Terrineia

by Brian Whiting

  “The hellona’s?” Alex said.

  “My people call them the heliosis.” Alesti said. “When people die inside a building or public space they take the body.”

  Alex poked the ground with his boot heel, which seemed very hard, too hard to dig through. Without much choice he grabbed the dead child and walked away from the cluster of hills towards a lone hill not too far away and placed the body under the only tree on it, then walked back to the group unhindered. Alex was sure a couple people in the distance might have seen him, they didn’t seem to be doing much better than Yesla had been doing and likely didn’t care about what Alex was up to.

  Alex sat down away from the others near the Juntards in the shaded edge of a hill. Alesti joined him. Which at first irritated him but after a short time he was grateful for her presence. Her hand touched his back and she began to rub it gently. The feeling was almost enough to incapacitate him and his mind quickly went into a sort of trance, where his brain just kinda shut down and all that mattered was the feeling. Maybe Symboli was right, he thought to himself. Alex rested his head on Alesti’s shoulder. He watched Yesla hover over her brother as he began to move more and more, eventually sitting up on his own.

  “Give them my portion of the food.” Alex mumbled in weariness.

  Alesti looked at the children and then stood up going to Alex’s juntard and retrieving a bit of food. Then handing it to the children who began to eat with thankfulness. Their simple joy cracked a smile on his face. The boy reminded Alex of Puck, the young boy that was killed during Alex’s term of military service. This boy was much younger but take away the bone crest and there might be a close resemblance.

  “My grandfather used to say the same thing, that every life mattered.” Alesti said as she returned to Alex and held out her arm. Alex grabbed it and allowed her to pull him up.

  She placed his hands in certain positions and it dawned on him what she was about to do. He did not think this was appropriate or the time and immediately felt uncomfortable. His right hand was placed behind Alestis back and his left hand was at shoulder level holding hers.

  “I have no practice perhaps you can teach me what to do.” Alesti said.

  “Do not resist.” Symboli said in his ear.

  Tired of arguing and fighting, he was too tired to resist them both and he relented. “I do not know them myself.” He replied resigned to apply as little effort as possible.

  “Then we shall be a fit match.” Alesti said as she started to lead Alex in a loose dancing pattern.

  “You’ve been watching too many videos.” Alex said as the others approached them.

  “What are you doing?” Tashini asked.

  “On my planet this is called dancing, it’s a form of entertainment.” Alex said starting to get into the mood, his spirits were already lifting. He almost broke into laughter when the soldiers paired up and started dancing with each other. Even the children found the situation humorous if only for a moment. The only one not participating was Deetur who continued to act as their lookout.

  Alex took notice of how Alesti felt under his hands. Her waist and back were indistinguishable from a humans, same size and weight, long beautiful hair, eyes slightly larger then typical which only made them more alluring. The bone crest Alex almost considered an appealing accessory, the only things he still had to get used to were the three slightly elongated fingers and the saucer cup ears. And the cultural customs that bothered him to no end. He was pleased that he could speak their language as good as he could speak English, he didn’t even have to think about how to phrase anything anymore.

  He caught sight of the little boy smiling at the dancing army that rescued him. Then Alex remembered his dead sister and the joy drained out of him. He politely slowed the dancing to a stop and bowed to finish. Then watched all the soldiers mimic his movements. He smiled as he walked towards the kids and sat down next to them. After a moment, he could see it was only a temporary distraction to what they were suffering.

  “Yesla, listen I’m not gonna make you go back out there and walk but I’m not going to force you to go where I tell you either. If you want, I’m gonna have one of these nice soldiers take you back to a safe place in Forex. I’ll be sure to go back and check on you when I’m finished with my mission and if I see your father I’ll tell him where you’re at.”

  The brother still drinking water looked up to his sister and she looked at Alex. “I’d be stupid If I said no to you twice.”

  Alex stood up and walked over to Deetur where he was still providing overwatch. “I need a favor of you.”

  Deetur gave Alex his undivided attention. “Have one of your men take these two to King Hu va, and tell him that I asked he care for them until I returned.”

  Deetur’s sight bounced back between his men and the kids, appearing agitated while doing so.

  “We are bound to run into more kids in desperate need, will we send all your escorts to the king as a gift of burden?”

  Alex considered his words, he knew Deetur was right.

  “I don’t know what will happen later, but right now this is my request.”

  Instead of responding like Alex had expected, Deetur walked away to speak to his men.

  Moments later Lostoy was placing the kids on his juntard and he sat behind them.

  “We will be heading to the village, we no longer have the resources to go straight to the city. If you’re fast enough perhaps you can find us before we reach the city.”

  Lostoy put two fingers to his forehead and then rode off heading north towards the border. The kids never looked away from Alex as they disappeared over the terrain.

  Deetur had returned to scanning the surroundings just over the crest of their little hideaway oasis. Alex joined him.

  “Thank you for that.” Alex whispered.

  “My king places a lot of hope onto you. I have seen your bravery, and your wisdom speaks true. But I am not so trusting. I didn’t do that for you, but I know the King would be most displeased If I did anything against you.” Deetur lowered his voice even further.

  “You are a puzzle to me. One moment I see you as a savior to my people, the next I see you make a fools request. It’s unsettling.”

  “Look I can go all by myself if you want. I will accomplish my goals without your assistance.”

  “Don’t be rash, I do not voice my opposition to you. Opposite in fact… Do… do you have any proof of this deadly alien race that seeks to conquer the stars?”

  Alex looked back at his juntard and caught Alesti’s eye, she rushed over to him.

  “Please get one of my pads for Deetur here.” Alex requested.

  Alesti turned and went to Symboli’s tank and retrieved one of the data pads.

  “Symboli, can you pull up some video of our A.I. problem, perhaps just the highlights?” Alex asked in English.

  “Is my goal to intimidate him or –“

  “Just educate him on the truth, please.”

  Alex grabbed the datapad from Alesti as she returned and allowed them both to watch the video Symboli had edited and cued up within the last few moments.

  Before Alex knew it, the whole group was huddled together as they watched the conquering annihilators defeat planet after planet, Symboli even included video of the Hermes attack and eventual demise on the planet.

  “This enemy that comes from the sky, how soon will they get here?” Tashini asked Alex.

  “Your great grandchildren will fight this battle.” Alex said as a rough guess.

  “That is good, we have time to prepare.” Deetur responded.

  “Perhaps.“ Alex said as he thought about home, a sinking feeling that something was wrong continued to grow in the pit of his stomach. Meanwhile, the other members of the group started asking tons of questions about the video. Alex took his time and explained in detail as best as he could, addressing all their questions.

  “You have the weapons of the god, surely you cannot be defeated.” One of them finished sayi
ng.

  “If I couldn’t be defeated I wouldn’t be on this planet, and I did not come from the gods, I thought this video was sufficient evidence of that.”

  “Tissk, religion and faith runs deep in our blood it will take some time for our people to accept this truth.” Deetur said.

  Alex looked up at the sky and wished the sun would traverse a little faster so they may get underway once again. Thinking about the A.I. put fire in his blood but he was bound by circumstances and it continued to irritate him. Alex turned off the tablet, Alesti went to return it to Symboli. Looking to get away from simpleton questions, Alex stood up and walked to the other side of the little oasis then sat down alone. Even in the oasis the heat was staunching his patience.

  For a couple moments Alex tried to forget about his situation and think about better times. Memories of Amanda sprang to life in his mind, he closed his eyes and tried to imagine he was back in his cabin holding her close as they imagined a better existence for humanity together.

  His soothing memory was interrupted when Alesti sat down nearly on top of him. Alex eyes popped open and he looked at her with reduced patience.

  He knew she noticed his temperament without having to say anything. She inhaled deep, and as a natural expectation of the release that never followed, Alex’s hyperactive mind got distracted at the biology of it.

  “You breathing, it’s different than how humans breathe.”

  “I did not know you breathed.” Alesti said.

  “Yeah, I don’t but I am not like most humans. It’s a constant effort, automatic without thinking about it.”

  “The same, I do not think about breathing it just happens.”

  Alex was paying close attention to her chest and not because of her breasts but because he was noticing the very gradual decrease of her chest size after she inhaled. Over the course of about three minutes the chest was perhaps a third the size it was before.

  “May I speak to Symboli?”

  “What do you speak to Symboli about?” Alex asked, already knowing the answer.

  “Much of what I ask is about you.”

  “Then perhaps you should ask me directly.”

  Alex noticed she was hesitating with her mouth partially open.

  “Well, when I was returning the tablet, Symboli played a video for me. It was of one person touching another. Symboli called it a massage and said it’s effective at relieving stress. I was going to ask him if that is what I should do to you now.”

  Before Alex could respond Symboli started talking into his ear.

  “This is not a further attempt to manipulate your relationship. If I could do it myself I would, you are stressed and this is the most effective way of combating it. Having it come from Alesti instead of one of the other soldiers only makes sense. Deny it if you must submit to your own ego, but you will benefit from it.”

  Alex wanted to dip his hand into Symboli’s tank again because he suspected Symboli was both telling the truth and hiding the truth that it was still manipulating his relationship. He spent too much time thinking about the reverse pshycology ploy of submitting to his ego remark.

  “Alex.” Symboli started.

  “Fine, whatever, just stop bothering me.”

  “Good, give Alesti the headset. I will help instruct her.”

  Alex complied and handed her the headset. Within a few moments she stood up and sat behind Alex, her legs coming up either side of him. He looked at the soldiers nearby who looked like frozen statues staring his way. Even Deetur was distracted from being hyper vigilant.

  “Symboli says to close your eyes.” Alesti whispered and Alex did not argue.

  Her hands were light at first but then he began to feel more pressure. She alternated between using her three fingers and her palms. She did not just focus on his shoulders, but also his back, neck and arms. Alex wanted nothing more than to say it didn’t work and Symboli needs to stop interfering, but his body was telling him otherwise. Soon he stopped thinking about what was happening and why, but started to focus on the feeling, just when he thought his body was totally relaxed she reach around him to hug him from behind with some form of pressure therapy.

  I feel like I am on another planet right now, I’m so relaxed. Then he had to stop from laughing because it occurred to him he was on another planet. Cracking his eyes open he noticed most of the soldiers were now mimicking Alex and Alesti and then he did break out in laughter. The soldiers turned to him with stunned faces.

  “No it’s ok..I was just...nothing nerv-“ Alex waved his hand in negation.

  Alex saw it out of the corner of his eye and his heart dropped into his stomach. Such a compromising position, instinct took over as he pulled out his weapon in the blink of an eye from his waistband. Nearly hitting the firing button out of the momentary panic.

  Everyone else was very slow to respond watching Alex’s odd sudden behavior instead of looking behind them at the approaching individuals. Two of whom were soldiers.

  “We wish no fight!” One of the soldiers yelled, noticing Alex’s rapid movement. Deetur’s men scrambled for their weapons. “We were coming just for the shade as I’m sure you did.”

  Alex noticed the bone crest of at least two additional people as their heads popped up from the other side of the hill, only their hair and crests visible. “It’s ok...we are just passing through ourselves. Put your weapons down and we will do the same.” Alex said while his heart still beat wildly.

  The two on the top of the hill dropped a club and spear respectively. The other two trying to remain hidden didn’t move. Alex approached slowly.

  “My name is Alex.”

  “I have heard many conflicting rumors about you, are you going to kill me and eat my brains for soup?” One of the new arrivals asked.

  Alex stopped his approach. “No, why would I do that?”

  “I only repeat what is said, so how do you explain all the deaths?” The unknown solider asked.

  “You mean Unbiter ordering the deaths of entire villages.”

  “That’s what I thought at first, but his army now surrounds the city of rock and does not move.” The solider said as matter of factly.

  “Why are you here?” Deetur asked.

  “I could ask the same.” Said the second unknown soldier.

  “We are fleeing Jebney and leading these people to the northlands.” The first solider said.

  Alex took two steps up the short mound of dirt and witnessed about twenty people huddled together at the other side near the base. Stepping back down Alex put his weapon away. “We will not harm you.”

  The new soldiers hesitated but then motioned for the people to join them in the shade. It was quickly apparent there was not enough room for everyone and the Juntards.

  “Let’s go.” Deetur said to his people, “The sun will begin to set soon enough and we have overstayed our welcome.” Deetur approached Alex, “We make for the nearest village to refill our waters.”

  “Agreed.” Alex said as everyone returned to the juntards.

  CHAPTER 10

  JOURNEY

  ALEX AND HIS group stopped by a stream that flowed near one of the larger villages in the north end of Jebney, close to the city of rock. They refilled their waters and was curious about the lack of observable movement from the large village they approached. They remained on juntards ready to flee at the first sight of a Jebney ambush. The sun would be rising at any moment.

  “These torches should be lit, the guards are very lax.” Deetur said as he passed the outer limit to the village. Alex held one weapon at the ready set for medium shots, which provided seven rounds. The other in his waistband set to small, which provided over thirty. The headset was with Alesti and he wished he had it right now, but she was near the rear of the group and he didn’t want to make it more obvious than it already was that the headset had a special significance. He didn’t want to share that bit of knowledge with the rest of the group.

  Reaching out with his mind he only fel
t the standard cloud of those around him. The village was still dark, no torches were lit anywhere even in the village square, the barracks, or other areas commonly lit through the night.

  They approached one of the smaller buildings, which appeared to have crumbled to the ground. It was hard to make anything out in the darkness.

  “Something is very wrong here.” Alesti said as she pulled up to Alex quietly handing him the headset. The moment he put it on Symboli began to speak.

  “Ask Deetur if they know of any military weapons that could crush this building like this, a catapult perhaps?”

  Alex got off his juntard and walked onto the pile of rubble, made of thick timber, huge crumbled piles of mud walls, hand made furniture and other homely items were splayed about, mixed with the rubble. A moment or so later Deetur joined him on the ground.

  “Do you know of anything that could do this?”

  “Sure, whenever a city needs to expand sometimes, it is rarely done but it’s the most logical explanation.”

  Alex looked around, the faint light of a nearby nebula provided a hint of red light to all outside surfaces. We are too close to the edge of the city for it to be an expansion issue, he thought to himself. Holding up several pieces of the rubble into the light he looked for burn marks in the wood but there were none.

  “HELLO!” Alex yelled in the local native language.

  “Saaaoooo… We will lose the element of surprise!” Deetur said in a rush.

  “HELLO, anyone here?” Alex said still standing in the rubble. He was hoping someone in the village might come out.

  Deetur ran back to his juntard and climbed on.

  Alex walked deeper into the village, Alesti followed him with her juntard close behind.

  “There are a number of dead bodies about thirty feet ahead of you.”

  “How do you know that?” Alex asked Symboli.

  “My vision through the camera is better than yours.” Symboli responded.

  Alex approached the area Symboli mentioned and sure enough many dead bodies were scattered nearby.

  “Looks like they were hit from behind by something.” Alex whispered.