by Vishal Ved
‘These are leaves. It's not food,’ snapped the kiro.
'From what do you think our food is prepared?’ countered Ariet. ‘It's the same food, Cenoy, believe me, the same that we get in Hydus and Carcerem, except it's not in liquid form and will probably taste much worse.’
Desperate and starving, the sato put the smallest leaf into his mouth, then paused in surprise. He couldn't believe that it tasted so good. He looked at the kiro who had started on a small black fruit, and there was a deeply satisfied look on her face as well. ‘It’s not bad at all,’ she said, stuffing her mouth with many fruits at once.
'Yeah, it's the best,’ replied Ariet, eating black fruits with the leaves.
They ate until the last leaf was shared between them.
‘How was it?’ asked Ariet, smiling at the kiro.
'Whatever it was, it was the best meal of my life.’ Cenoy smiled back.
They got into their pods, feeling satisfyingly full and good-humored. But after a while, Cenoy became serious. ‘Hey Ariet, what do you feel about this place?’
Ariet wanted to talk about the same thing, but had been waiting for the right time. 'I think there's something wrong with this place. MOX isn't as self-sacrificing as it portrays itself. They've kept Fetoildaan hidden from everyone,’ said Ariet.
'Not only Fetoildaan, the kiros here as well. What are they doing here? While the only use of kiros on the rest of the planet is as birth machines,’ added Cenoy.
‘I don’t get any of it, but what do you think about Mesek?’ asked the sato.
‘I think he’s good and cares for prisoners, else why would he risk such a good life for us.’ replied the kiro.
‘Yes, that’s true,’ agreed Ariet. But what of the ‘14th part of Tomarkus’ which he had read on the tile? It was probably a part of some geographical research or something like that, he told himself. Perhaps he should stop overthinking.
That night, the duo talked about a lot of things including what they would be doing if they were still in Carcerem, but when Ariet started talking in detail about his research work on plants Cenoy quickly fell asleep.
The duo was in deep sleep when a ground-shaking explosion woke them with a start and scared the hell out of them. Cenoy nearly fell from her pod, and Ariet shrieked as though the blast had physically maimed him.
15.
The Death Trap
After the explosion the duo stayed awake; they were very scared for a while and they even sat together in the same pod, but when nothing happened for a long time they relaxed a bit. Refreshed from their nap, they spent the time talking quietly until Hak came into the chamber. He wore a black bodysuit with elaborate golden embroidery over it, highlighting his strong build. He looked worried and restless.
‘Cenoy, you’ll have to go,’ he said, abruptly.
Ariet and Cenoy stood up hastily from the sleeping pod, their faces pale.
‘What’s the matter?’ asked the kiro, her heart beating faster than ever.
‘Haeres was attacked,’ said Hak, a tinge of guilt in his voice.
‘Is he safe?’ asked the duo at once, their eyes wide open.
‘Yeah he is, but it was very close,’ replied Hak.
The duo heaved a sigh of relief, for if Mesek were dead they had no idea how they would return to Hydus.
‘We heard the explosion too, but it was a long time ago,’ said Ariet, thinking.
‘No, that wasn’t the attack. That was just a huge stalactite which fell from the ceiling. They keep falling every now and then, and have killed some of our best soldiers,’ replied Hak.
The duo stared at Hak in horror. The stalactites were everywhere in Marcamaayu except the corridors which were covered by a proper roof.
The heavy door of the chamber creaked as it was pushed open. Hak didn’t turn, as though he already knew who it was. Mesek entered, brushing off his black robe, which was covered in dust.
Mesek came over and stood beside Hak who kept his head down as though he had committed some crime. Mesek, though, had a big smile on his face.
‘Are you alright, haeres?’ asked Cenoy.
‘Absolutely, my dear,’ replied Mesek, enthusiastically, though Hak still looked all shattered.
‘What happened haeres? How bad was it ?’ asked the kiro.
‘Well, it was pretty dangerous, but I dodged them again,’ replied Mesek, with a chuckle.
‘Dodged whom?’ asked the sato, dumbfounded.
‘The attackers of MOX. Some of them got inside Marcamaayu. When I was about to enter my chamber I felt a strong vibration in my chest,’ Mesek opened his robe to reveal the golden armour he wore inside.
‘What’s that for?’ asked Ariet.
‘It gives a hint of strong force fields nearby. Then I took out my setek which showed its type as magnetic-K type; somebody had planted a field generator inside my room.’
‘That could’ve killed you,’ exclaimed the sato. The sato had used these force fields in laboratories for research purposes. Looking at Cenoy’s puzzled expression, he explained, ‘Metal objects explode when they come in contact with magnetic k type field.’
‘Yes, and since I wear a metal reinforced bodysuit I could’ve died with it,’ added Mesek, adjusting his robe again.
Cenoy’s stared at him in shock. ‘Why didn’t you catch them then?’
‘Don’t you think we have tried,’ snapped Mesek. ‘We have checked each and every soldier of Marcamaayu ourselves, but we haven’t found the spy. After analyzing their attacks I have come to believe there’s only one spy here who must have entered while the great wall was under construction.’
‘So, do you always have to be this careful, haeres?’ questioned Cenoy, feeling bad for him.
‘Not always, ‘cause Hak stays with me most of the times but yeah when he’s not around I try to stay careful. When your enemy is powerful than you, you never let your guard down.’
‘I’m really sorry, haeres,’ said Hak and tears rolled down his face.
‘You don’t need to be, Hak,’ said Mesek patting his shoulder with a smile, ‘You had a lot of work to finish and so it was not your fault. It’s okay, I’m fine.’
‘Although Hak is more than enough for protecting me, but now he’s to train our setek army rigorously,’ he explained turning to Ariet and Cenoy. ‘In case of an emergency only seteks can protect Marcamaayu,’ He sighed, then turned to Cenoy. ‘So, I want you, my dear, to have my back, and at the same time I’ll train you as well.’
Cenoy couldn’t hide her surprise. Mesek hardly fit the description of a soldier. He lacked the taut body of a fighter, and had put on weight around his belly. How could he train her for a war, she wondered. But then, she laid her doubts to rest. Mesek may not be physically fit, but his strategic brain was outstanding and using that he’d formed an entire army to fight against MOX. Mesek couldn’t sprint but there were only a few individuals on Tomarkus who could use a setek better than him; the setek was the weapon he grew up playing with.
‘I’m coming to join you too, haeres,’ said Ariet, in a bold voice. He didn’t want to leave the kiro at any cost, for she was his only friend on the planet. Even before his time in Carcerem, he had never had anyone to talk to; nobody ever had time to interact except at a superficial level in Hydus. His longest talks in his entire life had been over the last few days with Cenoy.
‘I’m afraid you can’t, Ariet,’ said Mesek, ‘You’ll have to stay with the other soldiers, and Hak will instruct you further.’
Hak nodded at Mesek’s instruction, though his head was still down, heavy from the weight of the guilt he was bearing.
Ariet swallowed, his throat as dry as a desert. ‘Okay haeres, as you say.’
Mesek turned and walked out of the room, Cenoy trudging behind him with her head lowered, for she had understood that the sato wanted to come along only for her, and not because he nurtured any fighting fantasy.
Hak came to the sato and put a hand on his shoulder. ‘Ariet, let’s go, I want
to show you something.’
Ariet nodded despondently. Hak and Ariet left the room together. It was completely dark outside just like the previous day, but the pool was calmer this time
‘Why is it so dark around here?’ asked the sato, breaking the uncomfortable silence between them.
‘It’s a disadvantage for enemy attackers who aren’t used to this much darkness, but for the soldiers of Marcamaayu it’s the basic thing to learn, the ability to live in the dark, and it provides Mesek extra safety ‘because nobody can track him easily in darkness.’
Ariet was amazed, for he’d never thought somebody could use darkness as an ally too. After coming out from the chamber Hak turned right and the sato followed him. As they were striding down the gloomy corridor Ariet heard dripping noises of water in the pool from various places and the noise only grew louder as they walked on. This water was dripping from the ceiling and the sato understood how such a large pool had come into existence under the ground.
All of a sudden, the sato noticed light coming from the side of corridor as though there was a lamp glowing in some chamber, but when they moved a little closer Ariet realized the chambers were ending. As the last chamber came into view, a timber plank started revealing itself. It was floating on the water—there was water on both sides of the corridor now—but Ariet gasped in awe when he saw the entire plank.
Thousands of soldiers were getting trained over this massive plank under the light of a mammoth blue lamp which was glowing above like a moon in the shape of a cube.
16.
Xena And the Crusher
Ariet stared at the lamp not because it was so huge but because it was literally floating in the air, placed on the same kind of yellow disc like the one he had seen in the core of Senempis.
‘Hey Ariet, what are you thinking?’ Hak asked, looking at the sato whose eyes were fixed on the lamp.
‘How is this thing flying?’ asked Ariet, turning towards Hak.
‘Do you have knowledge about gravity field?’
‘Yeah, I do—that our planet attracts everything towards it.’ replied the sato.
‘Well, this is just the opposite of that, the disc below is made up of anti-gravity material so it repels the ground but as we’re under the ground it’s hanging in between.’
‘Whoa, its fabulous,’ said Ariet. Hak gave a small smile, it seemed as his mood had lightened a little too.
‘Let’s jump onto the plank, I want to introduce you to our odium-master,’ said Hak, pointing to a yellow-suited fugit who was surrounded by a large number of black-suited soldiers.
‘What is he doing?’ asked the sato.
‘He’s teaching. Probably one of the last lessons, you have a lot to catch up on.’ Hak sighed, then, without warning, he jumped from the corridor like somebody had launched him from a canon, rose close to the ceiling, and then landed on the platform with both his feet without making any sound. Ariet was stunned, his eyes still tracing the trajectory of Hak’s jump. In a single jump Hak had covered a distance of almost forty paces.
The soldiers dispersed as soon as Hak landed on the plank, and the odium-master strolled towards him. When the sato saw odium-master approaching Hak, with a running start he managed to leap onto the platform which was just five-to-six feet away from the corridor. The odium-master looked towards him and the sato almost considered turning back, embarrassed and worried he would consider him a waste of time. He mustered his courage and approached the odium-master
‘Great hearing can catch what vision leaves unattended, so never make noise...’ began the odium-master.
‘And quick moves cannot be stopped, so be lightning fast,’ Hak completed the phrase, and they both tittered.
‘Meet your odium-master, Ariet,’ said Hak, looking at the sato who was still breathing heavily.
‘Accept my greetings master. I... I’m Ariet,’ the sato stammered.
‘What you believe is more important than your random thoughts, sato,’ said the master, as though he’d read what was inside Ariet’s head.
The sato was shocked for a moment, because the odium-master had said to him exactly what he needed to hear at that moment; though Ariet believed in his learning capabilities, he had got intimidated by Hak’s perfect jump and allowed discouraging thoughts to possess his mind. At the master’s words, his doubts transformed into excitement.
‘Has your bone reinforcement been completed?’ asked master.
‘No,’ replied Hak. ‘He hasn’t taken it yet.’
‘Then, first please take him into the tunnel and start the procedure,’ said odium-master.
Ariet paled. Living in those little packed vessels would be like dying before death, he wasn’t keen on undergoing the treatment, no matter what advantages it bestowed on him.
‘I’m taking him tomorrow master,’ said Hak, looking at Ariet who was trying very hard not to panic or cry.
Somehow the sato managed to stay calm in front of the master, and then he returned to his chamber at Hak’s command. Cenoy was not there, and that made everything worse. The sato missed her so much.
‘Ariet!’
The sato heard his name and hastily woke up from the sleeping pod. Worried and depressed, he had been unable to sleep for a long time the previous night, and had no idea when he had dozed off. Hak was at the door, with a black cloth in his hand.
Had Hak come to take him to the tunnel? Ariet wished he hadn’t wasted the only time he had in worrying and then sleeping. ‘What is this?’ he asked, his voice shaking slightly.
‘It’s your bodysuit, I just came to give it to you before you go for the reinforcement tomorrow.’ Hak handed over the suit and walked off without another word; he had felt the terror in the sato’s eyes and his voice.
The sato shook out the suit, which was very nice and clean compared to his gaban which had started stinking a long time ago. Though he had no plans to go for reinforcement, he quickly replaced his gaban with the new shiny-black bodysuit. He fell back into the pod thinking about the previous day when the kiro had been with him and they had talked about almost everything; he had never felt that cheerful in his entire life. Why did this all happiness come in such short bursts? And now he’d no idea how long he would be left to rot in those vessels.
On her part, Cenoy had been thinking about Ariet too.
‘Cenoy,’ a sweet voice called her when she was staring at the distant setek soldiers sprinting over the floating drums. Holding her emotions in the depths of her heart, Cenoy turned. Xena, the mid-aged kiro, was standing at the entrance and she was wearing the same reddish bodysuit and silver cloak she had been wearing when Cenoy first saw her with Mesek above the ground. She looked stunning in her reddish dress, thought Cenoy.
‘This is your new suit, dear. You don’t need to wear your awful prison gaban anymore,’ Xena said.
Cenoy’s cheekbones rose as she blushed at the polite kindness in Xena’s voice ; Xena unfolded the suit she was carrying, a gorgeous magenta bodysuit with silver stripes near the shoulders and a silver net on its front which was only visible when Cenoy looked close.
‘This is so so pretty,’ said Cenoy, her eyes sparkling in awe. She had never worn a full bodysuit before. A tingling sensation climbed up her arm when she touched the suit, and she cast a baffled look at Xena.
‘It’s a special dress designed for you, no odium can easily pierce this and touch your body, and also it’ll save you from delusional attacks of setek,’ said Xena.
Cenoy still looked confused. She had seen a lot of weapons, but still had no idea what an odium was. ‘What is an odium? I’ve never heard of it,’ she asked.
‘It’s the only weapon we have in our army in abundance. Haeres Mesek invented this to fight against MOX because the setek, though no doubt the most powerful, is a rare weapon. We’ve very few seteks, and those are only to protect Marcamaayu.’
‘What does it look like, this odium?’
‘When bones of dead animals are continuously boiled in a poisonous
solution, they turn blue from their natural yellow. When the bones are full of poison, they are chiselled to a sharp point. Prick an enemy with such a bone and he will die on the spot, frothing at the mouth,’ replied Xena, her eyes filled with rage and fingers clenched. She looked at Cenoy and her gaze softened. ‘Dear, your training will start only after you pass the bone density test. So, please come with me.’
Cenoy left her new suit on the flower table and followed Xena through chambers filled with lots of weird stuff she couldn’t identify. But she stopped, stunned, when she entered a chamber where she saw Mesek standing on his toes, eyes closed and his hands stretched towards the ceiling. He took a jump using his toes, lifted up to the height of the ceiling and then landed again on his toes like a feather. The calmness from Mesek’s body was radiating energetic vibes.
Cenoy followed Xena to the next room wondering how a heavy fugit like Mesek could do that. Xena stopped next to a waist-high flat slab with a gigantic crusher above it.
‘Lie down, dear,’ said Xena waving her hand over the flat slab.
Cenoy lay down on the slab as instructed, front facing down. She had no idea what was going to happen next but she clenched her teeth against the remembered pain from her distant past. They had pierced metal rods in her chest while she was awake, and the little kiro wailed in pain for nearly half a day, but nobody had shown her any mercy, and then she had fallen unconscious for years.
‘If you can’t sustain the pressure, just let me know. I will send you for bone reinforcement again,’ said Xena, starting the crusher which started descending upon Cenoy. No, never again, she thought, I have to pass the test at any cost.
The huge mineral block had almost reached to her body. Her heart raced with the increasing vibrations of the slab. She couldn’t look, but the whole chamber was trembling with the crusher. Her face was flat against the slab. A cold surface touched her back gently, but its pressure increased by the second. First her tum was squeezed and then her head was locked; she couldn’t move her head even an inch. Her ribs started hurting as they got pressed against the slab. She heard one of her ribs cracking; A severe pain wracked her body, and the next moment she tasted blood in her mouth. She felt as though her knees were crushed, she wanted it to stop, but unluckily not even a cry could escape her mouth and she fell unconscious.
