by Elin Wyn
“Hmm,” I hummed. “I think you have a good point. Then again, I don’t think we have anything anywhere big enough to scan him properly.”
She started laughing again. This time I joined her. It felt good to just relax and let loose a little, and that was exactly what I was currently doing. Even if I had wanted to do something to the Puppet Master, after seeing this and the sheer enormity of what he was…I wouldn’t even make a leaf move on him.
“So, what now?” she asked, her hand lightly caressing my arm.
“I have no idea,” I answered.
“Perhaps I can answer that question,” came a voice. Both of us were startled.
“Did you hear that?” Daphne asked.
I nodded. “Yes. Did it sound like it was in your head?”
She nodded.
“Good. Just wanted to make sure I wasn’t losing my sanity,” I said.
“Trust me, my young friends. You are most certainly not losing your sanity.” We looked at one another, then at the creature suspended in the middle of the cavern. “I believe that it is time we speak.”
Daphne
I clutched Takar’s arm, certain that if he weren’t holding me up, I would’ve toppled right over the edge of the ledge.
“Stop leaning forward,” Takar chuckled. He forced me to my feet and to take a step away from the ledge.
“I didn’t realize I was.” I couldn’t take my eyes off the creature…the Puppet Master. A frown pulled at the corner of my mouth. Such a sinister name for something that didn’t seem to be sinister at all.
“I am not sinister, as your species says,” the voice came again.
Such a strange, lovely voice that sounded like a thousand different voices blended into one. High and sweet, but somehow also deep and melodic.
My head started to ache as I attempted to pull apart the different sounds into something that made sense to me. I quickly gave up.
“I have so many questions,” I murmured.
“I have many answers,” the Puppet Master replied.
“How smart are you?” I blurted and immediately felt embarrassed. I would’ve liked to ask a more intelligent, sophisticated question. Then again, I didn’t wake up this morning thinking that I’d be talking to a giant plant.
“I have the wisdom of countless eons,” the Puppet Master replied.
“Are you technically a plant?” I asked.
“I am not a plant as you define it. But I am not an animal. Your kind has never encountered me. There is no word in your language to describe what I am.”
“What are you, if you’re not a plant?” I tilted my head to one side. I heard Takar laugh softly behind me. “What?” I looked back over my shoulder at him.
“I am,” The Puppet Master replied. “I was created from the cosmic dust of the universe’s growth. I have traveled through untold galaxies and multiple dimensions. I exist with understanding that would bring you to tears. I sleep as countless civilizations rise, peak, fall, and die. For me it is but the passage of a breath.”
“I always think you can’t get more curious and, somehow, I’m always surprised,” he replied. His smile was sweet and dreamy. I felt myself melt a little.
“I’m going to take that as a compliment,” I grinned.
“You should,” Takar confirmed. “Now, go back to asking your questions.”
“You can ask one, if you want,” I offered, realizing I was hogging the Puppet Master.
“I’m sure you’ll ask any question I might have,” Takar assured me. With a nod, I turned back to the Puppet Master. Though it didn’t have a face, per se, I could still see a patient expression in its form.
“Um,” I fumbled with my words. “How old are you?”
“I am older than your Skotan companion’s sun, my friend,” The Puppet Master answered as I momentarily gasped. “I can see in my memories the formation of the planet your ancestors knew as Earth. For me it was but a moment ago.”
“Right,” I nodded definitively. “What connection do you have to the planet?”
“I will try my best to help you understand.”
I nodded and waited for the Puppet Master to continue. I reached for Takar’s hand and gave it a squeeze, partially out of fear but mostly out of excitement.
“I am the force that grows this planet,” the Puppet Master explained. “I send my lifeforce out into your world. Every plant, flower, and shred of grass is connected to my lifeforce. The planet grows around me as hair or skin grows on your body.”
“That’s impossible,” I breathed. I needed to update my definition of impossible. I was less than an ant to this creature.
“Let me show you, it may aid your understanding.” The Puppet Master lifted a willowy thin vine so that it hovered in front of my face. My first reaction was to step back. Takar caught my shoulders as I nearly stepped on his foot.
The hovering vine paused. The Puppet Master waited for me to step forward. The vine tapped lightly between my eyes. I saw a large, dark sphere. Then, something beneath the surface lit up bright white. It was the shape of the Puppet Master and its vines. The light branched out until huge sections of the dark sphere were glowing white. I recognized those areas as the expansive forests and the swamplands of the planet.
“That’s all from you?” I asked.
“That’s correct,” the Puppet Master confirmed.
“What about the sentient plants? And all the creatures?” I asked.
“When I was young, I didn’t know how to fully contain my power. Those creatures were the result. I’m still quite fond of them,” the Puppet Master sounded like it was laughing. I found myself smiling.
“You were young once?” I asked.
“Of course, aren’t we all? My lifespan may be longer than yours, but we experience the same stages of life.”
“Does that mean you’ll grow old and die one day?” I asked.
“One day,” the Puppet Master confirmed. “Though I am still young compared to the others.”
I felt Takar perk up in interest.
“There are others?” He asked.
“Yes,” the Puppet Master said.
“How many? Where are they? Do you talk to them?” I asked my questions in rapid fire.
“I do not know our precise numbers. There were more, not far from here, but they have recently gone silent. It is concerning,” the Puppet Master replied.
“What do you mean, silent?” I pressed.
“Just that. Communication between myself and the others of my kind is not a frequent occurrence. We aren’t a social species. We communicate every few centuries as a way to judge our numbers. A few didn’t answer last time.”
“How long ago was that?”
“Several thousand years by how humans measure time,” the Puppet Master. I frowned.
“What do you think happened?” Takar asked.
“There was a disturbance in deep space. Subtle. I doubt your mechanisms and devices would’ve picked up on it. I’ve never felt the likes of it before.” I didn’t think my interest could be more piqued, yet it was. “There were rumors of an ancient enemy that had awoken. An enemy that was seeking to sway the lesser races. An enemy that thrived on chaos where my kind thrived on life.”
“You think there’s something else out there?” I asked.
“There are things in this universe that even I don’t know about. The universe and all of its secrets are more than you can fathom. There are forces so malevolent that you will pale in fear for the rest of your short, simple lives. There are similar forces for good and order that will protect you.”
“Believe me, I’m beginning to learn that,” I joked. I’d only recently learned that humans weren’t the only intelligent species. In fact, humans seemed near the bottom of the chain in terms of advancement.
I stole a glance at Takar. I wondered what he’d seen in his lifetime.
“If you know the exact location of the planets that went silent, maybe we could check on them for you,” I offered. T
he Puppet Master paused, as if it was taking a breath.
“Your kind offer is touching. But I do not know the location of my silent siblings in terms that your sensors and scanners would understand.” There was a melancholy note in the voice in my mind.
“Could it have been the Xathi?” I asked Takar. “They haven’t been to this corner of the universe before.” I turned back to the Puppet Master. “Could that be it?”
“The Xathi are not the problem,” the Puppet Master said serenely. “But they started the sequence of events that disrupted the delicate balance of this world. They are an abomination, but they are but a symptom. A sign of greater corruption in the universe that my kind has long sought to quell.”
“They have a bad habit of being evil,” Takar said dryly. “Would you know if any Xathi still live on this planet?”
“What?” I looked up at Takar with wide eyes.
“There’s always a chance of survivors,” Takar said gently. “There could be a pocket group hiding out, licking their wounds.” I gave an involuntary shudder.
“There are no Xathi here,” the Puppet Master assured me. “If there were, know that I would have wiped them out.”
“You’re on our side, aren’t you?” I asked.
“I am on the side that will ensure the survival of this planet, and thus the survival of myself, and the balance of the universe,” the Puppet Master replied honestly.
“You’re kind of like a heart,” I mused. Takar gave me a puzzled look.
“A human heart?” There was humor in the Puppet Master’s voice.
“Yes,” I beamed. “You bring life to every part of my home.”
“I suppose that’s true,” the Puppet Master said. “In your limited understanding of the universe, it is the most apt comparison.”
“You know what that means?” I said to Takar.
“That you were right and I was wrong?” he sighed.
“No. Well, yes. That’s not what I wanted to say. I wanted to say that if we want to get our planet back to where it needs to be, we need to work with it.” I jerked my chin in the direction of the suspended flower bulb.
Takar gave me a skeptical look.
“Oh, come on!” I implored. “You can’t possibly think that this creature wants to destroy us now.”
“I don’t,” Takar clarified. “I’m just not sure how much we can do.”
“I will provide guidance,” the Puppet Master offered. “We are simple creatures, though that may be hard for you to believe. Time has made us patient. The secrets of the universe have made us wary.”
“What species are you, anyway?” I asked.
“We have no formal name. We were here before the younger races, and never needed to name ourselves. When we roamed the stars at first, the universe was young. We were all alone.”
“I’m sure you could’ve gotten a name if you wanted to,” I replied. “But you kept yourself a secret from us this whole time.”
“The last time I was awake, your races were not here,” The Puppet Master explained. “This world was in perfect balance.”
“I suppose we ruined that, didn’t we?” I bit my bottom lip.
“The actions of your race were done to ensure survival. I cannot hold it against you.”
“We should stop here,” Takar said quickly.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“General Rouhr should be here. Giving him a report is not enough. He needs to see this,” Takar explained.
“Is that all right?” I asked the Puppet Master.
“We can’t just invite people into his home without asking,” I said to Takar.
“If it will help, any friend of yours is welcome here.”
“They’re all going to feel so foolish for thinking you were some kind of monster from a nightmare,” I laughed.
“I hope I will not have to become a nightmare to preserve this world,” the Puppet Master replied grimly. My smile dropped. “Worry not. I am reasonable.”
Another vine rose up so that it appeared to be standing beside me. I reached out and gently touched the vine, feeling the life humming beneath my fingers.
Takar
“So, how do we get the general down here? Actually,” I amended, “how do I get into contact with him, or anyone? My comm was lost in the fall, remember?”
“I have found what you speak of, my warrior friend,” the Puppet Master’s multilayered voice said in my mind. As it spoke, a vine slithered up from the bottom of the cavern. I watched as it rose higher and higher, stopping just in front of me, my comm unit balanced perfectly on a small bent portion.
I reached out and grabbed it. “Thank you,” I said. “But, what about my first question? How do they get down here to see you and…” I waved my hand to indicate everything, “all of this?”
“I will ensure a pathway is prepared for them,” he answered.
I nodded, apprehensively. Despite the conversation with him and his explanation of what he was, I was still worried. What if all of this was a trap of some sort, designed to bring us down here where we would be fighting it in its home, surrounded by thousands of vines and untold tons of dirt.
However, if he was telling us the truth, then the information and potential unity we could make with him would be beyond words. I shook my head and clicked on the comm unit. “Rokul?”
“Takar!” he shouted back at me. “What’s been going on? Where have you been?”
I had to cut him off or he would never give me a chance to answer. “Rokul! Calm down. Take a breath,” I ordered.
I was unsure if that worked, but when the comm came back on again, it was Sylor speaking to me. “Your brother has barely been able to keep himself together.”
“I gathered,” I responded. “How long has it been since our last communication?”
“At least ten hours,” was the answer. Ten hours since we last talked to them. Ten hours? Had it really only been ten hours? That seemed nearly impossible. I could have sworn that I had counted out at least four hours of walking, and that would have meant that our time sleeping and my time fighting my near unconsciousness wasn’t nearly as long as I had thought. “Have you discovered anything?”
His question brought me back to the present. “Yes,” I answered. “But it’s not something that I can describe. You need to get into contact with the general and have him come here. Anyone that he feels relevant should come as well.”
“Are you not concerned about safety? Yours or theirs?” he asked. Even though it sounded as an accusation against my concern for gathering all of the leaders together, it was more of a question to ensure that I felt everything was safe enough.
“Safety is a concern, but the reward is well worth the risk,” I answered.
That was apparently enough for him.
“Very well. It will take time, however. At the time of our departure, many members of the teams were dispersed to deal with the damage of the vines throughout the human settlements on this planet,” he explained.
That was right. I had almost forgotten about that. It didn’t matter. “I understand that, but make it happen, Sylor,” I called back. “Believe me when I say it’s imperative.”
“Affirmative,” Sylor called back. “We will come back into contact with you when we are back in range.”
“Thank you, Sylor,” I said. “Before you go, how’s my brother?”
“You want to know how I am?” my brother’s voice came on in the background. Suddenly, it was the dominant voice on the comm, as if he had turned his comm back on. “You disappear for ten hours, no word, no nothing. The last I heard was that woman croaking something about turning off the sonar scan, all while there was some weird noise in the background. Then nothing.”
“We fell,” I told him. “We fell and I lost my comm unit for a bit. But we found him, we found my comm, all is well and you need to get Rouhr and whoever else he deems necessary here.”
“Who’s ‘him’?” my brother shot back.
“The Pup
pet Master,” I answered. There was nothing on the comm after that for several moments. I chuckled to myself. I could just see my brother staring at the comm as if it had just come to life, all while Sylor was trying to get everyone to the transports to bring back the others.
“I’ll stay here, then,” Rokul said through the comm. “Until Sylor returns with the others.”
“Impossible,” I heard Sylor’s voice through Rokul’s comm. “We need all three transport units, and you’re our third pilot. Trevor is the only one of the humans capable of piloting these models.”
“Fine,” Rokul growled. “We’ll be back soon.”
“I know you will,” I responded. “Especially with the way you fly,” I added, trying to perk him up a bit.
There was silence again. I assumed they left, Sylor certainly already on the transport comm, contacting the general.
“Do you mind if we wait to talk more until the general is here?” I asked the Puppet Master. “We really do want to speak more with you, understand more… but he’s the right one. It shouldn’t be a long wait.”
A faint sense of amusement rolled through me. “Time moves differently for you and me. I do not mind waiting.”
The giant eye shut.
I looked down at Daphne, who had been standing next to me the entire time. “What now?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. You don’t have any ideas?”
I mimicked her shrug. “We could sit and talk,” I suggested.
“About what?” she asked as she sat back down on the ledge.
I joined her. “Everything we’ve discovered down here,” I said aloud. That dream I had, I thought quietly.
“Okay,” she smiled, something that I had started off thinking was annoying, but now thought that it was beyond beautiful. “Can you believe this?” she asked. “Everything that I argued for and against are right and wrong at the same time.”
I nodded. “It seems to be that way. He looks so much like a plant that you can’t help but consider him as one. Include in that the control he has of the vines and, if you can believe his claims, the fact that he brings life to the foliage above…it certainly seems as though he’s a very complex plant.”
