The Rylerran Gateway

by Mark Ian Kendrick

  An’Arka’s first thought was there were Terran prisoners to interrogate. There were Terrans still on M’jas’la that needed to be rounded up and eliminated. Indeed, these two still needed to be properly processed. Perhaps the Minister was tired and wasn’t thinking clearly. An’Arka hesitated before answering. “It is a legend. Of a time long ago. Before the now time.”

  “Yet this Terran knows the story. Leave us. I will trust the computer to provide a proper translation. If there is something unclear I will call you back.”

  An’Arka squeezed a fist in front of his chest in compliance and left the room.

  The chairs Naylon and Tann were sitting in were not designed for human anatomy. They were too concave and provided no support for their backs. Ne’Uanju noticed Tann was squirming quite a bit.

  “I am Ne’Uanju, First Minister of this base. You are prisoners of the Telkan Ascendency,” he reiterated to Naylon.

  “We are well aware we are prisoners. Your people already made that clear by capturing us. But you’ve all got this wrong. We were not with those Terrans. They used their injection on us just like they did to your crewman.”

  Ne’Uanju considered that for a moment. He knew all about the RNA injections the Terrans used. It was common for the Terrans to inject themselves and each other with such drugs for various purposes. He was also aware the language injections only lasted several revolutions at most. That was why An’Arka would be extra valuable for as long as he retained their language. The Minister ignored that last comment for the moment. “What is this ‘tunnel’ of which you spoke?”

  “Only that it’s a sort of rock structure with an opening in it. We found it in a cavern. We, uh, crashed on Rylerra in our dimension and accidentally went through it. We don’t belong here. If you let us go, we’ll simply go back. You can pretend you never met us.” Naylon knew his request would be denied but it didn’t hurt to try asking.

  “Tell me more about the tunnel.”

  “That’s all we know.” He certainly wasn’t going to tell Ne’Uanju about the devices that allowed them through. They had no way back without them. Perhaps the minister didn’t know about them. Otherwise, wouldn’t that have been one of his first questions? But Naylon was suspicious of this line of questioning already. What significance did it have with the creature?

  “You know about the tunnel?”

  “It is known among my people,” the minister replied.

  “Then you already know where it is. We don’t.”

  Ne’Uanju was used to dealing with Terrans. They were tricky, full of guile, wily, and had lots of energy. They were unusually intelligent, which explained how they had been able to fill an enormous volume of space with their people. It wasn’t until the Terrans first encountered a Telkan colony on R’kinth’la that the Telkans knew the extent of their deceptive capabilities. The first encounter with Terrans was taken as a major scientific discovery. Telkan civilization was not a naturally war-like one. Shortly after the first encounter, an agent from their race came to speak with the R’kinth’la First Prime. It took weeks to discern the Terran language. The Telkan interpreters took great pains to understand it. They were excited beyond belief that they had finally encountered another spacefaring race, and one that seemed determined as well to understand them. The Terran language was very linear and was entirely derived from a very small range of vocal sounds. It was finally deciphered once that fact was recognized. Shortly thereafter, it was firmly understood that the Terrans’ only interest was for the Telkans to leave their colony world! If they didn’t leave, the Terrans would forcibly remove the Telkans. Barring that, they would kill each and every one of them.

  At least the Terrans weren’t like the K’ell, who had killed and destroyed at will. This species gave fair warning.

  Never mind that Telkans had occupied the planet for twenty-five revolutions. The Terrans wanted R’kinth’la and they were going to get it, or else. Unfortunately, negotiations to avoid a conflict failed. The Terrans tried several different methods to rid R’kinth’la of Telkan occupation. Those attempts failed. It was mainly due to the fact that Telkan science was at least evenly matched to the Terran war machine. Several other factors caused the Terrans to fail. They were at the far edge of their space and had no back up. Telkan ships tended to be nearly twice as large as Terran ones. The sheer destructive power of the weaponry that came standard on even a Telkan scout ship prevented the Terrans from being able accomplish their mission.

  A brief lull in tensions was only due to the Terrans regrouping, re-arming and bringing reinforcements. But the Telkans had been ready. A gauntlet had been thrown down, which quickly brought an end to the attempt by the Terrans to remove them. Out of eighteen warships the Terrans had brought, only one survived. Only a single Telkan ship was destroyed. After the debris scattered enough to safely traverse the system, the entrances to the warp conduits in the R’kinth’la system that crossed into Terran-held space were mined and placed off limits to all Telkan traffic.

  A continuous series of Terran encounters ended tragically for the Terrans. Not knowing warp conduits could be mined, the Terrans lost fifteen ships before they got through and then went back to report that tactic. It was because of the huge losses on the Terran side that the Telkans discovered just how tenacious they were. Regardless, R’kinth’la had been safe for an extremely long time.

  Ne’Uanju could count four sheddings that had elapsed since that first encounter with the Terrans. Prisoners had been taken, their culture had been studied, and their worlds had been mapped through the use of interrogation and some incursions into their space. A few Terrans had been dissected, some had been mercifully killed, and others had been unceremoniously dumped from airlocks when they got away on prisoner ships and left guards dead. Few Telkans had gone missing; fewer still had made it back alive to Telkan occupied space after having been captured. Regardless, enough was now known of their species. They were devious creatures.

  By default that included the one called Naylon.

  Yet somehow, Minister Ne’Uanju knew this one was different. He had a young one of his species with him. Terran military units never traveled with their young. As An’Arka had determined, the two were not dressed as they would expect those in military units to be dressed, nor did they have any of the weaponry known to be manufactured by Terrans. He had been given a full report on their genetic profile and their personal effects before the prisoners arrived in his office. Yes, they were Terran, but something was all wrong about these two. Maybe the one named Naylon wasn’t lying.

  “If you came through the gateway then how do you not know where it is?” Ne’Uanju inquired.

  Naylon noted the use of the word ‘gateway’ instead of tunnel. It was evident they referred to is as such. He told the minister how he had fallen into the river and ultimately captured by the Terrans. That Tann had come looking for him and been captured as well.

  Tann was feeling faint. He hadn’t eaten or drunk any water for hours. The ridiculous questioning Ne’Uanju was asking about the tunnel was beginning to irritate him, too. He had to interject himself into the conversation. “Please, Minister. I’m very thirsty. Can I have some water?”

  Ne’Uanju was familiar with how Terrans were somewhat fragile. Their skin was far thinner than their own. Terrans dehydrated much more quickly than did their species. The Minister was unsure how Terrans could have survived long enough as a species to achieve space flight without a water bladder behind their lungs.

  The Minister pressed an icon on the desktop display “Ranger J’selnof, the prisoners require sustenance,” he said in his native language. “Assign them to the keeping place. I will see them later on. See to it they are not harmed in any way. I have a great need for these two.”

  Chapter 33

  Naylon and Tann were taken away in an air transport pod. The entire top of the pod was covered yet transparent. They were not allowed to sit, but rather were instructed to hold onto metal bars for support while the pilot flew
them to another facility. It was even more apparent they were on Andakar once they rose into the air. Both of them were equally astonished to discover they were also on the south end of Koehkelko bay. The Patoria Mountains were to the east, the crescent shape of the bay was completely evident and the gentle lapping of the waves on the sandy shore was totally familiar. But Tokaias was nowhere to be seen. Instead, they saw a scattering of smaller interconnected buildings, all were hexagonal in shape and brightly colored. The town, which is what it seemed to be to Naylon, reminded him of a sprawling open-air hive.

  Both Naylon and Tann mentally took in all the details during their short journey away from the spaceport to the nearest cluster of low-rise buildings. Once they landed, they were quickly motioned to debark and were sent through a windowless corridor. Halfway down, they came to an alcove were they were instructed to remove their clothing. At first Naylon objected, but the guard quickly indicated this wasn’t negotiable.

  Tann got down to his underwear, then he stopped. The Telkan next to him motioned for him to remove it all. Tann already felt quite vulnerable. Reluctantly, he shed everything in front of the huge hulking alien creatures, feeling even more vulnerable now that he was completely naked. Luckily, it was quite warm in the corridor. It would have been even more uncomfortable if it hadn’t been.

  Their clothing was pushed into a pile by one of the Telkans near the alcove. A trapdoor opened and all of it disappeared. One of the aliens pointed to painted footprints on the floor. Naylon and Tann stood side by side on two sets. A red laser played across each of them, wrapping itself around their bodies. Seconds later a panel opened on the wall. Two gray one-piece tissue-thin jumpsuits were pulled out and handed to each of them. Naylon recognized right away they were to put them on, which they did. They were as soft as cotton with nothing more complicated than a zipper that went from the crotch to the neck, he noticed, as he stepped into it. It was cut short at mid-thigh and was sleeveless. Felt slippers were given to them and they both put them on. Tann felt a little better at being clothed again, but not by much. Moments later, they were herded to the end of the corridor where they both smelled food.

  Amazingly, there were four humans males, wearing the same gray jumpsuits, standing at the end of the corridor through an opened door. They were ushered through the door, which immediately slid shut.

  “Who are you?” the tallest man asked Naylon in impeccable Empire Spanish. He was clean shaven as were the rest of the men.

  “Dr. Naylon Ress,” Naylon told him. “Who are you?”

  “Special Ranger Rogerto Tomús. These are some of my men, Nolo Gonjas, Sedeto Confón, and Fério Atore.” He pointed to them as he called off their names. “Why do you have a… child with you?” He looked at Tann.

  “Get serious,” Tann told him bluntly.

  “We’re, uh, lost,” Naylon told him.

  “I don’t think so. We’re in a Telkan prisoner of war facility.”

  The smell of food was beginning to make Tann extremely hungry. “Water. I need a drink of water really badly.”

  “Nolo. Get them water. We were just about to sit for our meal. You will sit with us,” he said in a concerned tone.

  Tann downed over a liter of water, while Naylon drank almost as much. Naylon then surveyed their enclosure. It was a two-story high hexagonal-shaped open room. He estimated the diameter at around twenty meters. Although there were only six people there at the moment, the place could easily hold five times that many. Along the edges of the circular common area were eight sleeping alcoves, each with four beds and adjacent toilet facilities. Their enclosure looked vaguely like a large dormitory. But there were no windows anywhere, no interior doors, and no furniture except for a table with chairs near another alcove. It was clearly a food dispensary, complete with a place to put dirty dishes and trays. What was most interesting about the interior of the place was how elaborately designed everything was. It was as ornate as the rest of the Telkan facilities they had already seen. Table and chair legs were curved and graceful looking. Bright colorful walls surrounded them. Except for the outfits everyone was wearing, which were grey, all of the textiles in the room were brightly colored with intricate weaves. The Telkan script that Naylon had seen in the ship, which had brought them to the planet’s surface, was everywhere, although here it vaguely resembled Islamic artwork he had seen in vids. It was as if this alien culture didn’t understand what a prison was supposed to look like.

  He was given a tray. He stood with the other men in front of the self-serve cabinets and selected several non-descript items. Nothing looked familiar but each item in bowls had a distinct smell. Chicken here. Vegetables there. A sauce over there. Perhaps that jelly-looking substance was really watermelon. Naylon couldn’t tell from looking, but it sure smelled like it.

  Sedeto saw Tann’s look of bewilderment, too. “Don’t try to identify anything by sight. They can’t exactly reproduce what we eat. You’ll only be able to identify it by the aroma.”

  “They made this food?”

  “Of course. Telkan abominations.”

  Abominations? What does he mean by that, Tann wondered. I’m eating whether he likes it or not.

  Eventually everyone had something on their trays and they sat.

  “Who are you people?” Naylon asked them as they all ate.

  Rogerto spoke up. “My crew was on a survey mission in the Ojen system. As you know it is claimed by both sides. A Telkan Destroyer discovered us. Our sensors were down when it happened. We had… shall I say, a power problem. We fought bravely nonetheless. We holed up in the engine room when the ship was disabled. It was only a matter of time before they scanned the compartment and found us. Turns out we were the only ones who survived the assault. Our best guess is we’ve been here for approximately a Terran year. It’s impossible to say for sure since we have no access to timepieces and are only randomly let out into the sunlight. We know only that we’re being held on Q’emt’la. You’re the first Terrans we’ve seen since our capture.”

  Most of what Rogerto said was impossible to follow. “You’ve been held for a year?” Naylon asked.

  “Give or take a couple of weeks. We didn’t start keeping track for a while after we were captured. They don’t interact much with us. We do think they’re constantly observing us though.”

  Naylon noted it was becoming troublesome keeping all the names straight. Until a few days ago, he’d only known this planet as Andakar. Now it was Q’emt’la to the Telkans and these men, while it was Ozol to the Terrans they had encountered on Rylerra. The reason was obvious. This planet was unknown to the prisoners before they had been taken here. Thus, they would use only the name for the planet the Telkans used. The other military men back on ‘Rylerra’ had just made up the name for identification purposes only. After all, they had never been there either.

  “They’ve not interrogated you?” Naylon asked.

  “Of course they have. What Telkan wouldn’t? We offered them the usual blather to keep them from discovering what it was we were doing. They found out anyway. Now, Dr. Ress. Where did they capture you?” Rogerto asked.

  “On Déstica.” He deliberately used the name Captain Pacudas had told him.

  “What is Déstica?”

  “I mean M’jas’la. The other Terrans are calling it Déstica. Well, their captain is calling it that.”

  “Other Terrans?” The men all looked at each other.

  “Maybe they’re looking for you,” Naylon offered.

  “There are other Terrans nearby? How did they get past the Telkan patrols, much less all the mines? We are deep inside Telkan space.”

  “What mines?” Naylon asked.

  “The conduits into Telkan space are all mined. We’re nowhere near the border. What was your ship name?”

  “Conduits?” Tann asked. He wasn’t answered.

  Naylon answered Rogerto instead. “We didn’t come here with the Terrans on Déstica.”

  All of this was terribly confusing to Sed
eto. “The Telkans brought you here from their space?”

  “What conduits?” Tann asked again.

  “Naylon, what are children doing on military vessels nowadays. Did orders change recently?”

  “Wait, wait. Hold it,” Naylon said. He too was becoming confused now. The men didn’t have much information to go on and were speculating. “Tann is not a child. He’s my friend. We didn’t get here because of a one of your military ships. We weren’t brought here from Telkan space. Both of us are from this planet… just, not in this… dimension.” He figured that wouldn’t go over so well.

  He was wrong. It got a rousing round of laughter from the entire group. Rogerto slapped Naylon on the back. “That was a good one. You’re from here! From another dimension. That is supremely rich. I had almost forgotten how to laugh.” He totally dismissed what Naylon had said as the truth.

  “I was born in Tokaias,” Tann told them boldly.

  Fério spoke up now. “Tokaias. Is that a colony?”

  “It’s the name of the city that’s supposed to be on this bay… but isn’t. Naylon, you’re going to have to explain it to them.”

  “Later. What’s this about a conduit?” Naylon asked them now. “What did you mean by them being mined?”

  Rogerto looked at him curiously. “Surely you are aware the conduits that connect Telkan with Terran space are mined. They’ve been mined for decades. I assumed you had gotten through somehow,” Rogerto told them.

  “But what are they?” Tann repeated.

  Rogerto crossed his arms across his chest. He wasn’t used to being questioned, especially so vehemently, by a youngster. “They are the natural wormholes used as starlanes; the means by which all of our ships travel from star to star. Perhaps you use a different name on your homeworld.”

  “Did you say ‘natural’?” Naylon asked.

  “Of course. All stars have them. You are not military. Perhaps you have never had the need to know about them if you don’t travel from star to star.”