“So, when humans tried tweaking their environment they were not completely out of their minds, were they?”, Kevin asked as all four of them took seats.
“As I earlier said, you people grew technology before growing wisdom…”, Keele said before he was interrupted by Moriti.
“I agree completely. And it was our fault to begin with. Royals had strictly prohibited any aid or otherwise influence in the evolution of NextGens but some of us just couldn’t resist playing God.”, Moriti joined the conversation.
“Is NextGens what you call humans here?”, Kevin asked.
“No, Kevin. We call humans, humans. We came up with that name for your species even before humans knew how to speak. Most of your languages including the ones which became popular like Latin and Sanskrit were ours too. Don’t you wonder how every hum knows the English language?”, Moriti replied.
“I thought Boriri knew English because he went to the earth and had to learn it there. I thought Keele knew it because Boriri knows but yes, I agree there is no reason for you to know English too, this should have made me curious.”, Kevin was almost apologetic for not noticing it earlier.
“Never mind. But you get my point, right? We gave you our language, our technology, our scientific knowledge. This was not supposed to happen. We were supposed to populate your solar system and then never return back. We were supposed to only observe but we couldn’t refrain from meddling.”, Moriti paused.
“Who is NextGens?”, Kevin asked.
“All the 90 species that Kakoro created are called NextGens. Kakaro was a very powerful and wise king, he lived some 700, 000 years ago.”, Keele jumped with the explanation.
“Thanks Keele! As I was saying, some of us visited the NextGen planets frequently against strict guidance from the royals. Kakoro himself forbade any hum from going there but once he was dead, his rules were no longer strictly enforced. With the technology and knowledge hums had, they were treated like Gods wherever they went. It soon became common to visit a NextGen planet among the adventure seekers. Largely, hums respect what royals recommend and seldom go against it, but those few who were hungry for adventure couldn’t help. Moreover, those who went to the NextGen planets did everything they were not supposed to do. This included making monuments which were impossible for the natives to make, showing them technology they were not supposed to know existed and worse of all, mating with them. The reason most of the NextGens are extinct is that they were all meddled with.”, Moriti put her point.
Kevin looked at Boriri. He wanted him to comment. Boriri seemed to agree completely. He was looking at the floor, not able to defend what his people did. Deep down Kevin felt a sort of relief. He now knew that humans alone were not responsible for the mess they were in. Something more powerful and beyond their control was responsible for the most of it. Since Moriti and Boriri both already looked sufficiently embarrassed, Kevin decided to cut them some slack.
“We can’t blame hums for everything, humans need to take some responsibility too.”, he said.
There was an awkward silence for a while. Keele pretended to be occupied by the beautiful view outside the window. The shuttle was already in air, it was accelerating rapidly through Peele’s atmosphere. Kevin and Moriti were engaged in a stimulating conversation up until now so he felt nothing this time, otherwise for Kevin, takeoff is usually the worst phase of flying.
“Wake anyone?”, Boriri got up to bring drinks to the table, now that the shuttle was stable and on its trajectory to Mone.
“I will have one.”, Moriti replied.
“I will have one too”, Kevin added.
Moriti and Kevin started talking again as Keele and Boriri left the table. She quickly noticed that Kevin was a bit uncomfortable. He eventually told her how he felt about flying.
“In the history of hums, you would be the only royal who is afraid of flying.”, Moriti appeared surprised.
“How is that?”, Kevin asked.
“Well, royals have always been known for their flyman skills.”, Moriti replied.
“You mean they were great pilots?”, Kevin asked.
“No, not exactly. They must have been great pilots too but a flyman is not the same as a pilot. A flyman is a person who controls the vehicle through neural connections to his brain.”
Kevin looked confused, so Moriti decided to explain what these neural connections were, “Neural connections make microsecond reflexes a possibility, Kevin. Normally, a pilot sees an obstacle only when his retina is fully focused on it. The signal then travels to the brain and then to the hand muscles which ultimately steer the plane. This involves too many muscle movements. First in the eyes and then in the hands, thus a microsecond reflex is not possible. A flyman’s brain, on the other hand, is directly connected to the machine. Thus, no muscle movement is necessary, either to process the input or to execute commands.”, Moriti finished explaining.
“This is certainly not for me then. I like cars and buses. Anything which moves on the ground.”, Kevin confessed with a nervous smile. He knew flying was not for him.
“I am sure this might not be your favorite topic but indulge me, will you?”, Moriti wanted to talk more about Kevin’s fear of flying. As a hum she mostly travelled through air and had never come across anyone who was afraid of flying. “I am curious what are you exactly afraid of?”, she asked.
“I don’t know exactly. It feels like fear of falling, like I am walking on a thin rope with my eyes closed. A slight miscalculation and I will fall. I feel that I am not in control of my body. Every time the shuttle tilts or turns, accelerates or brakes, I fear that I would fall off.”, Kevin tried to answer.
“That is very interesting. There is no doubt you have the royal gene, the bracelet is never wrong. But it is interesting to find out that you are afraid of flying when everyone in that genepool was exceptionally good at it.”, Moriti was curious.
“Are all hums good at flying too?”, Kevin asked.
‘Not all. We all have to pilot planes just like all humans have to drive their cars. Can you claim that all humans are good drivers?”, Moriti smiled.
“Ok, I get it.”, Kevin understood.
“I am thankful most of us know how to fly without crashing. Accidents do happen though, but they are rare. Our vehicles are very safe to fly and most of the operations are automated anyways. But these are consumer grade vehicles designed for day to day commute.”, Moriti started to explain.
“There are other special vehicles which only the experts dare to fly. These vehicles are used in flying competitions, sports and combat simulations. Although they require special training to be flown, I guess with sufficient practice any hum can fly them. Even you can try if you are upto it.”, Moriti continued.
“But, the skills of the royals are completely unmatched. They fly specially made vehicles which can be controlled through neural connections. One royal in his neurojet could easily take down thousands of the best skilled hum pilots in a single combat.”, Moriti said with pride in her voice. She really respected the royals.
“Why didn’t they train others to fly neurojets?”, Kevin asked casually.
“They did try. Whenever a skilled hum pilot approached them, they took him under their guidance, gave him their machines and trained them personally. But, no one has ever been able to fly the neurojet in neuro mode. If you are not flying it in the neuro mode then a neurojet is just another vehicle with a normal pilot. It has no edge above other vehicles whatsoever.”, Moriti paused.
“Does Boriri fly any combat vehicles?”, Kevin asked.
“Not at all. He has many qualities but being adventurous is not one of them.”, Moriti said casually. She talked about Boriri with a sense of possession. She loved his strengths as well as his weaknesses.
“You both seem close.”, Kevin guessed, he was sensing a love buried deep within their friendship.
“Yes we are. But we are not in a relationship.”, Moriti clarified with a smile and a hint of remorse.
; “Why not?”, Kevin got curious.
“I am not even sure if he was ever attracted to me. He cares for me that I am sure of but nothing more than that. Moreover, he always had his projects to keep him occupied.”, Moriti confessed. It was clear that she had feelings for Boriri.
Kevin wanted to ask more but he saw Boriri and Keele return. He guessed Moriti would not be comfortable discussing this in front of him. He thought of continuing the topic later. Changing the topic, He asked. “What do you do on Mone? Are you with the government too?”
“You couldn't be further from the truth, Kevin. She is anti-government!”, Boriri replied before Moriti could. He was clearly teasing her. Moriti looked at him and replied sharply, “Same could be said about you Boriri! You have been trying to bring down democracy for centuries now.”
They laughed. They both knew they had more in common than they cared to admit. Moriti was less comfortable in her laughter though. She knew exactly how she felt about him.
Boriri continued answering Kevin’s question, “She is a journalist, Kevin. A government critic, to be precise. She writes news articles tearing apart government policies and decisions. Apart from government bashing, she has also authored several books.”, Boriri enjoyed teasing Moriti.
He continued, “I never planned for this but I think this is a fantastic coincidence that you two met at the terminal. She is a great teacher, Kevin. I hope she finds some time from her busy schedule for you.”. Boriri looked at Moriti. She agreed readily.
###
Back on Nole, Joti and Gollow stood in front of Francis’s cabin. It looked like they have been waiting there for a long time.
“I say, we forget Francis and go and talk to Holum.”, Gollow said what he truly wanted.
“Golli, you have said that for the 50th time in the last half an hour. Let’s give him a chance, at least.”, Joti was clearly frustrated of the waiting but she had to talk to Francis.
“He said he will meet you here at 9, right? It's 9:40 now. How long are we supposed to wait?”, Gollow was impatient.
“Let me talk to his armbot.”, Joti gave in.
“Finally!”, Gollow said with relief, he had been asking her to talk to the bot for a long time now.
“Is Francis in?”, Joti asked the armbot who stood in front of the cabin.
“No, he is in a meeting. Can I take a message?”, the armbot replied.
“What meeting? All the people from the Union are here!”, Joti was surprised that there is a meeting going on without her knowing.
“Let me get an update, miss Joti.”, the armbot tried getting an update. Joti knew that all armbots are connected to the spaceship’s network and can get updates on whereabouts of anyone on the spaceship.
“Mr. President was in a meeting with ministers and officers of the Union. The meeting just ended.”, the armbot reported.
“Is he coming here, now?”, Joti asked, she seemed a bit agitated.
“Yes, he will be here in a couple of minutes.”, the armbot responded.
Joti went back to Gollow and expressed her fear that Francis was upto something with his secret meetings. Gollow pointed out that the meetings are not secret just that the two of them were not invited. They kept discussing what this exclusion could mean when Francis arrived there.
“Oh Joti, my dear. I am sorry, I totally forgot about our appointment.”, Francis was calm as always.
“That’s ok, Francis. I am more concerned about not being invited to the meeting. What was the agenda?”, Joti asked straightaway.
“Nothing important dear, just some Union business to take care of.”, Francis responded casually as he walked into his cabin.
Joti followed him and confronted him with another question. Gollow waited outside. He was not comfortable following them in his cabin.
“Sir, with due respect, Union business is my business. After all, I am the executive secretary.”, Joti said, she was speaking in a formal tone now. She didn’t feel as close to Francis as she used to feel earlier.
“You certainly are, but I believe you have been very disturbed since that boy ran away with the hums. I didn’t want to bring it up earlier but now that you are here, let me express my concerns.”, Francis talked in a very different tone now. Joti was furious hearing his remarks for Kevin and the way he referred to him but she wanted to hear it all to see what he was holding within.
Francis continued, “Angels are seriously concerned about your and Gollow’s loyalty to the Union. Everyone knows you both were close, that boy…”
“His name is Kevin”, Joti reminded Francis.
“Yes… Kevin. Everyone knows you three were close. Now that Kevin has joined hums, I cannot trust you the same way I trusted you earlier. You have two weeks to prove your loyalty, after that I will have no option but to ask for your resignation.”, Francis said casually while preparing to go out again. He walked out, leaving Joti shocked and furious. Gollow saw him walk out alone and waited for Joti to follow. When he didn’t see her come out, he walked up to the cabin and saw Joti sitting down on the bed, looking helpless.
“What happened?”, Gollow asked.
Joti kept looking at the floor. She didn’t want him to see the emotions reflected in her eyes. She said in a calm voice, “We are going to Holum, right now”.
Joti rushed towards Holum’s cabin. She seemed determined to correct her past mistakes. Gollow followed her happily. He knew this was a step in the right direction. It was clear from Francis’s announcements during the day that he did not care much about anything. After all, none of his decisions were aligned to the stage 12 plan.
Joti expected Francis to bring transparency to the Union but instead Francis became the center of all speculations. Instead of leading the Union from the front, Francis was more interested in conducting secret meetings. Him and other ministers seemed to be preoccupied by their own secret agenda while the rest of the Union struggled to achieve a successful stage 12. She had known Francis since childhood and had always respected him. But he wasn’t the same man anymore. He seemed a lot different. She had to discuss this with Holum. She couldn’t let Francis toy with the lives of thousands of humans on Nole.
They reached the cabin and found Holum and Ibu sitting there.
“Yes?”, Ibu asked Joti. He was not expecting Union officers to be at his cabin at this late hour.
“Sir, actually…”, Joti tried to explain herself but she didn’t know where to begin. She had caused both of them a lot of embarrassment and now coming to them for help looked a bit out of the blue in retrospect. She couldn’t simply say ‘Sorry’. She looked across Ibu, into Holum’s eyes with regret.
“Let’s talk in here.”, Holum said out loud. He was aware of the matter that had brought Joti and Gollow there.
They entered Ibu’s cabin and avoided making eye contacts with either Ibu or Holum. Clearly they were ashamed of their prejudgements earlier.
“Let’s get to the point Joti. We have wasted enough time already. What are you doing here?”, Holum implied urgency. He was clearly not interested in apologies and complaints.
“We doubt that Francis is up to something, something bad. He is having secret meetings and has overridden most of the stage 12 guidelines that we came up with.”, Joti knew Holum and Ibu would understand the severity of overriding stage 12 guidelines, after all it was them along with Joti who came up with those guidelines in the first place.
“I know that. I also agree that it is a bad call by him. But why are you here? Ibu and myself are no longer allowed to consult on Union affairs.”, Holum asked.
“We believe that you and Ibu are the only ones who can help humanity now.”, Joti said humbly.
“But we can’t. You are certainly mistaken.”, Holum walked away, was he too hurt to help?
Gollow and Joti looked at each other. They knew Holum and Ibu were hurt and would not agree to help easily. Gollow assumed it was his turn now to try and convince them.
“Sir, please forgive us. We need your h
elp.”, He said softly.
“You misunderstood what I said, Gollow. I don’t want you to plead. I simply don’t know how to help. The situation is much worse than you think.”, Holum clarified, he was indeed in no mood for apologies.
“What is it? I knew you two know more than what we know. Safety of humans is my primary concern. How am I supposed to make the right calls when no one tells me anything?”, Joti almost screamed with agitation, her outburst was legitimate.
“Ibu, why don’t you close the door?”, Holum began. He said, “We always knew Francis was an agent of Igogo but now we know what he really wants. We have been in touch with Boris for the last couple of days.”, Holum paused and looked around.
Gollow asked, “Who is Igogo?”
“Igogo is the prime minister of hums and is an evil man. He is as much of a threat to hums as he is to us. Although most of the hums have been led to believe otherwise, those who really care, wish to overthrow democracy and with it their current prime minister too.”, Holum paused again. This time Joti had a question.
“Why overthrow democracy? Why not simply elect someone better to rule?”, Joti had a good point.
“Democracy is tricky, Joti. It is really difficult to find a leader who is popular as well as right for the job. That is why hums have an alternative system where they hand over the rule to the king. The king makes sure that the people running the government are qualified and fit for it. Every 25 years they chose between democracy and the king’s rule.”, Holum clarified.
“Interesting.”, Joti commented.
“We will discuss their political system later, Joti. Currently, we are still trying to understand what Igogo really wants. However, one thing is clear, Igogo will soon deploy his army here on Nole and try to influence our day to day activities.”, Holum said.
Gollow was not happy to hear this. He said, “Let him try that, we have deployed our fleet in the orbit as well. We are ready for them.”, Gollow reacted predictably. He already hated Igogo.
Ibu put his hands on Gollow’s shoulders and asked him to calm down. He said, “Fighting back is exactly what he wants us to do. He has led hums to believe that we are here to cause trouble. Don’t forget that Igogo is a democratic leader, he needs public support for whatever he does. If we fight back, he would get sufficient evidence to prove that we are indeed a violent species and that we are here to harm hums. Let’s not help him.”, Ibu explained.
Earth To Nole: Return of the Prince Page 4
