier.

He smiled, thinking of the wormhole controller device waiting for him on the generator platform back in his lab. In just a few minutes, he would simply fly out of Sanctuary, pick up the device, and originate a new portal through the existing one, thereby sidestepping DOLT security measures entirely. He'd bring back proof that the world outside was safe, that they no longer had to cower behind the barrier with their enforced population limits and infinitely reprocessed food.

Of course, he wasn't an idiot. Along with the controller was a radiation badge, so in the unlikely event that his thesis was wrong he could simply step back through the wormhole and return to the comfort and safety of his lab for decontamination. And, just to be extra safe, he had ordered a mandatory maintenance inspection for all ports closer to his test zone than his lab's port, just so the generator couldn't find some other receiving port by mistake. All of the tricky parts were already taken care of, the rest was just science.

Ezra kept riding until they reached the Sanctuary Center. The stately building at the summit of Sanctuary was an embodiment of the city itself. Solid walls and domes showed safety and security, protection from the outside world. Sweeping arches and floating fountains, promising the ingenuity of the future married to the beauty of the past. And rising from the pinnacle, as far as the eye could see, the space elevator loomed like some monstrous, surgically straight cut in the fabric of reality.

Despite the relatively warm night, Ezra shivered at the sight of it. This is no time to dwell on the past, Ezra, he reminded himself sharply, pull yourself together.

He walked inside, past the relatively small group of business people waiting for the next scheduled wormhole up to the space station. Founder's Day seemed to have cleared out all but the most dedicated of travelers, just as he had hoped. A security officer held up a hand for him to stop, but Ezra flashed his credentials. Legacy business.

The guard took one look at his clearance and jumped to attention, saluting rigidly. Of course, Mr. Hawkins. Take all the time you need, sir.

Ezra fought down a smirk as he walked past the security checkpoint. Dolt, he thought, marveling at the aptness of the department's acronym.

Past the wormhole generators, past the computing stations that kept logs of matter composition and global positions primed for travel off-world, up the maintenance staircase and ladder to the roof, Ezra reached his goal: the space elevator platform, suspended on its cables just above the Center. Elevator travel had fallen out of practicality with the advent of wormhole technology, and this relic of the past had not had a passenger in over ten years. Now it would serve his purposes, as the highest point from which he could launch himself.

Ezra took a moment to look out over the city. Lights began flickering to life in the grunt residential districts, filled with practical little houses that boasted none of classical flair so omnipresent up on Legacy Hill. Bits of a song floated in, signs of the night's revelry getting started. But for the most part, Sanctuary was quiet, anticipating what would come with baited breath. An angel, arms outstretched, Ezra breathed, waiting for me.

He glanced down at his clock again. Thirteen after five. Time to go. He unfolded the modified glider with practiced movements and strapped himself in. Inching up to the edge of the platform, Ezra closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and jumped. The on-board computer took over immediately, repulsors under the wings correcting his flight and moderating his speed as he soared toward the barrier. Ezra let out a whoop of pure exhilaration, skimming over the city, drawing startled gasps and wondering looks from everyone on his path. Oh yes, this will be a Founder's Day they'll all remember, he thought to himself with amusement.

There was a brief tingle as he passed through the barrier at seventeen minutes after five, and then he was free.

The flight to his rendezvous point took another fifteen minutes, and even the joy of riding on the wind was hampered by the bleak landscape below him. Endless miles of short, stubby grass rolled down to the base of the mountain range that encircled the city in a second, naturally formed ring of protection from the desolation that lay beyond. Supposed desolation, Ezra reminded himself.

Sanctuary had been home to the last remnants of mankind for over a thousand years, after their forefathers had all but destroyed the world. The Great War, they called it, a conflict that left nothing but uninhabitable wasteland and poisoned oceans, lakes and rivers. Mankind had flexed its muscles, and life had been driven nearly to extinction.

At least, that's what the history books said. Ezra had seen the planet though, from the viewport of the ill-fated Millennial Legacy launch during the celebration of the thousandth Founder's Day, seven years ago. It had looked beautiful and serene and perfect and vibrant. It had looked alive.

After he was given a clean bill of health and released to his research, Ezra had run tests on grass gathered outside the barrier. The textbooks all said that Sanctuary was founded on one of the few places that had been relatively untouched by the war and its horrible aftermath, but he had found nothing out of the ordinary about the plants outside. There was no residual radiation, no subatomic deformities at all. They were just plants. Boring, ugly plants, to be sure, but healthy and natural.

Thinking back to his time spent recovering aboard the space station, there had been no windows that faced Earth. When he had asked about it, the nurses had told him that the planet was so hideous that the station had been purposely designed that way, to remind mankind that their future lay out in the stars, not tied to a dying world.

But Ezra knew that something had changed. He had hinted at it to colleagues, but no-one ever seemed to take him seriously enough to just look at the facts: somehow, the world had renewed itself. Well, he thought resolutely, if they're too blind, then I'll just have to open their eyes. I'll open everyone's eyes, and usher in a golden age of expansion and rediscovery. He nodded to himself. He would show them something, something to make this a Founder's Day that shook Sanctuary to its roots. Something that would have made his parents proud.

Ezra shook his head. Science, he had to focus on science.

As the glider descended, he saw the wormhole snap into existence. One moment there was the monotonous brown of the grassy slope. The next there was a one meter wide window into his lab.

The thing to understand about wormholes was connectivity. Sub-atomic particles could move from one place to another instantaneously. It was a simple matter to follow the paths they left, one jump to the next, and connect two points in space. The matter from one point was practically already in the other point, with quantum tunneling. And, since the position of any particle was a naturally uncertain element, switching the locations was as simple as dumping Heisenberg waves through the connection. The slope ahead of Ezra was still connected to the patch of bland grass that had been switched with the generator platform, but that patch of grass was now connected to his lab back in Sanctuary.

The real trick was accounting for the wormhole's behavior around the space where it was created: namely, that it liked to stay there. The Earth, however, had a tendency to move rather quickly around the sun and its own axis.

His lab's generators could pull along both ends of the wormhole while maintaining the portal itself – locking them in their positions relative to the surface of the Earth – for a total of four hours before the batteries would fail and the connection would drop. Cut that time in half for the second wormhole he would generate to jump outside the mountains, and Ezra had just under two hours to complete his expedition if he wanted to avoid a very long walk home. And some explaining when he got to the barrier. He shivered, shaking away the thought. Probably safe to just keep it short and sweet then.

He quickly folded the glider and tossed it back into the lab, collecting his gear and checking the radiation badge. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he entered in the coordinates for his destination.

Ezra took a deep breath as the wormhole connected, and stepped through. He found himself standing on a flat shelf of stone, blinking in the sunlight, as he took his first look at the world.

Chapter 3

Surprises and Sheep

The sun was still setting on this side of the mountains, painting the landscape in shades of orange and pink. It was a breathtaking view. Far below his little shelf of stone, rolling fields and sprawling forests stretched out to the horizon. He had a brief, fluttering feeling of being too exposed. With no mountains looming up to devour half the sky, the world just kept going on and on until it curved out of sight. Nothing he could have done could have prepared him for this sight.

Fortunately, he had been prepared for his lack of preparation. The timer on the wormhole controller beeped at him, snapping him out of his reverie. Mentally berating himself for standing around and staring like an idiot, Ezra readied his antique analogue hologram camera and began narrating.

What you are seeing here is actual footage from outside the mountains. As you can see, the world is not a wasteland anymore. Things are living and growing and thriving out here. In fact, he pulled off his radiation badge and dangled it in front of the camera's lens, there is no measurable residual radiation, and the air is fresh and clean.

Ezra began to focus the camera on various features of the landscape below, naming them off as he went.

You can see that there are fields of this long, golden grass spread out all around us. There is also a natural forest off to the north... He reoriented to bring it into frame. "Those trees must be massive to be visible with the naked eye from up here. And look! A stream is flowing out of the forest and oh-my-god-did-you-see-that! A fish! A fish just jumped out of the water! There is animal life out in the world! The Earth is capable of supporting life again!"

Hardly able to contain his excitement, Ezra rambled on as he skimmed the forest line in search of more wonders. He went on for quite a while, the light slowly fading around him.

More trees, more grass... did something move there?! No, no that was just the wind... let's see here, grass, grass, trees, and–

Startled, Ezra jerked his head up and squinted off into the distance... and was struck with embarrassment for doing something so pointless. He returned to the camera and his narration.

There are mammals down there, a whole big group of them! It's a little dark, but you can see that they're white and they look fluffy... Ezra raked his memory for the right word, the name for the animals out there. Liza Crawford had spouted some nonsense when trying to get him to go to sleep back when she babysat for him, it had something to do with counting... Sheep! Those are sheep! It's a group, uh, gaggle, no, no, flock! A flock of sheep! This is the most amazing thing any human being has seen in over a thousand years! Oh! And a dog! It looks like it's running toward the sheep and... and... around them... almost like it's trying to... make them change directions or... Ezra trailed off, confused.

A dog? Running sheep around like that? Herding! That was the word! There were some old vids floating around on the net where dogs did things like that, but there was always a person with them, directing them where to go. Ezra scanned the camera toward around the edges of the miraculous flock until he saw, A shepherd, out there with the sheep. His words came out as a whisper. A girl. A human girl, he continued in a stunned voice, outside of Sanctuary, with a flock of sheep and a dog and she has a staff and she's herding the sheep toward... toward a road.

Ezra gulped down the lump that was forming in his throat. And... and there are wagons on the road. And more people. They're all moving in the same direction. He zoomed the camera in. I can see... I can see a wall, and what look like rooftops behind it. A town. A town that is not Sanctuary, full of people who are not in Sanctuary. But no-one is allowed to leave Sanctuary, and there's no way down from here and no way across the mountains. They don't seem to have much in the way of technology, and all of that together would mean... it would mean... Ezra paused, reaching his conclusion but afraid to utter it aloud. Steeling himself, he whispered, It would mean that they aren't from Sanctuary. That they've been living out here the whole time, for the last thousand years. How could we not know about this? Who could... He trailed off, feeling sick.

Who could have hidden this? Who would want to? He looked down at the camera in horror. This was no new discovery. This was someone's secret. When a person stumbled across information in the genetically locked data banks of one of the Legacy families, even as an honest accident, they disappeared. Certainly, some of them resurfaced years later, either as adopted members of the family or as raving lunatics with black marks on their names... but no-one ever went back to their old life.

Who wanted to keep this a secret, and what would they do to make