Page 29 of Taurus's Quest
Let me find a way to save the Earth from a catastrophic impact.
And then a more selfish request.
I wouldn’t mind another kiss from the giant.
Chapter 9
The rooftop visit had been a pleasant excursion and a good start to getting the skeptical Circe to accept the necessity of their upcoming quest. He understood her dubiousness, though. A rock and an ancient machine against a mini planet? It stretched the bounds of his own usual easy acceptance of the weird and magical, and yet he’d learned to trust the prediction of seers. Well, Sage at least. With Olivia, her young age and relative newness to the whole vision thing did cause pause; however, she’d been correct thus far.
When he and Circe descended from the rooftop—once more zoomed by Tower—she asked questions about the levels and amenities, a casual conversation that didn’t give an opportunity for him to kiss Circe’s full lips. A shame, because he really wanted to.
Wanted to see if the jolt from the last time had been a one-off. Something had zinged, at least on his side. Even her brief touch of his back made him aware of her in a way that had him eyeing her, wondering what about this woman intrigued him so much.
She was beautiful, with a banging body. However, his interest went beyond physical attraction. He couldn’t have pinpointed what made her special or why, even after he left her at the door to her apartment, she consumed his thoughts.
Being restless, rather than pacing around uselessly in his apartment, he paid a visit to Aquarius, who shook his head.
“I’m still translating those books.” Aquarius pointed to a machine behind him that had an automated arm flipping pages then a bright light as it scanned, before turning to the next.
“I’m not here about that. I’m curious as to why the asteroid can be detected by telescopes and stuff, but our constellations can’t see it.” The term see not entirely accurate since the Astraeus didn’t have eyes, per se. However, the entities somehow managed awareness.
“I’ve been wondering about that,” Aquarius stated. “Near as I can tell, it’s like a vampire and a mirror.”
“Um, what?” Because Taurus couldn’t grasp the correlation.
“A vampire can be seen by people, but if they walk in front of a mirror, no reflection, because there’s something about their physiology that somehow causes the mirror to be unable to bounce back the light that creates an image. I think the asteroid is similar. It’s the vampire, and however the Astraeus sense or view things is getting bounced, thus causing a blind spot.”
“Meaning this threat is likely alien.”
“We know it’s definitely not from this solar system, but whether or not it is actually some kind of alien craft remains to be seen. Could simply be the asteroid is comprised of a material never before seen in our part of the galaxy.”
“Like a new metal or something?”
“Exactly.”
“Okay, next question. I’m supposed to enter the Greek Labyrinth, you know, the one with the minotaur, and I know you’re, like, good with puzzles and shit.”
“You want to know how to reach the center.”
“Yeah. How do I not get us lost?”
“So, interesting thing about the Labyrinth is supposedly it only has one path, with many twists and turns. However, given the magical nature of this maze, I have my doubts about that. Should that claim about it be false, then you could use a trick known as wall-following. Basically, soon as you enter, choose a wall, left or right, keep your hand on it and follow it until you reach your goal.”
“Wouldn’t that method take longer, seeing as how we’d be motoring in and out of dead ends?”
“Yes, but at the same time, without a bird’s-eye view or a map, there is no way to know what branch to take if you come across a fork. This method is considered the most effective.”
“If I can’t beam directly out, I assume your wall-following trick will work to exit as well.”
“Yes, although, if you’re lucky, the Labyrinth will have a shortcut once you reach the heart of it. Some kind of one-way door that might allow you a quick escape.”
Before he could ask another question, Aquarius spun, chirping, “Looks like we have our first translation. Do you want a paper copy or digital?”
“Can’t easily search for terms on paper,” Taurus pointed out.
“True. I’ll throw it on a tablet, which will make it easy to add the other translations as they come in.”
“Which book do we have first?” Taurus asked as Aquarius handed it over.
