Closer To The Core (25,000 Light-Years Book 1)

by S. Hansen

  'STOP!' Both males turned to Polly in confusion, their fists still raised. Polly walked to the door, banged on it with an open palm and shouted for the guard. When Polly wasn't looking Stark lightly smacked the back of Dantil's head and returned to his former position. He gave Dantil a look of approval and received a friendly shove in return. It seemed to be taking too long for a guard to come to the door so Polly banged again and again, all the time calling for assistance.

  Eventually Polly gave up on her fruitless attempts to lure a guard and returned to her seated position on the floor leaning against the cold wall. Dantil had knelt down in a corner of the room and closed his eyes, he made no movement and breathed more deeply than normal. Stark strode to the farthest wall from the door, placed one foot against the wall and prepared himself for impact.

  'That won't work Adam.'

  Stark ran full speed at the door, leant his shoulder into the door and used his weight to move the door nowhere. He stepped back, shrugged off the impact and began moving back to the far end of the room once more. Polly sighed and spoke again.

  'Adam, you can't knock the door down.'

  Stark kicked off from the wall once more and hurtled into the door. The door didn't move even a millimetre. He leant against the door to steady himself as pain ripped through his chest. He let out a grunt of pain and frustration whilst kicking the door. Polly flinched as he grunted and she rose to her feet at the same time as moving towards him. He was clenching his lower rib cage and she could see blood seeping between his fingers.

  'Christ Adam, sit down and let me see what you have done.'

  'No it's fine, really. I did it a while back, I probably just opened the wound.' He hadn't been aware that there was a wound before, he was expecting some bruising and discomfort with the possible addition of a broken rib but he hadn't checked.

  'Sit down.' Polly's voice was suddenly more commanding than it had ever been before. She moved closer to Stark, unbuttoned his waistcoat and lifted his black t-shirt to reveal the extent of the damage. As the shirt rose over his toned abdomen blood began to trickle down his side. It stung as Polly removed the shirt material from the wound and the air made direct contact. Stark's skin had split just beneath the rib cage; there were signs of previous healing but his fight with Dantil and the door had reopened the wound. Polly gently felt the surrounding area unflinching at the sight of blood this time.

  'It's swollen, I need to clean it and dress the wound properly. Dantil do you have anything with you I could use?' Dantil had been quite calmly continuing his trance when the mention of his name roused him. He opened his eyes but paid no attention to Polly's question or concerns. He rose to his feet with his eyes glowing fiercely, the flecks of varying golden hues flickering as he marched to the door. He placed his hands flat against it and began to push upwards with all his strength. A small crack began to appear at the base of the door but the strain was evident on his face and upon seeing this Stark shuffled over to the door and grasped the bottom of the door, much to Polly's dismay, pushing upwards with all the strength he could muster. Polly rushed to Stark and tightly gripped her hand over the leaking hole in his side with one hand while helping to push the door upwards with the other. They made slow but steady progress and when the gap under the door was large enough Stark shuffled under the door pushing upwards the entire time. Polly struggled to apply pressure to his wound as he moved but she persisted. When Stark was under the door he was more easily able to hold the weight of the door and hurried the others through. Dantil quickly gripped the underside of the door once he had left the prison and held it long enough for Stark to break free with them.

  Dantil quickly regained his calm exterior whilst helping Stark to his feet by grasping his left arm and supporting his weight. Meanwhile Polly was helping to prop up Stark's right side and continue to apply pressure to the wound.

  'We have to find somewhere safe. Who knows when the guards will be back and I don't know how long Adam can last without us tending to this gaping hole in his side.' For the first time Polly looked to Dantil for leadership as they moved along the corridor that was as grim as their prison cell. Dantil didn't miss a beat as he coolly led them out the way they had entered the building. He hadn't seen any guards on the way in and he hoped the same could be said on the way out.

  The trio trudged along the corridor. Polly's hands were covered in Stark's blood and she tried her hardest not to use the walls to support herself for fear of leaving a trail of bloody handprints. The corridor seemed longer on the way out than it had on the way in and Polly was becoming increasingly concerned they had taken a wrong turn as they finally came to the exit. Stark was getting weaker, his eyes were becoming heavy, his legs stumbled over the ground and he needed more support from his companions. The sight of another handle less door worried Polly as Stark wasn't strong enough to help open the door but there was no way she could find something to help seal the wound without leaving the building. Dantil smoothly propped Stark against the wall and walked towards the door alone. His eyes slowly closed and he took deep breaths. His fists met just in front of his chest and with each breath they rose and sank following the surface of his torso.

  He darted forward, pushed the door up with one hand and grabbed the underside quickly with the other when a small gap appeared. His strength was impressive causing Polly to look on in awe as the door rose rapidly.

  'You have to move him through yourself, can you do that?' He tried to comfort Polly with a charming smile and softened eyes, he had seen Stark do it before and hoped it would have the same effect. Polly hooked her arm around Stark and jostled him slowly through the doorway but collapsed as she reached the other side. Dantil whipped through the doorway leaving it to slam down behind them and he rushed to Polly's aid.

  'He is bleeding a lot; why doesn't he stop it?' Polly had no time for confusion. Her only knowledge of medical practice had come from watching television but she knew that the wound needed constant pressure. Something she was frequently unable to apply with her hands as they moved.

  "Dantil, I'll explain another time but right now I need you to turn your shirt into long strips of material. I need you to hurry." Polly's look was so serious Dantil immediately removed his shirt and began tearing, meanwhile she removed Stark's waistcoat and t-shirt. She bunched up the t-shirt and began to use it to clean the wound as best she could without water. Dantil hurriedly handed her the strips of material leaving her to tightly pin Stark's shirt over the laceration as she wove the red material carefully around Stark's torso.

  'I really wish this wasn't the reason I was taking his shirt off.... He's going to need to rest somewhere safe or he won't recover from that amount of blood loss.' Instinctively Dantil scooped Stark up and began trekking away from the ominous buildings with Polly trundling along behind.

  'We will head away from the populated areas and hopefully find some water and food, you both seem to need it more frequently than I do.'

  'Good, water. We will be able to clean the wound if we can find water.' Stark lay limply in Dantil's arms, his breathing was laboured but the blood seemed to have stopped flowing as profusely. Polly looked at him with tears welling in her eyes. She turned her face from Dantil and blinked the tears away but as she did so she noticed figures in the distance behind them. They were hard to see as the pale sun provided less light than she was accustomed to and the buildings were all so dark as they loomed over the figures. She wasn't sure if they had seen her and her companions but she was unwilling to simply hope they hadn't.

  'We need to move out of this open space.' They had previously been using what had been their landing strip to make steady progress away from the buildings, the unusual trees were their target now. The trees seemed bare and weak despite having a full complement of pale blue leaves. It wasn't until they got closer that they realised the trees seemed to be synthetic. They moved, grew and worked as completely natural trees but the leaves were translucent and had visible electronic components. After Polly had real
ised this she began to notice her surroundings more studiously. It wasn't just the trees that were synthetic, the bushes too had the translucent appearance and the grass was a poor, greyish attempt at green. The sun was setting and with it the temperature, they could feel a chill approaching with the darkness of night.

  ‘So what is the reason you want to be taking his shirt off?’ Dantil said with an innocent curiosity that flustered Polly.

  ‘Oh… err… haha… no reason. I just meant I wish I didn’t have to tend his wounds…’

  Polly glanced back through the half fake trees at the cold, ominous city, if the Renyans had seen them they weren't immediately giving chase. Dantil drew her attention back from the Renyan city when he began to speak.

  'Why didn't he stop the bleeding? He seems quite unwell now.'

  'We can't just stop ourselves bleeding Dantil, we don't work like that. Our blood clots to stop us bleeding but sometimes it needs help.' Dantil's face puzzled over the concept as he continued to heroically stride forward carrying Stark's floppy body.

  'Is it bad that he feels cold?' Polly immediately halted Dantil's movement and felt Stark's face.

  'Yes. Very. We need to be kept warm. We have to find some way to warm him up.' Dantil remained calm amidst Polly's panic, he placed Stark down and propped him against a tree. He then knelt down next to Stark, put his hands in his lap, closed his eyes and tilted his head back. His voice became unlike what Polly had been used to, it was soothing and inspired hope.

  'Let the warmth of this fire fill you with the warmth of our ancestors.' He chanted with his lips softly moving.

  'Let the warmth of my ancestors fill you with the warmth of their fire.' The words felt like silk as they wrapped around Polly, Dantil seemed to glow as she felt a warmth emanating from his location. He was glowing without giving off any light, his presence was truly celestial. Polly reached out and stroked Dantil's bare arm with the back of her hand, he was blazing hot to the touch and she quickly retracted her hand and shook off the heat. Dantil had become their campfire, but he wasn't much good for conversation so Polly shuffled in close to Stark, holding him tightly as she waited for sunrise. She muttered to herself before falling to sleep.

  'He's not going to make it, what am I going to do?'

  Chapter Six: Cold And Unforgiven

  As soon as the dim sunlight began to warm the atmosphere around them once more Dantil left his trance, he stretched and headed on without Polly and Stark. Polly remained resting against the synthetic biology, holding Stark as she slept. Sometime later Polly awoke to movement in her arms. She was overjoyed to think that Stark was recovered enough to move but much to her disguised disappointment it was merely Dantil lifting Stark once more.

  'Come on, I have found water. You said it was important.' Polly rose to her feet and followed Dantil. She was missing conversation so thought she'd use it to take her mind off current events.

  'Don't you need water too?'

  'Yes, but I have reserves, I can last sometime longer without water. Can you?'

  'Humans can last about a week without water, unless it's too hot. And even then we would be pretty weak and feeble in the last few days.'

  'And you don't have reserves of water in your body?'

  'No, that's pretty clever evolution of the Dantans. You are lucky to be so well evolved.' Dantil gave a half smile and disguised the shame he felt, the Dantans had not evolved so well by luck alone but he did not want to share that with his new friend.

  'Adam Stark seems warmer today.' Polly laughed as Dantil spoke.

  ‘I told you that you could just call him Adam.’ She checked Stark's temperature and was disappointed to learn he was only mildly warmer.

  'It is very strange that you have many names, Adam told me he has others.'

  'I'm sure he does, Adam is an agent. Do you have those on Drium?'

  'An agent of what?' Polly laughed again.

  'That is a good question. In theory he acts as the secret hands of our leaders, fulfilling their requests. Earth has many countries with many rulers. Each country has men and women willing to lay down their lives for their country. Some act in the shadows to prevent harm coming to their country. They do whatever it takes to keep their home safe, whatever it takes, even kill.'

  'Oh, he sounds dangerous. We used to have Dantans like that, but not since the civil war. Drium is unified we have no one to fight against. So he has many names because he has to lie to people a lot?'

  'Yes, that's right. Although also because he is many things to many people, to his colleagues he is Agent Stark, to me he is Adam, to strangers he is Mr Stark. One day maybe he will be Dad to someone.'

  'Humans are very strange.'

  'Surely Dantan children don't call their parents by their names.'

  'Most Dantan children don't know their parents. Only bloodline members do, in order to keep the bloodline clear.' Dantil felt guilty that although his society was equal he had something that not all Dantans had, he wanted to move on.

  'Should we do something about this other hole?' Polly looked at Dantil in shock and slowed their movement.

  'What other hole?'

  'The one in the middle of his stomach, it looks quite deep.' Polly looked at Stark's stomach, searching for the previously unnoticed lesion. Her efforts found nothing.

  'I don't see anything Dantil.' Dantil stopped, gently placed Stark on the floor and poked the hole in his abdomen.

  'Right here.' Polly laughed in sheer relief and encouraged Dantil to pick up Stark and keep moving.

  'Don't worry that's supposed to be there, that's his belly button.'

  'Oh, what does the button do?'

  'Well nothing. It's not really a button, it's left over from birth.' Polly explained the intricacies of human birth to Dantil and clarified the purpose of the umbilical cord. Dantil pulled a few looks of disgust and a wince at the idea of being severed from the mother at birth, to which Polly reassured Dantil that the child felt no pain.

  'The more I learn about humans the more complex and silly you seem.'

  'Well gee, thanks.'

  'I'm sorry, I don't mean to be rude. But why don't you just absorb nutrients from the mother and spend the first few weeks of life in fresh water as your skin learns to stop absorbing nutrients, like Dantans.' Polly raised an eyebrow.

  'How do you keep the children from drowning?'

  'Simple, we breathe under water.' Polly slowly blinked.

  'What?' Dantil tilted his head to one side, showing Polly the flaps behind his ears that had previously gone unobserved. He then turned to look at Polly and smiled.

  'You know what? I think Humans aren't so strange now, I think Dantans are officially winning in the strange competition now.' Dantil laughed. It was the first time Polly had heard Dantil laugh and it was not very dissimilar from a human laugh. Dantil's laugh was charming, filled with childlike glee but with a deepness to it that vibrated in the air. Polly thought back to her meeting with Tilam and Manim, they had laughed but it hadn't been as unusual as Dantil's laugh.

  At last they reached the water Dantil had previously found and he approached steadily before laying Stark at the edge of the pool. The area was mostly a vast expanse of desolate land with the backdrop of the synthesised forest they had just passed through. The grass remained a pale green even in the less shaded area, the mountains in the distance had snow caps and the water was icy cold. She scooped a handful of water to drink and she could feel the chill run through her as the water made its way down.

  'This water is very cold. We will have to be careful that Adam doesn't get too cold as we clean the wound. ‘Is there any way you can dry his shirt quickly if I wash it in the water?'

  'Maybe. I have never tried before.' Polly began to carefully remove the bandaging covering Stark's side. It had been completely soaked in blood but the blood also seemed to have dried so she was hopeful the bleeding had stopped. Once all the bandaging had been removed she gently rinsed it all in the water as blood spiralled out
across the surface of the water. The cleaning process seemed never ending; every time she would rinse it more blood streamed out of the dark t-shirt. When she was finally satisfied she used the dampened shirt to wipe around the wound. She was far more effective at cleaning the site now that she had water. A clot had formed across the lesion but Polly could see that it was weak and would be easily broken. She was very careful not to wipe at the gash whilst she cleaned him up.

  'Can you tell how he is?'

  'I'm no doctor but I think he needs stitches, unfortunately there isn't much I can do unless you have a sewing kit in your pocket. We are just going to have to hope for the best and keep him as still as possible.' Dantil looked very concerned as he had heard of Dantans needing stitches before and it had sounded like a terrible thing to experience. Polly finished with the shirt and passed it to Dantil in the hope that he could dry it. Meanwhile she tenderly replaced the now cleaner bandages around Stark's torso. The laceration felt too warm to Polly and she quietly contemplated the possibility of infection as Dantil returned the shirt feeling as though it were fresh from a tumble dryer to Polly.

  'How are your survival skills Dantil?'

  'Well my fire making skills are a bit rusty but if I were on Drium I could happily build us a shelter.' Dantil looked around him with a defeated look. 'But I don't know what I can use on this planet. What do I do with these strange trees?' Polly twisted her lips to one side as she contemplated their unfamiliar surroundings. They had nothing with them that could help provide shelter and their only source of heat was an alien who didn't seem to be a lot of use in any other respect when he was providing heat.