by Aaron Hubble
The first thing Calier noticed was his mouth was as dry as the Charan Desert. The second thing he noticed was he was looking up into an amber sky. A cool breeze moved across his skin and a bird flitted through his field of vision.
How did I get outside?
A foggy memory surfaced, one of walking down a rocky tunnel and then into an amber-colored wonderland underneath a lake. Was it all a dream? He must still be in Sho’el. That was the only way he could have seen a bird and felt the breeze. He attempted to move his arms and push himself into a sitting position. One of his arms was secured across his chest in a manner that didn’t allow him to move it. Pain flared in his shoulder, but not so much that it would make him cry out.
Underneath him he felt soft sheets, and his head was resting on a pillow. So he wasn’t in the forest after all. Where was he, then?
He turned his head and Ibris’ face came into view, hovering over him.
“Welcome back, Professor. I was afraid you might nap away the invasion,” said the balding man, a grin stretching from ear to ear.
Calier struggled to roll onto the arm that was not secured. Ibris placed a hand against his back and helped him sit up, propping him with several pillows. He was able to take in his surroundings. It looked like a typical hospital room, mostly white, with the requisite monitoring equipment emitting small beeps and whirs. He looked up again and saw the amber sky once more. There was no ceiling on this room. Silently he pointed up and looked at Ibris.
“Yeah, how about that?” Ibris said. “It took me a while to get used to it as well. Very few of the buildings here actually have a solid roof. They try to take advantage of the fact there isn’t inclement whether when you’re under a dome,” Ibris said gesturing to the sky.
Calier rubbed his forehead. It was all so much to take in. He opened his mouth to speak, but all that came out was a dry rasp grating against his throat. He massaged his neck as Ibris moved quickly to a little table and returned with a glass of water.
“Sorry, Professor,” he said as Calier took several long, soothing sips. “I was just so excited to see you awake I forgot you might need something to drink.”
With a trembling hand, Calier handed the glass back to Ibris. His throat felt better, but it was still sore and felt like someone had pulled a garden rake over the inside. He nodded to Ibris and laid his head back on his pillow.
“Where am I?” Calier asked in a hoarse voice. “The last thing I remember was coming into Alam.”
“Aye, we made it in and then you collapsed from loss of blood and fever due to the gunshot wound you have in your shoulder.” Ibris sat down in a chair next to the bed and leaned forward, arms resting on the side of the bed. “We almost lost you, Professor.”
“Lost me? Where did I go?”
“Your heart stopped after you collapsed. They rushed you here, and the doctors were able to get you stabilized and then do surgery in your shoulder. They say you’ll be good as new in a couple of weeks.”
“I almost died?”
Ibris nodded. “It was close, but you’ve looked better everyday since.”
“How long have I been out?”
Leaning back, Ibris stared into the sky and considered the question. “Let’s see, I guess it would be three days since you collapsed.”
Calier’s mind tried to swim in the ocean of news. He closed his eyes and listened to the sound of the breeze and the faint buzz of the city lying just outside the hospital walls.
“How’s everyone else?” Calier asked.
“On the mend. Mostly cuts and minor injuries. We were all suffering from malnutrition and dehydration, but that’s being taken care of by the fine fare of Alam. Maltoki was probably in the worst shape next to you. His leg required surgery to repair the torn muscle in his thigh, but he’s doing better as well. He’s barely left your side since you both came out of surgery. Do you want me to track him down for you?”
Calier nodded. “That would be nice. Thank you, Ibris.”
“No problem. I’ll also let the doctors know you’re awake. They’ll want to make sure everything is progressing nicely,” Ibris said. He opened the door, then hesitated. “It’s good to have you back, Professor.”
“Good to be back, Ibris,” Calier said.
Calier was left to the silence of the room.
The silence didn’t last long. Ten minutes later the door to his room burst open, swinging wide and ricocheting off the wall. Maltoki hobbled in on a pair of silver crutches, his knee immobilized in a brace. A woman trailed him into the room.
“You shouldn’t be in here,” she chided him. “You’re not supposed to be on crutches yet. I said I would bring you down in a wheelchair.”
“If you had been a little quicker with the chair, I wouldn’t have needed to pull out the crutches.” Maltoki reached Calier’s bedside and looked down at him. “Not a cool stunt, Professor. Not cool at all.”
Calier tried to shrug his shoulders, but the sling prevented him from executing a full shrug. “I guess I just needed a nap. In my defense, I had just finished a very long walk.”
Maltoki smiled at him and then gathered Calier into a bear hug. “Man, it’s good to see you awake and talking. We were all worried about you.”
“I’d like to say I’ve been in worse shape than this, but I’m pretty sure I haven’t, so this is all new territory for me. But I think I’m going to be okay now,” Calier said.
Maltoki released him and Calier looked past him at the nurse. “It’s okay. He can stay.”
The nurse fixed Maltoki with a severe look. “Sit in that chair and do not put weight on your leg. When you’re done visiting call me and I will be down with the chair to take you back to your room.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Maltoki said, taking a seat in the chair Ibris had sat in not long ago. The nurse exited the room. “Nice woman, but she’s constantly nagging me, always poking and prodding my leg.” Maltoki looked around the room and then pointed toward the absent ceiling. “This place is so much better than a cave.”
Calier laughed. “Yeah, whose dumb idea was it to hide in a cave?”
The two men shared a laugh. Calier looked at Maltoki and silently thanked his Creator the young man was sitting alive and well next to his bed. Somehow they’d made it through the nightmarish forest, being attacked by the invaders, and finally ending up in this place.
“Did they find Berit?” Calier asked.
Maltoki looked at his hands and shook his head. “No. They didn’t find any survivors from our group. Mina and Sulhan had been taken aboard the ship and died in the crash. The sentinels recovered their bodies and those of Kan, Bormar, Kohena, Amer and Onan but they didn’t find Berit.” He paused, letting the words sink in. “I guess the fact they didn’t find her body is reason to hope.”
Calier squeezed his eyes shut and felt a burning disappointment in his stomach. More than anything he wanted Berit to be okay and in the city with them. Maltoki was right, though: no body meant there was still hope she was alive. Perhaps she’d been carried away to one of the cities.
“Here.” Maltoki reached under Calier’s bed and pulled out a small purple pack decorated with large, brightly colored flowers. “Nena, the sentinel who led the recovery team found this near the place where we were attacked the second time.” He placed the pack on Calier’s lap.
“Berit’s backpack,” Calier said.
“I thought you would like to have it. You can keep it safe for her until she comes back.”
Calier nodded and wiped away a tear. “Thank you, Maltoki. I’ll do that for her.”
“She’s coming back, Calier. I know she will. When my leg is healed I’m joining the sentinels and I’ll find her,” Maltoki said with confidence in his voice. “Those murderers can’t have our Berit.”
“Agreed. She’s ours, after all,” Calier said.
****
That day a steady stream of visitors came through Calier’s door. Emura bounded in with Oyeb trailing behind. She showed Calier all s
he had written and drawn in the notebook Calier had given her. Rohab fussed over his shoulder, grilling him on how the staff treated him. She didn’t stay long. Her boys made so much noise the nurses threatened to ban them from the hospital. Even Denar stopped by briefly. He’d shaved and cleaned up. It helped him lose some of his menacing presence, but Calier still saw the pain in his eyes. It was good to see them and know they were doing well. When they were discharged from the hospital, the Ma’Ha’Nae had assigned the group to apartments within the city and had provided for their needs generously. He fell asleep that evening with a lighter heart. His friends were safe.
The next morning, Calier was allowed out of bed and he was able to make several circuits around the main hallway. It felt good to stretch his legs and while his shoulder still hurt, he could tell it was getting better. The doctor, a woman named Mirala, was confident he would be able to leave the hospital by the end of the week. She wanted to be sure the infection was completely cleared up before he left.
He had finished his midday meal and was sitting in his bed reading a book when there was a knock on his door. The sentinel captain, Ammaya, poked her head into his room.
“May I come in?” she asked.
“Of course,” Calier said, putting his book down.
She walked into the room wearing a flowing skirt that reached almost to the floor and a colorful short-sleeved top in a style Calier hadn’t seen before, but which was very flattering on the woman.
“I almost didn’t recognize you without your paint,” Calier said, circling his face with his hand.
Ammaya smiled. “I know. I feel naked without it, but my mother gets upset if I don’t at least try to look like a lady every so often.” She appraised Calier. “You look much better than the last time I saw you.”
“I feel much better. Thank you for all you did for us in the forest and how your people have welcomed us into their home. I assume you don’t get many visitors.”
“No.” She shook her head. “We don’t. However, we are now patrolling the edge of the forest looking for refugees. We’re finding a few every week.” She looked at him again and smiled. “If you’re feeling up to it, I brought a visitor with me who would like to talk to you.”
Calier’s brows rose. “Sure. I feel good today.”
She nodded and slipped out of the room, returning a second later with a man about Calier’s age, of average build and somewhat thick around the middle. He wore glasses and had an educated look about him.
“Calier, I would like you to meet Nayla.”
The man nodded and shook Calier’s hand.
“I’m pleased to meet you, Calier,” Nayla said.
“The same,” Calier replied.
Ammaya went on. “Nayla was my history tutor through much of my school years. I know you had a lot of questions for me, but I thought it might make more sense if two teachers talked. You’ll probably get better answers from him.” She looked between the two men. “I hate to cut this short, but my presence is required at a birthday party for my niece. Have a nice chat and I will see you both soon, I’m sure.”
Ammaya exited the room, leaving the two men in awkward silence. Calier gestured toward the chair by the bed. “Please, sit down.”
Nayla nodded. “Thank you. Are you sure you’re feeling well enough for a visit?”
“Yes, I’m doing much better, and my curiosity is too great not to talk.”
“So,” Nayla started. “Ammaya says you were a history professor at a university?”
“In Gadol City, yes. My main area of study was culture before the Great Peace, but my personal infatuation was in finding the Ma’Ha’Nae.” He smiled. “I never thought it would be them who would find me.”
“An ironic turn of events, for sure. Where would you like to start? Do you have any specific questions, or do you want me to ramble on about our culture?” Nayla said.
“I honestly don’t know where to start, but I’ll try not to bombard you with too many questions at once. First, how big is this city? How many people live here?”
Stroking his beard, Nayla looked thoughtfully into the distance. “If I remember correctly, there were roughly fifteen thousand inhabitants at the last count. Not bad when you consider we started out as a few hundred people when this was built.”
“And you all live here, in this dome?”
“Well, yes and no. The dome the hospital is under was the original dome and housed everyone and everything we did. Now that the population has expanded, we’ve built on four more pods radiating out from this dome like arms on an octopus. Those pods primarily contain the structures we’ve built to house our people.” Nayla regarded Calier. “I believe I can anticipate the next question. Why?”
Calier nodded. “The question of the centuries. We know so little about you and what is known is now considered legend. I know a group of people left during the height of the Brink War. Some very important people as well, if I remember correctly. They left letters saying they were separating themselves in order to preserve the Am’Segid culture.”
“Correct on all counts. The founders took ten years to build this dome in the one place on Aereas they felt no one would look for them, under a lake in the middle of Sho’el Forest. The most hostile environment on the planet. They did it all in secret. It couldn’t have been accomplished if some of them hadn’t been important officials in a few of the Great Cities. They had tried desperately to achieve peace, but the military leaders were bent on annihilation. Seeing no alternative and sure life above the waters would come to an end soon, they built the dome and moved in several hundred people to sustain Am’Segid culture,” Nayla said.
“I understand that,” Calier said. “But the Brink War ended in the establishment of the Great Peace. Why not rejoin culture at some point?”
“That’s a good question. Understand, at first, our founders were skeptical of the Great Peace. There were still people in the cities who were able to relay information back to the first Ma’Ha’Nae and they believed the peace that had been established was tenuous at best. Our people remained close to war for another hundred years, before the cities’ militaries were dismantled. At that point we had stopped worrying about what was happening in the cities and made our own culture here under the lake.”
“Amazing,” Calier said, shaking his head. “Obviously you kept your weapons when the other cities destroyed theirs.”
“Yes. First, we needed them to keep our people safe in the forest and second, there was still much mistrust of the peace. Our founders remained worried that one day we would be found and force would be used against us. They decided they wanted the ability to defend themselves against aggressors,” Nayla said.
Calier exhaled. “I’m glad you did, because there’s a whole army up there tearing apart our civilization.”
“So we’ve gathered from the reports of your group. You were fortunate to escape.”
“Fortunate indeed,” Calier said. The faces of those he had lost flashed through his mind. They hadn’t been quite so fortunate. “Do you know what the Ma’Ha’Nae will do now?”
Nayla leaned back in his chair and looked into the amber sky above him. “The elder group will be meeting tomorrow to discuss our next course of action. We have invited your sojourner, Ibris, to attend and provide any information he feels is important and will aid us in our decision. I want you to consider joining the meeting as well.”
“Me?” Calier said. “I’m not sure what I can add.”
“A great deal, I imagine. I believe that your knowledge of the Great Cities and their histories could prove very valuable.”
Calier nodded. “If Dr. Mirala says it’s okay, I’ll be there.”
“Good.”
Nayla paused and seemed to be collecting his thoughts before beginning again. “I feel we cannot remain isolated any longer, only caring for our own welfare. While we are Ma’Ha’Nae, we are first Am’Segid. How could we turn our backs on our brethren while they die?”
Calier
nodded. “I don’t envy the decisions you need to make.”
The conversation turned back to the establishment of the Ma’Ha’Nae and the city itself. Calier realized his mind was starving. Up until four weeks ago his entire existence had centered around the accumulation of knowledge. After the invasion he’d needed every bit of his wits just to survive. He reveled in the conversation and was sad to see Nayla go after several hours of talking. The man was genuine, and a true scholar, asking his own questions to satisfy his curiosity regarding life “above the waters,” as he referred to Am’Segid culture within the cities.
After Nayla left, Calier slumped back down into his pillow and closed his eyes. The fatigue had returned, and he decided that a nap was the prudent thing. Rest was important given that in the future, peaceful times like this might be few and far between.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Admiral McPhall turned away from the reports on his screen and swiveled his chair. Outside of the Eden’s port side window, HP-397 hung in the dark backdrop of space like a blue and green oasis. He picked up his coffee and blew across the rim, watching the white tendrils of steam curl from its surface. So far, the Farpointe Initiative had progressed very well. They were on schedule, but for some reason a little nagging voice in the back of his mind told him not to get used to the easy success. He shook off the feeling and chalked it up to an old soldiers distrust.
“Music. Baroque collection, volume low.”
Organ concerto in D minor filled the room. McPhall enjoyed the low, haunting cellos that started the piece. The music had a calming effect on him. In an otherwise frenetic life of decisions that could change the course of thousands of lives, a cello could bring him a deep sense of peace.
As the organ began to play, his door chime sounded. Sighing, he leaned forward and set his mug on the desk.
“Music pause.” The organ abruptly stopped, and McPhall reorganized himself from a man enjoying the view with a passable cup of coffee to an admiral with duties and responsibilities.
“Come.”
