by Richard Sosa
Rik said. “There’s no question in my mind that you’re an advanced race of humanoids, I mean your world, I don’t know about you. But as a world, you’ve missed your harrowing. I am convinced. This changes everything.”
Iris debated to say something then said, “we have this technology in our Fighters. Stu showed you. It’s how we developed our lasers.”
“Gravity well. Remember you told me you all came here from the ancient place, but your world had moved beyond the seed stages. Probably long before your religious wars did you in, you all were evolving rapidly, your seedling DNA was changing you. I am convinced your planet has missed its harrow. This planet is poisoned fruit now,” Rik said as he smiled and nodded at his surroundings.
“Sounds gross. Can’t you say we’re ‘blossomed fruit’.”
“No ‘poison’, it’s a good thing. It means you no longer ‘taste good’ to the Spipeculas and maybe you have the means to defend yourselves or at least save this world.” Rik stopped himself and sat down on a bench. “It also means your society would have been safe forever if I’d never come here. I should have died. I was meant to die on Da-earra, and I ran. They will track me through my technology. Now I get it. It’s what science and military are debating about me; I should have died somewhere along the timeline and that would have saved this world. That’s why Dask doesn’t trust me. He blames me, probably his only solution is to take me out before I am entrenched or before I get ready to run.”
Iris sat next to him and puts her arm on his shoulder. “You’re unbelievably slow. That’s the question but not the ‘you dying part’ and true your presence here is tipping things but does it help or hurt us? You didn’t know any of this. Besides we are prepared and you’re just confirming a lot of information already in place. The real rub is that we know we are not fully advanced or prepared and you can give us what we need. Your purpose here is needed. We watched the Lares leave and the worlds die and assumed the Lares did something to the world’s defenses to allow them to escape.”
“Oh, I get it now. Look, I am sorry. I don’t want this world harrowed. I don’t want you hurt. I am not going to hurt anyone.”
Iris smiled. “I can handle myself. I do have a question though. If we were becoming overripe and evolved, why did we destroy our world? Doesn’t make sense.”
“I’ve seen something like this in other less evolved worlds. When a society begins to improve the lives of all through science, medicine, and technology, the religious cults view it as an attack on their belief systems and they fear it. They will resist secularization aggressively. Maybe they got the upper hand and once the fighting began things were too complicated to control.”
Iris rubbed her nose saying. “I just recorded what you said on my unit and sent it to everyone. Some groups will have a chance to put your ideas to the test. Can we go home now? I am hungry. By the way, word on the street is that Dask blames you directly. Everyone thinks this is all your fault.”
Chapter Seventeen
“This is a short cut,” Iris said and pointed to a pathway along a park path that dipped towards the tree line along a large gulch, “from the ridge you’ll get a better view of the city.” From behind low bushes and a wall, Rik and Iris were watched as they walked close together almost holding hands while engaged in a fun conversation.
Rik asked. “Do you have siblings?”
“No. I am by myself.”
“I just have my brother now.”
There was companionable silence between them, and their synchronized steps sounded uniform in the wet grass.
“Do you have a special someone?” Rik thought, damn it, why did I ask that?
“None of your business, you korpe bastard.”
They walked toward a low stonewall with water running along the other side to irrigate the adjacent field. Rik smiled, “that’s a ‘no’”. Rik listened to the steps they made together for a long moment and silently breathed out quietly, “Good.”
Iris stopped, her arm hit Rik across the chest, her wrist unit flashing red. “Pulse charging, get down. Get down.” She pushed at Rik violently. The ground exploded around them as lasers whizzed through the air around them. They rolled to the ground. The wall protected them as pieces of it flew into the air and lasers pounded the other side. They pressed their backs against the wall.
Rik moved quickly on his belly for cover but tried to determine the direction of fire, his military instincts kicked in, he shouted. “Do you have a weapon?”
“Does it look like I had a god damn weapon? This way,” Iris led them along the wall.
Rik shouted. “Stay low it’s one shooter.”
They crawled further along the wall. Then a second shooter joined in and multiple streams of lasers ricocheted into the air.
Iris shouted. “Shit. We're trapped. They’re going to flank us and get a clear shot. On two, roll down this hill and run like your ass is on fire toward those pod houses.”
“What? Wait. Aren’t you afraid? We’ll get shot in the back. That’s crazy.”
Rik braced to run, she’s right, he thought in an instant.
Iris counted. “One, Two.”
They rolled away from the wall and tumbled down the green slope then stood and ran downhill as if chasing rolling cheese. Lasers clipped the wet grass around them and they both tumbled forward and rolled on the slope and then easily got up and dashed for the stream. They splashed into the small stream at the bottom of the hill and continued at a fast raced toward the pod units in the distance. Lasers passed over the treetops. Small branches smacked their faces and they clawed at them to keep running. Iris shouted. “Keep running. The arc of the lasers overhead, they are trying to get a clear shot at us,” Rik stumbled. Iris shouted back at him. “Hurry, we need to get to cover. Move it, soldier.” Iris moved away and stopped when she noticed Rik wasn’t behind her.
Rik stumbled again and fell hard on the ground. “Shit. Don’t worry I am fine. I am alright.” Rik was on all fours, hands in mud and water, Iris came back and helped him stand and they raced blindly deeper into the thicket of trees. When they got close to the apartments they stopped running. Both bending over breathing hard. Iris watched blood blooming from Rik’s elbow. They moved together behind a large tree.
“You’re hit. Let me check your arm.
“No. It’s fine.”
Iris checked her pockets. “You’re bleeding damn you. Let me check it.”
“It’s just Grit-ar-roo juice. Leave me alone.” He yanked his arm away. Iris grabbed it back forcefully. “Let me see.”
“You’re supposed to protect me. I am putting my trust in your supposed advanced world with all its ultraistic ideals. Someone has tried to kill me three times. If I die, I can’t rescue my brother. At this rate, it’s only a matter of time. I am a walking dead man.” He tried to turn but Iris held his arm firmly.
“I don’t know what’s happening either. You can trust me. Let me check your arm. Please.”
Rik took off his shirt and pulled up the sleeve of his tee to his shoulder. She wrapped the wound, but the deep gash continued to bleed through. Rik watched her work and scanned around nervously. She handed a pill to Rik. “Take this, it will facilitate your healing and reduce blood loss.”
Rik popped the pill and swallowed it without a thought and instantly noticed a difference. “That feels much better. Thanks. Let’s get home, I have a target on my back.”
Iris stared intensely up at the ridge. “I don’t know what to think.”
“Gezz girl, get with the program. I am in danger. I must find a way to hide. Hell, maybe you’re working for Dask and waiting for the right moment to—”
“To what? Damn you. I am not going to harm you. If I had a contract to kill you, you’d be dead already.”
“Well, that’s comforting. Listen to yourself you’re protecting them. I am not relying on you for my protection, you’re lousy at it. If anybody is slow here, it's you damn it.”
Iris put her hand through her ha
ir. “I am not sure what’s going on now.”
Rik gave her a level stare. “I need to carry a weapon. My defense unit is broken. You can help me by getting a weapon for me.”
Darkness fell over EpDaaRa and the city’s low lights still provided a clear visible view of the street. Technology eliminated light pollution through a reflective dampener above each lamp and so the stars were visible in the sky. A few voices outside mixed with laughter was out of place for how Rik felt. He moved the curtain in the patio door slightly over to inspect the street. He and Iris hadn’t spoken a word to each other during the long painful walk home. Rik looked up at the sky. “The stars here remind me of the desert night on Sega-tre-pow 4 in the Astrgraee System.
“Get away from the damn window,” Iris banged something on the table to make her point.
He closed the curtain, walked into the kitchen where they worked together on dinner in silence. They took the plates and turned on a home media monitor unit. The screen lit up with the news. Images of police and military personnel, torchlights flashing in multiple directions as if searching along a low wall and a newscaster came into the screen saying, ‘Residents in Pods Section Nine Three, right here in Argu Park, reported laser fire near homes. Military police detained two drunken soldiers shooting Patras on a wall. No charges are pending. The residents want the military to punish the soldiers.’ Iris turned the unit off and made the motion to throw her device across the room, “damn it,” then she cradled her device to her chest.
Rik tapped on his laptop with a serious frown and then he saw Iris with her eyes closed.
“I am tired too. This is crazy; I don’t think I can survive another day. Someone’s going to get a direct hit on me sooner than later. Probably a headshot. I guess I’ll just hang out in here and play with your simulator games and pilot training program, you think you could get more food?” Iris kept her eyes closed, Rik stared at her face, “are you O.K?”
She opened her eyes and smiled. “I was afraid but not anymore.”
“You’re not afraid anymore? I am thinking someone has it in for both of us and no one cares. I should start making plans to run and find a hideout so you can be safe.”
Rik started gathering his things off the table and putting them in his knapsack. Iris watched. “No need to run. Many were fearful of you. That included some of our scientists but after reset, the fear is gone. Now we are focused on a solution.”
Rik regarded her suspiciously. “You appear as if you don’t give a damn whether I live or die. So now you’re not afraid? How does that even happen? You don’t care about me. Do you. What do you know?”
“I don’t know anything new at the moment, but I can’t get to the solution until I reset.”
“How do you reset?”
“No one has ever asked me that question,” Iris pondered, “Let me think, well, it’s like who we are and hard to explain. The instant I am overcome by fear the reset occurs and the fear goes away.”
“That’s a good technique to learn. Is it meditation or self-trace? I’ve seen that before, some of it is bull shit.”
“No, not an external thing and it’s not something you learn. It’s a normal survival response. The reset takes over at the point when fear becomes overwhelming. It’s an active survival response like breathing. I can’t explain it, it’s just part of us,” she tossed a computer chip at Rik and he caught it, “like that,” she said, “you just caught the chip without a technique or process. Your brain just acted and reacted. Your brain had to fire a vast number of synapses instantly, but it did the job in a nano gaml. That’s what happens to us, all of us on the planet. We’re born like that.”
“Are you saying this response is an internal physiological response to fear?” Rik rolled the chip in his hand, “I think my assessment about this world is way off. Maybe there’s more going on here possibly a level seven world. The strong need to survive together as a whole community and world is a lot more evidence. It’s an evolutionary attribute that does not exist in any of the populations killed by the Orbs.” Rik stared at Iris for a long moment.
“What? Stop looking at me like that.”
“This world represents what all humanity in all these planetary systems harrowed aspire to become. The potential to evolve, to create your environment in a way that eliminates irrational fear,” Rik pondered, “this world has evolved extensively. I am just talking about this world, not you,” he pointed at Iris, “you’re some kind of violent de-evolution.”
“Come over here so I can kick you,” Iris said, “So why are you being targeted with deadly force? That’s contrary to what we do here.”
“How do you explain that?” Rik wondered at her, “and tell the truth, stop evading, you’re giving me a headache.”
Iris gave him a mean glare. “Just shut up. There is only one explanation. You’re not needed. Someone has figured out everything and they just want you out of the way. Dask wants you dead. Gods, how did I miss that? The military doesn’t need you; they don’t think you can neutralize our defenses. They must have…”
Rik frowned and said. “They want me out of the way because someone or some group knows that I can help? Or that I can’t help. You’re right Dask just wants me dead. It means that my brother has been captured, tortured to death—”
“That’s not the right conclusion. There is no evidence for that,” Iris said as she shifted uncomfortably, “military here doesn’t do that. Stop going there.”
“You’re evading and defending someone. What do they have on you? Neil would die before betraying the Lares. We don’t have anything left to live for.” Rik stared at Iris’ face assessing her words. They sat in silence contemplating the weight of the conclusion and then Rik spoke, “or maybe… it’s not me but you. Maybe you’ve been mean to people like the same way you’ve treated me so terribly and they are just bad shooters.”
“Or maybe you’re just a dumb ass.”
“Or maybe you do beat Pathras, even if they’re furry, and the society that protects them wants to send you a message, stop being a jerk to little furry creatures.”
Iris shook her head, “You’re not funny at all.”
“I am not trying to be funny,” Rik changed the subject, “Can I look at your star chart again? And I am going to have to examine your head, in all seriousness. There is a slight cranial ridge in level six or seven humanoids. I need to confirm that.”
“My head? Don’t be stupid,” then she keyed on her device rapidly, “that star chart is on your unit now.” Rik scooted close to her and looked it over, Iris saw her planet’s primary dual solar system, “what are you looking for?”
He traced his finger on the laptop screen while frowning. “This is our planet, and this is the bright star out there, ancient Aoife. I was here and so it does make sense from the apogee of the suns orbits that ancient Aoife should be the planet harrowed.”
“How did your technology adjust and come to this planet and not the prime?”
“I don’t know. More reason to test for your cranial ridge.”
“Do I need to record this. It’s one of those times, right?” She turned on the recorder.
“Dask has concluded that killing me will save the planet and he is putting out resources to do this in a way that prevents detection. As an advanced civilization, like that reset thing that you guys all have, Dask probably discerns or senses a critical connection to your planet’s survival and my death. If that advanced attribute is kicking in, why are you not trying to kill me?”
She pointed the recorder at his face, “give me a chance.” Rik kept his expression flat and she started recording and speaking clinically, “based on Rik’s preliminary conclusions ancient Aoife was on the route of the Orbs and we may have missed our harrowing. This is a theory already presented by Doctor Megs and others and is currently being researched. Rik’s theory is that the attributes that we have for fear reduction are also forcing us to conclude that we need to kill him. I must admit I have had those feelings my
self. Rik, have you formulated a theory about Dask that we can work on?” She pointed the recorder at him intrusively.
“Yes,” Rik said, “your race is more advanced on an evolutionary scale than anything I’ve ever seen harrowed. I am calling it level six or seven,” he held up his hand, “back the recorder up it's too close,” then he said, “the AC system is where a series of gas giants orbit around some microscopic sun and solar systems that are pulled in the gravity of these giants. They form a chain of solar systems and larger planets along routes that are harrowed. We don’t know which planets or systems are included. Planet Aoife, at least this Aoife, is outside the Orb trajectories by a long shot and not on my calculated beaten path of the Orbs.”
Iris repeated. “Not on the ‘beaten path’, he isn’t talking about pets. He means outside a trajectory within a tolerance of uniform variance.”
“My theory about Dask is confirmed by a condition known in other solar systems as HAAH. The only way I can confirm this theory is to identify the cranial ridge,” Rik said.
Iris entered commands into the recording unit. “This is being continuously uploaded so several people will start testing along with Doctor Megs.”
Rik was serious. “Iris, the only way I can test my theory is to locate a cranial ridge on your head. It’s the attribute that identifies a six-level humanoid society. You all may be acting on advanced perceptions of the environment and not be aware of that. Are you willing? My survival may depend on it. Come over here, this will take just a moment.”
Iris leaned over cautiously. “Should I record this?”
“Absolutely, this is critical mission-related evidence for everyone to test for themselves. Use mine you can auto-record and set it on the table.”
She set the recorder to auto and balanced it on the table then came close to Rik and leaned in. Rik ran his hands gently feeling the base of her head while speaking to the recorder. “Everyone needs to place their hands at the base of the head, fingers spread apart like this,” he showed the camera three fingers spread apart, “and start by moving to the top of the head.” Rik grabbed her in a headlock, held her tight and gave her skelp rough scrapping with his knuckles, he didn’t let go.
