Simia

by Paris Singer

  SIMIA

  PARIS SINGER

  Copyright © 2019 Paris Singer.

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.

  www.parissinger.com

  To Amber, who gets me through.

  “The only journey is the one within”

  ~Rainer Maria Rilke

  CHAPTER ONE

  “Brace yourself—this is going to be rough,” exclaimed the mysterious girl.

  We were hurtling through Simia’s atmosphere having escaped the Morex ship aboard a capsule. My mind was reeling from the events that had occurred aboard the place I’d always thought of as home.

  Among everything I had lost, I mourned that of my brother, One. He’d always been there, but not as my family, as an enemy—a rival. I felt cheated out of having known who he’d been, out of all those years we could have spent together as brothers, competing at Sphere together, side by side. As a cruel twist of fate, no sooner had I discovered we were siblings, than they took him away. I’d never know him as I should have done.

  The temperature rose inside as the capsule shook violently and fire streamed from beyond the lateral windows. I expected those to be my last moments of life.

  “Brace yourself,” cried the mysterious girl behind me.

  Shadow swallowed the capsule just before it crashed with enormous force, tossing us around like rag dolls.

  ***

  “Seven. Seven.”

  I tried to see the mysterious girl, but everything was pitch black.

  “Seven. Wake up.”

  I opened my eyes. A blurry shape looming over me. A loud slap echoed in my ears, followed by a sharp, throbbing pain in my cheek. My vision corrected in an instant as I brought my hand to my face. “Ow,” I cried, gazing at the mysterious girl, “What d’you do that for?”

  “Good, you’re awake,” she said. “Come on, we have a lot of ground to cover before dark. The grasslands are not safe.” She grabbed my arm and pulled me to my feet, her gaze surveying the land.

  “I think it’s this way.”

  Without hesitation, the mysterious girl hurried out of the smoking pit of upturned earth the capsule had caused, and into some tall grasses.

  “Well, wait for me,” I exclaimed, scrambling out of the hole, flustered. I sprinted along the path she’d created through the purple vegetation, which was almost a head taller than I am until I reached her.

  “Where are we going?” I asked. The mysterious girl forged ahead as if ignorant of my question. “Where are w—”

  “Keep your voice down,” she scolded, in a hushed tone. “You will get us killed. We’re getting to safety.”

  I looked around me. Gigantic trees with bulbous, spiked brown trunks dotted the grassland. Their fanning red leaves blanketed the ground in shadow, providing temporary relief from the scorching hot suns beyond the blue skies.

  “What’s out here?” I asked nervously.

  “You’ll find out unless you stop your incessant chatter,” replied the mysterious girl.

  We ran in silence, trying to make as little noise as possible. As we made our way through the dense grasses, I thought of Iris, of Pi. Of One. I thought of all the moments I’d spent on the Sky Drifter. All fake. I shook the thoughts from my mind; I had to focus.

  “So, what’s your name?” I asked, trying not to think. “You never told me.”

  The mysterious girl kept up her pace, ignoring me again. I don’t know if it was all the things that had happened, or that I hadn’t quite forgiven her for having played a part in it, but before I knew what I was doing I stopped running and cried, “Did you hear what I said? What’s your name?” as loud as I could.

  The mysterious girl turned, her long green hair wiping round, and gazed at me with wide-open eyes.

  The sudden sound of rustling from branches in the trees filled the air, as one by one tremendous, deep roars and growls echoed all around. She dashed toward me, grabbed my hand and ran back the way we had been running at top speed.

  The roars intensified from one tree to the next as if the creatures up there were communicating with each other. Something shone from above in my periphery. I looked up at the nearest tree and, peering through the leaves, I spotted a creature I’d never seen. It’s bulky frame had two wide arms and legs, and shiny, metallic fur covered its entire body. Its face had an elongated snout with a cavity instead of a nose. Along the length of its flat forehead, a row of liquid black eyes blinked at me. When it opened its mouth wide to roar it revealed four, long sharp teeth—two above, two below—it made me sorry I hadn’t stayed quiet.

  THUMP. The ground shook. THUMP. THUMP. THUMP. One after another, the creatures jumped from the trees, roaring so loudly I winced. My heart was beating nineteen to the dozen as I wondered if we were about to become lunch. The ground shook like an earthquake. I turned to see the tall grasses moving and parting with increasing speed, and I realized those things were chasing us.

  We jumped over rocks and fallen dead branches, avoiding much smaller wildlife that crossed our paths. No matter how fast we ran, the ground, like the creatures’ roars, shook louder and greater with our every step.

  We jumped over yet another rock and, just as we did so, there was a loud crash inches behind me. A cloud of white dust rose from the smashed rock, and an enormous brown hand reached for me. I ducked right as the monster swiped at my head, causing it to trip and fall as it missed. From out of nowhere, another jumped over its fallen companion and landed where I’d been standing not a second before, just missing us. The mysterious girl spun left, past a tree, and there was another crash, as the creature collided with it.

  From our right, another line of grasses parted in our direction, and I knew we were being flanked.

  “Right,” I cried, warning the mysterious girl. But before she’d had the chance to look, the hulking, charging frame of a creature emerged. Just as it was about to hit us, we jumped on a rock, then on its shining back as it crashed into it. We flew, landing on a small mound of upturned earth, only to be swallowed by the ground.

  As the light turned to dark, we fell, slamming and tumbling into roots and rocks, till we crashed onto the pitch black ground.

  CHAPTER TWO

  I hurt. Every bone in my body felt broken. I struggled to get my breath back—one of the rocks I’d hit had knocked the wind out of me. Distant roars from somewhere above echoed down.

  “Ugh,” I groaned, forcing myself up. Not since my first days of Sphere had I felt such pain. “Where are you?” I asked, blind to the surrounding darkness. I took half a step forward, feeling around with one hand as with the other I held my arm, which felt broken. I wanted to call out her name, but I only knew her as ‘the mysterious girl’. “Are you okay? Please answer me.”

  To my right I heard a low moan. “Here… I’m here.”

  I hobbled over to where I’d heard her voice. After a few steps, I felt something grab my leg. I recoiled, taking a step back and winced from the pain it caused.

  “It’s me. It’s me,” said the mysterious girl. She let me go, and for a few moments groaned, until there was silence again.

  “Are you still there?” I whispered.

  A sudden bright light shone in my eyes and I raised my hand to shield them.

  “Of course I’m still here. Where else would I be?” said the mysterious girl. “Oh, sorry,” she continued, as the beam of light moved away from my face. “Are you injured?”

  “I think my arm’s broken,” I replied, “
and maybe my leg. And ribs.”

  “Hold on,” said the mysterious girl, “I hope it didn’t break or get lost in the fall.”

  “What are you looking for?” I asked.

  “Okay—don’t move,” she replied, ignoring my question, as the light shone in my face again. I felt a sudden cold pressure on my forehead.

  “What is it? What are you doing?” I asked.

  “Hold still. Give it a minute.”

  A warming feeling spread throughout my body, from the top of my head to my toes. Every ache and pain I felt was being replaced by heat until there was only the pleasant feeling of a warm shower. Suddenly, my entire body felt rejuvenated, leaving me feeling stronger and fresher than I had in a long time.

  “Wha—What happened? What did you do?”

  “All better? Good,” said the mysterious girl, removing what she’d placed on my forehead. “Nano patches: never go anywhere without them.”

  “Nano?” I asked. “Like the tiny robot things?”

  “Yes, now in patch form, available across the universe.” The mysterious girl shone the light all around, its beam emanating from the groove in the gauntlet on her right arm.

  “We should be quite safe down here, the Garlex can’t fit in these pits.”

  “Garlex? Is that what those horrible monsters are called?”

  “They’re quite a peaceful species when left alone. We trespassed in their territory without their permission, which they took as an act of aggression. So, they attacked us. Probably thought we were poachers after their eggs or young.”

  The mysterious girl flashed the light around, illuminating the space we were in. It wasn’t very large, with rough spherical sides. There were two tunnels carved out—one behind me, one in front. As if reading my mind, she said, “It must be this way,” shining the light to the tunnel ahead. “Let’s go.”

  A moment before crossing the threshold to the low, narrow tunnel, the mysterious girl turned her head to face me. “Alana.”

  “What’s ‘Alana’?” I asked, worried she was referring to yet another unknown species, that this time roamed tunnels searching for any meat to devour.

  “My name. You asked what it was earlier. Now you know it. Let’s keep moving.” With that, she turned and headed inside the tunnel.

  “Alana,” I whispered to myself before I followed behind her. “Nice name.”

  ***

  “Where are we going?” I asked, trying to keep as close to her and the light as possible.

  “Capital city,” she replied. “I have to speak with the council about what has happened—they’ll want to speak with you.”

  “Why me?” I asked, feeling incredulous.

  “Seven,” she turned. “You’ve spent your life aboard a Morex research vessel. They’ll want to ask you questions about it.” Alana looked away with a guilty look in her eyes and continued walking. I supposed she wasn’t proud of her involvement in what they’d done to One and me.

  “But, I don’t know anything,” I said. “I lived on what I thought was the Sky Drifter, remember? What use could I be to them?” It surprised me to hear a sudden surge of anger in my voice.

  In a flat tone, Alana said, “That isn’t for me to speculate.”

  There was nothing else for me to say. It didn’t think she’d tell me anything else, and getting angry wouldn’t get us out of the dark tunnel.

  We walked on, avoiding jutting stones and occasional dangling roots until, I saw a source of light and moving shadows ahead.

  “What’s that?” I asked, still worried about potential new flesh-eating, tunnel-dwelling creatures.

  “That would be Ranars. They’re responsible for these tunnels. Don’t worry, they’re not interested in us—they’re here for the roots.”

  “So, they won’t be all territorial murder-happy when they see us?”

  For the first time since I’d met her, Alana smiled. “No, they won’t even realize we’re there. They have no eyes, and their noses only lead them to the roots they eat. They do have deadly sharp, rotating teeth, though, so don’t pick them up. Actually, we should be grateful to them—they saved our lives.”

  We reached them moments later. Dotting the ceiling and sides of the tunnel, small, oval insectoids the size of my fist munched through protruding roots. Their teeth, like rusty razors, rotated around their circular mouths, cutting through their food. Six black legs—three on either side—gripped the earth. The light that illuminated the surroundings shone brighter than Alana’s beam of light and came from their smooth, semi-spherical shells.

  “We have to try to find a way to the surface,” Alana said. “I can’t tell where we are until we do.”

  Ranars peppered the tunnel for the next few hundred meters, scuttling along when they’d eaten their root, likely in search for more. We continued walking, our path illuminated by Alana’s beam of light once we’d passed them.

  We came to a dead end in the long tunnel. The space in which we entered was similar in size to the one we’d first fallen into.

  “I think this is it,” Alana said. “It’s not as far as I had hoped, but it will have to do.”

  “How do you know it is?” I asked. “Have you been here before?”

  She turned to face me. “Seven, there are many things you don’t yet know. I will tell you everything in time, but for now, we need to get going—we’ve no time to lose.” Alana gently grasped my arm. “Please trust me, okay?”

  I said nothing and gave a single nod. I wanted to trust her—she had freed me, after all. But there was still so much I didn’t know about her that it felt strange just trusting her without question. My gut instinct told me to give her a chance, so I did.

  “Come on.” Alana looked around her. “It will be up there somewhere,” she said.

  “What are you looking for?” I asked.

  “The Ranars chew through root systems, sometimes so large they create spaces akin to this one. They are often mere inches from the surface,” she replied, picking up a large stone.

  “Help me,” she said and threw it up at the earth above us. I did as Alana asked, and we both continued throwing stones until a blade of light pierced the darkness as earth crumbled to the damp ground.

  “There,” Alana exclaimed. She climbed the rocky wall, up to the light, and pushed and pulled at the small hole till the earth gave way to a much bigger one.

  “Come on,” she called. “Be careful, it’s slippery.”

  “I’ll be fine,” I replied. I’ve won countless games of Sphere, I thought to myself, I can climb this. I climbed the unsteady wall and got halfway up before I slipped and fell back to the ground.

  “Seven. Are you okay?” Alana cried.

  “I’m fine, I’m fine,” I replied, getting to my feet, rubbing my backside, remembering the many matches I’d won had likely been fake, too. I climbed again, with more care, and reached the top, aided by Alana, who extended her hand and pulled me up to the hot, dry surface.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The dusty ground, as yellow as Alana’s skin, was hot to the touch. I got to my feet and looked around me, squinting to protect my eyes. The landscape differed from the cooler grassland. Among the dry, bristly bushes, gnarled, leafless black trees dotted the arid earth, bright orange thorns covering them as if to ward off any predators.

  “I’ll be blunt,” said Alana, standing beside me. “This is much farther than I’d hoped we would be. Unless we get lucky and meet a traveling merchant or someone with a means of transport, the likelihood of us making it to the nearest trade town is slim.”

  I felt the blood rush from my face. Was I freed only to perish so soon after?

  “There has to be something we can do,” I said. “Maybe we can stay in the tunnels until night, or until it’s cooler?”

  As if smelling our inevitable downfall, two scraggly, winged creatures landed on a nearby tree, unperturbed by its thorns. Featherless, their skin gleamed orange with waves of blue. The creatures gazed at us as one squawked in
a shrill tone.

  “The temperatures drop to minus numbers when the suns set, Seven; we can’t do that.”

  “The tunnels, then?”

  “As I hear it, there are far bigger, far fiercer creatures than the Garlex that roam the wilderness at night. We have no choice, Seven. If we’ve any chance of survival, our only hope is to press on.”

  Alana gathered her long, dark green hair and tied it behind her head with what looked like a long, thin root. She turned without saying another word and walked. My stomach tied in a knot, full of worry, I followed her.

  ***

  The suns blazed down. The horizon rippled like silver waves of water for which I yearned. My eyes stung from the constant stream of sweat that poured from my brow. Every step I took was like my last, every one as heavy as if I trod in thick mud. Alana, too, had slowed her pace, her body wavering as she struggled to walk.

  “I never told you,” she began, her voice raspy and dry, “the end-of-year Quantum Mechanics test you had dreaded in your third year… The one you were certain you would fail… I arranged it so the teacher would be absent, which gave you more time to study—Seven.”

  My knees buckled under me and I watched the entire world flip on its head as I collapsed. Alana rushed to my side, placing my head on her knees.

  “Seven. Seven,” she tried to cry, her voice too dry. “Get up, please, get up. Please…” I felt her slump to the ground next to me, as the light became dimmer, and dimmer, a hot gust of wind blowing prickly dirt onto my skin and mouth.

  ***

  Something nudged me. It licked my hand and nibbled on my leg. I opened my eyes. Something large moved in my periphery. I blinked to focus. The creature had long, silky, dark sandy fur, with a rounded back. As it turned, I saw two big yellow eyes on either side of an elongated face, which split into two short trunks at the bottom. Two long ears protruded from the top of its head.