Essence: Book 1 - Septima

by Nick Braker

  “Oh?”

  Ghetti paused, getting his breath back. He struggled to speak in wispy gasps. Ghetti’s pale complexion, as youthful as he looked, gave Troy the impression Ghetti wasn’t bluffing. Troy wanted to change the subject.

  “Sir, why do Pirans not age externally?” Troy asked.

  “Genetic manipulation. Centuries ago, our people experimented with it. They achieved some success, as you can see, before we realized the danger it would pose to our culture, but I do not have the time to discuss this further,” he replied.

  “Sorry,”

  “No need. Curiosity is a good trait for the young.”

  He’s in his thirties for Pete’s sake. Well, he looks like it anyway.

  “Okay, why did you call me here then?” Troy asked.

  “I want you to project back to Earth,” Ghetti said.

  Troy couldn’t keep his face neutral any longer, his jaw dropped open.

  “I want you to return and show your leaders this video,” Ghetti said, hitting a button on his desk.

  A holographic projection came to life over Ghetti’s desk. It showed a Reptauran invasion force surrounding Ghetti’s planet and the eventual attack it brought with it. Ghetti had packed a lot of information into the ten-minute video, showing the Reptauran attack procedures, weapon systems, and their weaknesses, which included ship and species vulnerabilities.

  “Pira didn’t have time to prepare,” Ghetti said. “We didn’t have time to react, but your species is very adaptable and resilient.”

  “You mean aggressive and ruthless,” Troy corrected him.

  “I believe this information and your species proclivity for war will give you the edge you need to beat them,” he said. “I have provided technological advancements that, given enough time, your Earth scientists could begin to understand. From there you could manufacture the weapons and defense systems needed to destroy the Reptaurans.”

  “Alta said we didn’t have a chance,” Troy told him.

  “Alta is not what she appears to be,” Ghetti said.

  Troy shivered and he pressed his hand to his temple, hoping to suppress the pain welling up inside. His headache had returned.

  What the hell? I have to get out of here. Ghetti must be crazy.

  Alta might have her rough edges but Troy trusted her.

  “Troy, are you okay?” Ghetti asked.

  “The Piran winters are hard on humans,” Troy said, looking up at Ghetti.

  “If you say so,” Ghetti said, pausing. “I’ve watched her for many years, Troy. She has helped us in so many ways, but there is something not right, something different about her, but I do not know what that is.”

  Ghetti paused again, trying to catch his breath. Ghetti continued.

  “Alta, her body guard, Cienna, and Septima have all been working to make Pira a better place. She has kept us alive, giving us a fighting chance for years now. It would seem crazy of me to think ill of her in any way but my experience tells me otherwise. Alta is not what she claims. Something else is there that concerns me enough that I almost didn’t speak it aloud. Almost.”

  “For fear I might take it straight back to her?” Troy asked.

  “If you do and I’m right, I could be dead much sooner then, couldn’t I?” he said, smiling.

  “Assuming you are right,” Troy said.

  Ghetti was an old man, possibly losing his mind, but what if he were right? Troy’s headache returned with a vengeance. He lost his balance, bracing himself on Ghetti’s desk. The pain was always there but it suddenly flared which meant it was time for another pill.

  “Troy?” Ghetti asked.

  “Can I take... you up on the offer... for something to drink?” Troy asked, struggling to form the question.

  “Certainly,” Ghetti said, pressing another button on his desk. “Sarette, my love, would you bring some water for Tohmas?”

  Troy took the only other seat in the room. He grabbed a pill from his pocket and chewed it, trying to swallow. The tablet burned his tongue and throat with a bitterness he’d never tasted before, leaving a salty taste behind.

  “Are you alright?” Ghetti asked.

  Troy didn’t respond. He couldn’t speak. Sarette handed him a glass of water. How did she get in so quickly? Did Troy lose track of time? He took the glass, washing the pill down, clearing the foul taste from his mouth. His migraine and confusion continued as he waited on the pill to ease the pain. Ghetti watched him, saying nothing.

  “That’s better,” Troy said, several moments later.

  “Are you ill, Tohmas?” Sarette asked.

  “Somewhat, my hu--”

  “My love, would you excuse us again?” Ghetti asked, intentionally interrupting Troy.

  Sarette nodded again at him but it was clear she realized something had happened that her husband didn’t want her to know. She closed the doors again.

  “Troy,” Ghetti continued. “I have kept my information about your humanity to myself. Alta is right about your presence being an encouragement to our people.”

  Troy nodded. In hindsight, he wondered if Ghetti was pretending to be up front with him only to get him to confirm he was human. Troy had thought he was dealing with a senile, old man.

  You are such a pathetic human.

  “Will you do it?” Ghetti asked.

  “My people are very different from Pirans. I will have trouble convincing them with this video. I have to reach the right person before I have a shot at getting someone to believe it. I can’t release it over the Internet, our mass communication system, because that would put the technology advancements you outline in the hands of all governments, some of which would use it to their advantage, effectively doing the dirty work for the Reptaurans before they arrive.”

  “And the alternative, if you fail?” Ghetti asked.

  “Total destruction of Earth. I see your point. I have to make this work. I’ll do it under one condition.”

  Troy focused on Ghetti’s face. He wanted to gage his reaction. Troy’s eyes watered, burning with the surging pain between his eyes.

  “What condition?”

  “That I get your support for leadership over the council and the military.”

  Ghetti’s face remained neutral. He gave no reaction at all. Troy knew for sure now that Ghetti was still mentally intact and as sharp as ever.

  “You plan to return to Pira?” he asked.

  “Yes.”

  “Done.”

  “You agreed too quickly,” Troy said.

  “Did I? Or was I prepared for your question?” Ghetti asked. “I have to face the possibility you might consider taking leadership by force if you had to, so it would be inevitable. To be honest, I’m sure you are the not the type to use such means, though you are a hard person to read, Troy.”

  “I feel the same way about myself sometimes,” Troy answered.

  “Troy, I will speak with the other council members. You will be granted control over civilian and military areas within the week as per our laws. It is not unprecedented, but know this, it can also be undone.”

  Troy nodded at Ghetti as Sarette entered again.

  “It is time for you to rest, my husband,” she said.

  Ghetti handed him the small recording device.

  “Good luck, Tohmas. I wish you the best,” Ghetti told him. “Please, find your way out.”

  Troy nodded, his headache easing as he left.

  ____

  Troy left Ghetti’s home contemplating their conversation. It had started snowing and the flakes were large and heavy. The cold didn’t bother him but visibility was difficult. The wind blew, shifting directions several times. The snow blinded him and he lost his footing several times from not being able to see the track ahead. The Piran people continued on with their daily work as if the snow were a minor annoyance. Such weather on Earth would bring a city to a standstill, but not here. He heard the crunch of snow from well behind him.

  Cienna.

  His senses were
sharper but how did he know it was her? She was following him, far behind and to his right. Cienna must have waited outside the entire time for him to leave, using the snow for cover. How did he know she was there? Troy didn’t understand the why but he was certain of it. She was there, out of sight in the snow. He was tempted to speed up and double back around, coming in behind her. If his head didn’t hurt so much, he might have done it. Alta must have ordered her to follow him. He ignored Cienna, letting her keep an eye on him while he focused on Ghetti’s request.

  Ghetti wanted him to convince Earth that an alien invasion force was coming, with the hope that Earth had enough time to prepare. Even if the Reptaurans showed up inside a week, it was better than not trying at all. Any advance notice would help. What if Earth could destroy them? Pira could be saved as well. Saving both was his goal as long as he lived to see it happen. If he could find a way to get this video into the hands of the right people, people who would actually see the threat for what it was and not take advantage of it, then they had a chance.

  Troy knew that the Reptauran’s normal procedure was to invade and completely destroy the inhabitants, taking every natural resource they possessed and transporting it to their fleet in space. The Reptaurans would only leave a small military force behind until there was nothing else left to use. What did they do to the planet once they were finished with it? Troy shivered with the thought they might destroy the planet itself, taking the last of the Piran race to their graves.

  “Hello, Troy,” a voice said from his right.

  “You must have--” he said, turning to the person speaking.

  It was Joliza.

  “The wrong person?” she said, finishing his sentence.

  He dreaded this moment. After Chance’s obvious reference to him as Troy, Joliza had caught on to it and she was here to call him out. Why else would she use his human name and do it in such a widely populated area?

  “Chance was still disoriented from the cloning process,” Troy said.

  She stepped closer to him. Many Pirans moved past them both as they stood there talking. Several small huts and tents surrounded them on two sides, creating a trail between the two areas in the snow. One direction led to the complex and the other deeper into Gen-Pop. The wind made it difficult to hear normal conversations but it didn’t bother them now that she stood so close to him. She was more than willing to invade his personal space. Unlike the other women he’d met on Pira, Joliza made a point of using makeup and keeping herself well-groomed at all times.

  Vanity?

  Her hair was straight and black as coal, ending below her shoulders. Her blue eyes had an intelligence behind them and they sparkled like sapphires, making her an exceptional beauty. Joliza’s flawless face reminded him of something, a flash of memory, showing him all of her perfect skin. They were in a closet inside the complex, in semi-darkness, trying to avoid being seen. She had pulled her jumpsuit off and was working on getting him out of his. Her perfectly shaped body was already in both of his hands. He held her off the ground as she finished getting his suit unzipped and low enough to free him. She used her feet to finish the task, allowing Tohmas to marvel at the dexterity it required. She circled her legs around him as he lowered her body onto himself.

  Troy shook his head.

  “Tohmas?” Joliza asked. “What is wrong?”

  The memory faded again, leaving him struggling with what had occurred. He was unable to recall the thought.

  “Nothing, I suffer from headaches. That’s all it is,” he said. “If you think I’m this person named Troy, why did you call me Tohmas?”

  “Because when I look at you, I see both. Troy the human and Tohmas the Piran,” she said, emphasizing the word.

  Was she testing him? Trying to get him to admit it?

  “I’m not--”

  “I took a blood sample when Septima wasn’t watching...” she said, letting her point trail off.

  “Oh,” Troy said. “What are you going to do with that knowledge?”

  “Keep it to myself as I have always done for you.”

  “For me or for Tohmas?” he asked.

  “Like I said, I see both of you in there at different times.”

  “Yeah, I guess I do look a lot like him. People say I act like him too in some ways.”

  “Some?” she smirked. “How about most?”

  “I guess I’m getting better at mimicking him.”

  She nodded, looking around to make sure no one could hear her.

  “Do you remember anything else, perhaps about our work together?” she asked.

  Joliza appeared very calm, almost matter of fact, as they spoke. This was no timid school girl. She could handle herself and somehow he recalled knowing she was very dexterous.

  “No, what did we work on?” Troy asked.

  Her smile faded a little.

  “Oh, well, we worked on the projection system. Alta made a breakthrough discovery and, between the three of us, we were able to construct it. You, uh, Tohmas didn’t want anyone else knowing about the work so you did all the heavy lifting as Alta and I put the science behind it together.”

  Troy pinched the bridge of his nose, looking down.

  “I do not remember any of that,” he said. “Look, I need to go. Perhaps my memories will return, perhaps they won’t but I do feel like there is something significant between us, like the work we did on the projector.”

  A smirk came again to her face.

  “There certainly is...” she said, trailing off.

  Joliza seemed to do that a lot. She was trying to tell him something but was unwilling to simply say it.

  “It was good to talk with you, Joliza,” he said. “I trust you will keep this between us?”

  She nodded.

  “Perhaps we can talk again,” she said, “over drinks?”

  Troy hesitated, but then nodded. He turned to leave, being careful with his footing in the deep snow. He reached the entrance to the complex and looked back as she turned away. Had she been watching him the entire time?

  What the hell is going on? My head hurts every day and I have huge gaping holes in my memory.

  Troy was certain he was forgetting things important to seeing the bigger picture. Why though, and what were they? The memories eluded him and his mind rebelled against his effort to remember. Troy started to sigh and the thought of Cienna jumping out from the shadows and smacking him played out in his mind. A smirk formed on his lips and then vanished.

  What was I thinking about?

  Troy rubbed the sides of his head as he returned to Septima’s apartment.

  Chapter 14

  EARTH

  Pira - Late in the evening.

  Septima’s apartment was cold as usual but it no longer bothered Troy. It felt natural and comfortable. He threw off his gloves and walked into the kitchen. He poured himself a glass of water and tore a handful of bread off the loaf.

  Troy returned to the living room, pacing back and forth as he nibbled on the bread. His conversation with Ghetti had been revealing. How much did the man know before he arrived and how much did he learn while Troy was there? Ghetti was smart but his failing health wouldn’t give Troy an ally much longer. Ghetti didn’t have long to live and things needed to move quickly or he would lose the chance to take leadership. He had to project to Earth and get the information on the drive into the right hands. Ghetti must have known the recharge time on the machine that could project people to nearby planets because it was already a day past Alta’s time limit.

  Nearby planets? Light years is not nearby.

  Troy rubbed his eyes as he chuckled over the thought. Alta had told him weeks ago that the machine had a recharge rate of slightly over three weeks, mainly because of low power issues within the facility due to the limited resources caused by the war with the Reptaurans. The machine needed energy but the Piran people needed it more and Alta would not jeopardize their lives unnecessarily. The people needed the energy to provide basic needs to surviv
e but the machine needed the energy to provide the essences used to help fight a war that would ultimately get them all off the planet. They couldn’t beat their invaders so their only option was to find another home. The projection device would never be able to save them directly, it required too much energy to project a few, or so he had been told.

  What’s this?

  A large data pad protruded from a box nestled in the back of her closet. While walking around her apartment, lost in thought, he had stumbled upon it. He pulled it out and turned it on. It seemed intuitive enough, like his comm-device. Septima had given him some training on it but this device was different, older. The screen powered up, giving him several choices, so he launched one of the options, a note taking program. He dabbled with it for a few minutes, figuring out its nuances when an idea occurred to him. He would write Septima a note...

  Sep,

  Things are happening very quickly. I can’t say I’m overwhelmed and, in fact, I love it. My life has purpose here on Pira, something I’ve never truly felt back home. Yeah, my headaches are killing me but I’m sure they will go away eventually. I want this to work out between us but I’m afraid, well, not real ‘fear’, maybe ‘worry’ would be a better word. I worry that I will make a mistake and get someone killed, perhaps get us all killed. I don’t want to hurt anyone. You are a great people. I have discovered your race is very remarkable. I admire all of you. If all of Pira is even close to what I see in you, I can honestly say you are a people indeed worth dying for. I know I would give my life for you.

  You know, as do I, that something incredible is happening between us, something truly amazing and wonderful. I cannot describe the joy it brings me and the possible heartache I know I will go through as the leader of your people. Your people need a great leader. I do not know if I can be that person but am going to give it my all. Hell, I do not know for sure if I will be chosen by your council even with Ghetti’s assurances but if I am, I need you to be aware that I will make some hard decisions, decisions you may not agree with and in some cases not understand. That is where the heartache will come from.

  I tell you this so you will be ready. Prepare yourself Sep. I have to make those decisions and they will be the hardest thing I’ve ever done. I want you to know, it is you and you alone.