Do I want to know? He asked himself. Do I really want to dig up everything that ever terrified me?
“No,” replied Janesska, “not now. However, at some point you will face the darkness, my son. We all do at some point in our lives, and then, perhaps, you shall reconcile those two components of your personality. My hope is that the memory of your life with us will be among the things you discover, so that you can truly return to us.”
“Yes, Mother.” Candor said without hesitation.
The light faded, and Candor opened his eyes. Janesska was standing over him, looking down with a smile that warmed his heart. While beside her, Zyphon appeared both concerned and relieved.
“Mother, Zyphon?” Candor asked as he blinked back his tears.
“Thank Eos,” said Zyphon. “I feared that the Healers malfunctioned. Your mind retreated for reasons that I cannot explain. Thank the Goddess that your mother arrived to bring you back, my old friend.”
“Am I okay?”
Janesska caressed his brow, and her touch was reassuring. “You are going to be fine, little one. Zyphon is going to release the healing curtain, and your father and I are going to take you home.”
“Shajin Janesska,” Zyphon protested. “Candor may require another treatment cycle.”
Janesska favored Zyphon with a determined look, implying that she would brook no argument. “He is coming home, Zyphon. You may attend him there if you wish.”
Zyphon’s eyes followed hers. Then he looked down, trying to think of a way to overcome her demands. In the end, however, he knew that the Penticorian matriarch would not be swayed. The control panel appeared as before, and after a few taps, Candor felt lighter.
Well this makes sense in an odd sort of way, he thought. When I was making faces, my arms felt heavier the higher I lifted them. I must have been under the influence of something that allowed me a small range of motion. Is it possible, do Penticorians know how to manipulate gravity?
“Is my son conscious?” Said a deep loud voice which didn’t trigger any recognition, and Candor felt regret. He knew that it must be his father. Yet he saw no reason to inform either his parents, or Zyphon, that he had no memory of his life as a Penticorian.
“Father, I am awake.” He said, sitting up for the first time since his alleged death.
“Bless Eos,” said the gray-green figure.
Sador stepped past Zyphon without acknowledging his presence, embracing Candor with a firm and decidedly relieved embrace. “My son, you fret your mother and me to no end with your reckless pursuits. Wind-surfing! For the love of the Goddess, why would you seek excitement in that manner? Five rejuvenations, Candor, that is all that you are allowed. Now you have but two remaining!”
Candor paused, unable to keep up with how quickly his father had gone from relief to acute agitation.
“Forgive me. I am sorry that I worried you and mother so.”
Sador continued unabated. “Why I was nearly twice your age before my first rejuvenation.”
Candor felt a glimmer of mischief bubbling up inside of him, and he was surprised that the feeling was so intense. Well maybe if you’d just let me have the keys to the family car, I wouldn’t have gone off and killed myself. He suppressed a smile, one that he knew would be taken out of context given his current predicament. What he said was decidedly more subdued than his thoughts. “I know, Father, and I understand. You have my word that I shall be more careful in the future.”
“Come now, my husband,” said Janesska, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Our son has been through a great deal. I remember when you were young, and some of the reckless things that you engaged in. I shall not elaborate, but I am certain that you cannot fault Candor for taking after you.”
Sador harrumphed, or at least the Penticorian equivalent. “That may be, my beloved wife. Yet I would point out that my skill prevented me from sharing in our son’s reckless pursuit to make use of all of his allowable rejuvenations.”
Janesska eyed Sador, and a sly grin creased the delicate contours of her face. “Skills, why my husband it was little more than luck that saved you time and again. Both luck and the grace of Eos.”
Sador returned Janesska’s smile, and his eyes narrowed as he regarded both his wife and son. “Be that as it may,” Sador replied with more than a touch of amusement. “My superior skills as a navigator are not in question here. What is in question is our son’s intrepid ability to worry both of us to near frenzy.”
Sador winked at Candor, a clear sign that he both forgave and loved his son. Candor smiled. And soon his mother stood next to them, giving each one a tender kiss.
“He does indeed, my husband. And there is no need for such modesty, for we all know how your navigational skills are legendary. Perhaps someday the Senedos Seiss will chronicle your deeds in the archives.”
Sador laughed, along with Candor and Zyphon. Candor wasn’t sure if he’d gotten the joke. Yet he was certain that his mother was having some sport with his father. And they were both happy, which in the end was good enough for him.
“My son,” Sador continued as he placed a hand on his shoulder. “I only ask that you respect the fact that our line comes from the founding family of Tulacoss. And even though I am Regent of the Elders, your mother and I had to apply for the privilege to conceive you. In you resides the future of the line of Shuveen, and the proud traditions of our family. You are a descendant of Halsshik, one of the pillars of Penticore Prime.
“And besides,” continued Sador in a concerned undertone. “We love you, and we want you to be safe.”
Candor was both touched and speechless in equal measure. And although he couldn’t explain it, he felt the love and concern emanating from both his parents, and Zyphon as well.
“I understand, Father,” he said softly. “You have my word, that for the good of our family I will cease being reckless with my life.”
Sador nodded, while Janesska kissed them both. “Let us go home now,” she said. Then to Zyphon, “You have been both an invaluable physician and friend to Candor, and you have our gratitude. We are in your debt.”
Zyphon bowed in a graceful motion that was more art, than utility. “It is my honor to serve the noble house of Shuveen, Shajin Janesska.”
“Indeed,” added Sador as he clapped Zyphon on the back. “Candor is undeniably fortunate to have one such as you counted amongst his friends.”
“Seiss Sador,” replied Zyphon. “You honor me with your praise.”
Candor thought that perhaps his language skills had failed temporarily. As the phrase “Shajin,” and “Seiss,” were unrecognizable. He decided that without his memory, he was going to have to do some research if he intended to fit in.
I just don’t want to worry anyone, he thought. I seem to understand the language for the most part. However, Zyphon’s actions make me think that there may be cultural or social rules that I don’t know. Or my parents are powerful individuals in the societal and political landscape. Either way I need to figure this out. I woke up here so is this real, or am I just dreaming? Who’s the myth, the fabrication? Is it the human or the Penticorian?
Getting to his feet, Candor tested his legs and found them to be flexible and sturdy. The gravity was also strikingly like his memory of Earth.
Why do I remember so clearly? He added silently while smiling at Zyphon.
“My friend, I thank you.” Candor said as he placed a hand on Zyphon’s shoulder, just as his father had done. “I hope to see you soon.”
Candor could see the questions in Zyphon’s eyes, but at the last moment he appeared to think better of it.
“Be well, my old friend,” he said, returning Candor’s gesture. “I will come to the manor tomorrow and check on your recovery.”
Candor nodded, and Janesska corralled both her son and her husband, taking each by the hand. The door opened before them, and Candor braced himself. Up to this point he only mentally adjusted to the room where he awoke. He understood the damage that sensor
y overload could inflict. And with no memory of the Penticorian inside of him, he sensed that the revelations would come faster now. Exiting down a long circular corridor, they emerged onto a lighted oval grid embedded in the floor. Candor marveled at the way all the surfaces around him shimmered. The sudden downward movement of the platform caught him by surprise. After a moment, the sick lurch inside his stomach settled, and Candor was amazed at the speed they were descending. He desperately wanted to question his parents.
How far are we going down? How fast are we traveling? How could you build a tunnel that looks like it has no seams and is made of polished white marble? Can I have a chocolate milkshake? Are we there yet?
He smiled as he kept those questions to himself. Especially the last two, because he knew his parents would most definitely misinterpret the joke. Candor also made a mental note to keep prodding himself with humor, even if it was slightly off-center. Sometimes all you can do is laugh, old boy, he chided himself. Besides, I prefer humor as a defense mechanism. Better that, then rolling up into a ball and screaming myself into sheer lunacy.
The platform came to a halt, and Candor knew that some other mechanism must be at work. I’d be willing to bet that we were travelling at more than forty or fifty miles per hour. We should have been crushed into a pile of broken bones. Something is dampening the effects of inertia. But how is that possible?
“Candor, attend me,” said Janesska.
Looping her arm through his, she walked with Candor. Meanwhile, Sador strode ahead a few paces, content to let them have their time together. They found themselves in another long corridor. And without much to see, Candor turned his full attention to his mother.
“So, tell me, little one. What was it like?”
“I’m sorry, Mother? What was what like?”
“Death,” she replied without pause. “Did you see the Goddess this time?”
Candor cringed at the thought of his death not once, or twice, but three times. He didn’t know what to say, because he had no memory of the incident. Unfortunately, that loss included his lifelong memories of his mother, which saddened him.
“No, I’m sorry but I do not. Did you ever die?” Candor asked. He wished that he could take the words back, because the question announced the fact that he had no recollection of being Candor Shuveen.
Janesska looked puzzled for a moment. Her thin perfectly shaped lips creased into a noticeable frown. Then just as quickly she replaced it with a smile. As though she were trying to assuage her fears that the son she had known and loved might be gone forever.
“I have been rejuvenated twice,” she said stoically. “The causes were age related, but I have never died. At least not like you, or your father.”
“Father died too?”
“On a construction project in the city of Kheftor, many years before you were born,” replied Sador.
He’s got superb hearing. I’ll give him that, Candor thought. Then he asked. “Did you see the Goddess?”
“Why yes!” Sador beamed, as if this were the opening he had been waiting for. “My father believed that the work of my hands would better prepare me for the mantle of office that I would one-day bear. I was working on the high lattice when my retaining field malfunctioned. I remember the fall, but thank Eos I do not remember the landing.”
“You must have been terrified,” Candor said.
Sador stopped, appraised Candor with an amused grin, and asked. “Were you?”
Candor smiled, and then stared at the floor in embarrassment. “Point taken, Father, I don’t remember either.”
“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. I remember the darkness, and feeling adrift in a vast ocean. And then there was a light.”
“And here,” interrupted Janesska. “Is where your father continues to expound on the tale of meeting the Goddess. Why each time it becomes more grandiose than the previous telling.”
Sador smiled warmly and then shrugged his shoulders, as if to imply that his wife had a point. Starting down the hall once more, Janesska hugged Candor’s arm while pulling him closer.
“Little one, when I located you in the dream your thoughts were chaotic. Tell me, what are these humayans that you envisioned?”
Candor laughed, and it felt good. “Humans, Mother. They are an odd species that evolved from mammals. They have lungs and breathe oxygen to survive.”
“Yes, I know that. There are many species of mammals evolving under the watchful eyes of Eos, now that oxygen is becoming more plentiful in our atmosphere. Yet none of them look as you envisioned these creatures.”
“Yes,” he agreed, without knowing exactly why he was agreeing. “They were intelligent bipedal creatures descended from apes.”
“How fascinating,” Janesska replied. “What are apes?”
“Nonsense,” interjected Sador. “Every Penticorian youth knows that our cousins of the air will be the next in line to be raised up by the Goddess. Mammals are too primitive. Cursed to move on four limbs and bereft of any intelligence whatsoever. They are instinctual animals. With only the will to breathe the putrid air that chokes us, eat, and kill their own species. Mammals are hardly the type of creatures that the Goddess would bestow wisdom upon.”
“Obviously they meant something to Candor,” said Janesska as she patted his arm.
Sador shrugged as they neared the end of the hallway. “He died and was being rejuvenated, my beloved. He was delirious. Now mind you I’m not holding it against him. We both know that he gets his vivid imagination from your side of the family, not mine. You should be the one to hold it against him.”
“Ah yes,” said Janesska in a hissing sarcastic tone. “The great house of Shuveen is filled with scientists and bureaucrats. And I pray that they may endure forever, my beloved.”
Sador looked over his shoulder and winked at Janesska playfully. “I may build the house, Shajin Janesska. But only your delicate and skillful touch could make it a home.”
“My fadosh,” she said. She smiled as a green tinge flushed her face and neck. And Candor was amazed at how brilliant and beautiful she looked. The myriad of colors blended seamlessly with the gentle flecks of red, gold, and green on her cheeks.
Sador nodded, and Candor struggled to decipher yet another new word that he didn’t understand. However, his attention was quickly diverted as he looked out over the large underground cavern at the end of the hallway. The size of the grotto was more than a mile across, while being twice that in height. Candor noticed that the wall behind them was honeycombed with exit points, like the one they were standing on. It was a vast and impressive array of stone latticework. All of it polished to a mirror shine, and gleaming brightly from the hundreds of lights flitting back and forth in the open space, along with an astonishing array of illuminated orbs embedded into the walls at regular intervals. To Candor, it was like walking into a room full of multicolored stars.
Unbelievable! Candor thought as his eyes drank in the sight. Sador strolled out toward the ledge, and Candor was concerned that his father would fall. Yet just as he began to call out a warning, the stone beneath his father’s feet extended outward. It was unlike anything Candor had ever seen. There was no bridge to lengthen and retract, no gears turning, no steam venting, and nothing mechanical that Candor could see. Instead the rock beneath Sador’s feet flowed before him like a liquid, while remaining rigid under his steps.
“Come, little one,” Janesska said. After a moment, Candor realized that he looked like an idiot, standing there frozen and slack jawed. Yet he just couldn’t help himself. His human life experiences remained at the forefront of his memories, and he was simply unable to put everything that he was seeing into proper context.
No machines whining. No cars motoring by, no smog, or the smell of burning rubber. This goes beyond my wildest imaginations.
He watched as a myriad of shapes whizzed by them at incredible speed. The only sound was that of the rushing air as it accompanied their passage. And just like a kid in a candy store, Candor
could not resist the question. “Mother, what is this place?”
“Are you well, little one?” She asked, placing a velvety hand to his brow. “You look flustered, and a little more gray than usual. Zyphon said that your memory was in fragments, but surely you remember a simple thing like the Transport Radial?”
“Transport Radial,” Candor repeated. He let the words roll from his tongue as he stared in wonder. This is the stuff of dreams, he added silently. The kind of things reserved for movies, where idyllic futures clash with monumental villains, and dashing heroes and heroines.
“Candor?” asked Sador abruptly. “Are you certain that you are well? Do we need to take you back to Zyphon?”
Candor shook his head no, and was about to say something, when Janesska said it for him.
“No, my husband. Candor is coming home with us, and that is all that I will hear on the matter. He belongs at home where I shall tend to him if the need arises. Besides, he is just confused, nothing more. You said it yourself that rejuvenation leaves some measure of delirium.”
“Wow!” exclaimed Candor. “Is that ours?”
Sador glanced at the ascending vehicle from beneath the alcove of the platform where they were standing. He didn’t have the slightest notion as to why Candor would be so amazed. “Yes, my son,” he replied. Each syllable was drawn out as he watched the excitement in Candor’s eyes. “It is our transport.”
Candor thought that it was the sexiest, sleekest, and most mean looking car that he had ever seen. Oh yea, Father called it a transport. He thought, and then waved at the air as if swatting a bug, dismissing his correction. Because it didn’t matter to him what it was called. All he knew was that he desperately yearned to get behind the wheel, or whatever it had, and see what it could do.
Penticore Prime Page 4
