by R. E. Weber
‘There’s gonna be hell to pay for this. What’s gonna happen with the other Affinity species? How many of them are gonna follow? This will blow the Affinity apart.’
Cristos stood up angrily. ‘You know what, I can’t listen to this anymore. I’m leaving.’
‘Cristos, would you please sit down. There are further matters to discuss,’ said First Mentor calmly.
‘Oh really, there are, are there? While we sit down and discuss things, Ruby’s out there, on her own, in danger. I need to go and get her. She needs to be protected. I’m a security officer and it’s my job to protect her. I promised I would…’
‘Cristos,’ said Abs quietly, ‘don’t go, please. I would like to hear what else First Mentor has to say. And I think you would too.’
Cristos looked at Abs, whose expression was one of restrained panic. Then he glanced around the Sensorium and the realisation dawned on him. There were two people missing from the gathering – a thought that had clearly crossed his mind too. He quickly sat back down again.
‘OK, go on.’
‘As you are no doubt aware, Theo and Larissa remain on their Ascent. However, one point four standard days ago, their telemetry streams were interrupted.’
‘What do you mean, interrupted?’ said Weng.
‘Their last reported location was on a space station above the planet Antalothis. From this point forwards, we have received no telemetry from their transponders. Hence we do not know their current status or whereabouts.’
‘W… what’s happened to them?’ said Cristos, his voice cracking as he spoke.
‘Just prior to this meeting, I received a report from an Affinity Navy detachment sent to investigate. They have reported that the space station above Antalothis has been destroyed.’
Abs, Cristos and Weng looked at each other in silence, shocked to the core at what they had just heard.
‘Are Theopolis and Larissa dead?’ said Lara, seemingly unemotional.
Abs threw himself back into his chair, slapped his forehead and sighed. He hadn’t expected Lara to respond so quickly, and he’d been too late to stop her speaking.
‘Oh for god’s sake, Lara, why do you have to be so bloody…well, you,’ yelled Weng.
‘The detachment sent to investigate their disappearance has been unable to find any trace of Theo and Larissa. So their status cannot be confirmed.’
‘Theo and Larissa are dead,’ said Lara stonily. ‘It is the only logical conclusion. They are…’
‘Lara, no,’ said Abs grabbing her firmly by the arm. Lara stopped talking and glared at Abs. Then she rose quietly and left the Sensorium. Abs got up and followed her, keeping his distance.
‘Just bloody well keep her away from me,’ yelled Weng as they left. But there was no reply.
*
Still scowling, Lara marched into her room and sat on her bed. Abs followed and sat next to her. For a moment, they said nothing. Then Abs gently placed his hand on her back.
‘You OK, Lara?’
Lara shrugged him away, then stood up and glared back at him.
‘Why did you prevent me from speaking in the Sensorium?’
‘Because of Cristos and Weng. When you said Theo and Larissa were dead, they were upset.’
‘I do not understand. I was simply stating the most likely outcome of the situation. I wanted them to understand.’
‘Lara, it’s just that they’re not ready to accept it yet. There’s still hope. They may still be alive. You saying they’re dead upset Weng and Cristos.’
‘Abubakar, do you hold their feelings in higher regard than my own?’
‘No, of course not.’
‘Then why did you prevent me from speaking? Do you believe that I do not care about Theo and Larissa?’
‘I…I…’
‘You assumed that because I do not react in the same way as Cristos and Weng that I do not feel the same as them. You are wrong, Abubakar. Theo and Larissa are my friends. I cannot imagine my life without them.’
‘I’m sorry, Lara.’
A single tear formed in the corner of her eye. She didn’t attempt to wipe it away.
‘I would like to be alone now. Will you leave my quarters?’
Abs rubbed his eyes, which had suddenly reddened with tears of his own.
‘OK, Lara.’
Without another word, he rose and left the room. He did not think it was wise to try and contact her again that day.
18 – Mulha Ran
With a sharp intake of breath, Theo’s consciousness returned, and he opened his eyes to see the roof of a rocky cavern, dimly illuminated by a series of softly glowing wall panels. He attempted to lift his head to look around, but there were straps of some sort across his forehead preventing all but the tiniest of movements. He tried to lift his arms, but his wrists were bound together and strapped to a harness around his waist. He then tried to move his legs, but there were restraints around both his ankles and thighs. As he struggled in vain to release himself, he felt a raw pain under the restraints as if he’d been struggling to escape for some time, even though he couldn’t remember anything after falling unconscious on Antalothis.
‘Is there anybody there?’ Theo croaked into the darkness. There was no reply.
‘Help, somebody, please,’ he continued, raising his voice. ‘Release me.’
From behind, he heard some footsteps, and a long shadow fell over him. Then as he looked up, he was startled to see a pair of yellow snake-like eyes staring back at him from under a hood.
‘Hey, you. Untie me, will you?’
The creature stared at him in silence for a moment as if it hadn’t understood. Then a clammy grey hand gripped his face and pulled down his lower eyelids to expose the whites of his eyes.
‘What are you doing? Get off me. Let me go,’ said Theo shaking his head in vain to dislodge the hand.
The creature released his eyelids, lifted its head and stared at him for a moment. Then it disappeared out of sight behind him. He heard a muffled conversation in a language he didn’t understand. Then the figure returned to the bottom of the bed, pointed a tiny rectangular object at him and pressed a button. There was a faint bleep, and the harness around his waist fell away along with the straps around his head and legs. The restraints around his wrists however remained attached. Rolling onto one elbow, Theo lifted himself upright, swung his legs over the side of the bed he had been strapped to and sat up. Then he looked at the hooded creature.
‘Ha sol, melha tahn,’ it said abruptly.
‘What did you say?’
‘Ha sol, melha tahn,’ it said, more insistently this time.
Theo tried to start his companion to get a translation, but there was no response, not even the glimmer of a standby prompt.
‘What have you done to my companion?’ he said angrily.
Without replying, the creature grasped the top of its hood and pulled it back to reveal its head. There were two large, yellow, forward facing eyes set deep into its skull, separated by a bony ridge. Its nostrils were thin and slit-like and sat just above a wide protruding mouth. The bony ridge ran from the tip of its nose, backwards across its skull, forming a small crest at the back. Two small bat-like ears were visible on the side of its rounded head just above where its skull met its thick, muscular neck. Aside from the position of its eyes and its stocky build, it looked a lot like a Polisian.
Realising what he was looking at, Theo stood up and faced the creature, which was marginally taller than him, and stared into its yellow eyes, his heart beating fast. The creature stared straight back at him.
‘Y…you’re him, aren’t you?’ said Theo nervously.
At that moment, he heard a set of footsteps to his right, and turned to see another figure walking towards him out of the darkness.
‘No, he is not,’ replied a voice in perfect English. ‘But I am.’
The figure walked slowly forwards and stopped about three metres in front of Theo. Although it looked like the other
creature in most respects, its body was bent over like that of a cripple, and it was clutching a shiny, black, twisted cane. It wore a long, brown, leathery hooded coat, with several wide pockets on both sides and a variety of straps and smaller pockets along its sleeves. Its under clothes were made from a rough, hand stitched, pale cloth, which hung loosely around its broad torso and muscular legs. Like modern Polisians, it wore no footwear, almost certainly for the same reasons – the hardened skin on the soles of its feet and the shape and spread of its toes. Aside from its feet, it was dressed more like a human than a Polisian.
‘P… Paranoemenos?’ replied Theo, shaking as he spoke.
Resting its metal tipped black cane on the ground to support itself, the creature pulled back its wide, pointed hood to reveal its bony head. Although it had the same shaped head as the other creature, its face was heavily wrinkled and covered with textured symbols and ornate swirls of black, blue and crimson. The markings didn’t look natural. Instead, they were more like tattoos or tribal markings.
‘That is a name I no longer choose to use. However, you are correct. I am, as you so melodramatically state, him. My people refer to me as Mulha Ran. You may refer to me by whatever name you wish.’
‘You speak English?’
‘I speak seventeen languages fluently, including your own.’
‘How? Do you have a companion?’
‘Why would I need such a device? Such things dull the mind and encourage lethargy. I am more than capable of learning simple languages without assistance.’
Theo stared back in silence, unsure exactly how to reply. He was standing face to face with the most wanted creature on a dozen planetary systems. A creature that had murdered thousands, without mercy. A being so consumed with hatred for everything the Affinity stood for, it had even been prepared to murder those of its own kind who had dared to stand in its way.
As Theo looked back into its yellow, reptilian eyes, he could feel the anger welling up inside him – a righteous anger boiling away in the pit of his stomach. Feeling the urge to launch himself towards Paranoemenos, Theo narrowed his eyes and fixed him with an intense stare, his breathing shallow and rapid.
‘I am judging by your reaction that you wish to kill me,’ said the creature.
‘If you hadn’t bound my wrists together, I’d do just that,’ growled Theo.
‘Very well. I will instruct my second in command to remove the restraints. You may then attack me. My people will not interfere with any action you might take against me.’
‘What?’
‘I am incorrect in the assumption that you wish me dead?’
‘No, well yes, but I...’
The creature glanced towards its second in command and nodded. There was a bleep and the wrist restraints dropped to the floor. He was free.
‘Proceed.’
‘Really? You want me to attack you?’
‘Correct.’
‘And none of the others are going to interfere?’
‘No. And in answer to your next question, I do not carry a weapon of any kind. None of us do.’
Theo stared back at the creature with its arched back and walking cane. It was clearly very old and no match for him physically.
‘This is a trick, right? I attack, you drop the cane, pull out a gun and blow me away?’
‘No, Theopolis. I have no weapon as I told you.’
Theo stepped forward as if about to lunge for the creature. None of the others moved towards him. As he stared into the eyes of the creature, he hesitated. Then he relaxed his posture and stepped back.
‘No, I’m not like you. I don’t murder people.’
‘Murder? That is an interesting word. Can you define it for me?’
‘What?’
‘Since you speak English, I assume you are able to articulate the meaning of the words you use, correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then can you please define the word for me?’
‘It’s, well, you know, when you kill somebody without good reason. When you enjoy it. When you can’t help yourself.’
‘And during your extensive research into the history of my kind, you believe that this description applies to us? That the He’tal kill in such a manner?’
‘Yes, I bloody do. You’re a psycho. You killed anybody who didn’t agree with you and everybody who stood in your way.’
‘And if I were to tell you that behind me is the entrance to a tunnel, through which you may escape if you were to kill me, would you do that? If it was the only way to escape, would you kill me?’
‘But that’s not true, is it? That’s just hypothetical.’
‘Is it? Would you care to look behind me?’
Theo glanced past Paranoemenos at the cavern wall. He could just about make out the outline of a doorway and a small rectangular panel.
‘Yeah, right. So I run for the panel, then you pull a gun and shoot me.’
‘And why would I wish to do that?’
‘You’ve been trying to kill me ever since I came to Polisium.’
‘If what you say is true, why do you remain alive? I had the opportunity to let you die on Antalothis. All I needed to do was to leave you on the planet. The toxins from the taltat would have killed you both very quickly.’
You both. As the realisation dawned on Theo, he glanced around the room frantically, before looking back at Paranoemenos.
‘Larissa, where is she? What have you done with her?’
‘Do not concern yourself. Your friend is alive. She remains unconscious while we treat her. Her body had weakened due to her neck injury, and it will take longer to bring her back to health. She will however recover.’
‘If anything’s happened to her, I’ll… I’ll bring the entire Affinity Navy down on you. They’ll destroy you and your bloody torture chambers. I don’t care what happens to me as long as they take you out.’
‘Then leave. Operate the access panel and escape. A space vessel is at the end of the tunnel. Its controls are simple enough for you to operate.’
‘Sorry, I don’t buy it. There’s no way you’re gonna let me escape. You know I’d just tell the Affinity where you are.’
‘May I suggest an alternative reason behind your lack of action?’
‘Go on then, shock me.’
‘I believe that you wish to know us – to understand us. You have an inquisitive mind, Theopolis. When puzzles are presented, you follow them to their conclusion. That is why you are here. That is why you accepted our invitation. You wish to know about us. You wish to know the truth behind the myth.’
‘What invitation? I didn’t respond to any invitation. The reason I’m here is because you captured me.’
Paranoemenos stared back at Theo, silent for a moment. Then he stepped backwards and sat down on a large boulder.
‘I have to say, Theopolis, I’m disappointed. If you truly believe that you are here because you were captured, you are not the being I once thought you were. Do you not recall your discovery of our insignia?’
Theo stared at Paranoemenos, then at the back of his hand. A little over a year before, the faint impression of a symbol had appeared there. And when he had searched for an explanation, the result had been matched with ninety-four percent accuracy: the symbol of the Metah Dah. Their insignia.
Theo held up the back of his hand towards Paranoemenos. ‘That was you?’
‘That was us,’ he corrected.
Theo looked back at his hand, then at the creature sat before him, his mind working through the possibilities.
Several weeks before, he’d had a dream. And in that dream, he’d been sinking into the depths of an ocean. When he’d looked up, he’d seen the symbol of the Metah Dah shimmering on the surface. Had they somehow impressed the symbol on his unconscious mind? The images in his dream had borne a startling similarity to what he had experienced on Antalothis, albeit without the symbol on the surface. Had his dream of a deep ocean impressed upon him an unconscious need to visit suc
h a planet?
Paranoemenos watched silently as Theo processed what he’d been told, before finally interrupting.
‘I see that your mind begins to question. This is good. You should question. You should seek your own answers, for everything.’
‘How did you do it? How did you plant the symbol on my hand and in my mind?’
‘That you should ask such a question means that you have failed to understand us. You seek an enemy – one that exists in a specific place at a specific time. That is not us. We are many places and many times. We touch everywhere and everything, yet we are of one mind and one will.’
‘Nice speech,’ said Theo, clapping sarcastically. ‘But why don’t you just say what you mean and cut the bullshit? Even First Mentor’s not that cryptic.’
Paranoemenos rose quickly and then jabbed his walking cane at Theo.
‘You know that being? It remains within the Affinity?’
‘Yeah, not that it’s anything to do with you.’
‘And it is well? Its faculties are intact?’
‘First Mentor is the most incredible being I have ever met. It is a million times better than you or your kind will ever be.’
‘With that, I will not argue. I have known that being a long time. When we were forced to separate, it was an extremely regrettable experience.’
‘Are you trying to tell me you were friends?’
‘Although we disagreed on many things, yes we were friends. We were more than friends. We were brothers if that is the correct term. We were kindred.’
‘I don’t believe you. First Mentor would never be a friend to someone like you.’
‘So certain are you? Know that being so well, do you?’
‘You’re just playing games with me. If you’d been friends, it would have told me. It’s all lies. You hate the Affinity and everybody in it. You hate everything it stands for, and you’ll do anything to destroy our way of life.’
Paranoemenos stamped his cane hard on the rocky floor and stared angrily at Theo, snorting heavily.
‘You know nothing, you infantile creature,’ he growled, his hand shaking as it gripped the top of the cane. ‘I loved the affinity. What it has become is a corruption. It is you and what is left of them that hate – that destroy, that kill.’
