The Silent Neighbours (Watchers Book 2)

by S. T. Boston

  “Today's the day,” Sam said, his voice frail and thin. “I can feel it.”

  “You said that last time, and the time before that,” Adam replied, not looking a day older than he had when The Gift had been bestowed upon him. He looked at his friend for a brief moment and hoped that indeed today was going to be the day. In Earth years, Sam was now one hundred and fourteen. The Gift, it seemed, during the two years for which he'd held it, had left his body in the peak of excellence. Mixed with the unrivalled healthcare on Arkkadia it ensured Sam's longevity, but with nature left to run her course, even the fittest and healthiest bodies wither and eventually die. Adam knew that for Sam this was his last chance, sadly there would be no prospect of him being by his side in another ten years, or nine planetary cycles if they were working on Arkkadian time.

  It had now been five years since Lucie had passed on, and after such a long life together Adam had fully expected Sam to follow not long after, but he hadn't. It had been a tough time for all of them, Adam began to grasp just what The Gift meant, for Sam and Lucie's family were his family, he was now a great, great uncle, and Xavier, who had been born not long after their arrival on Arkkadia was an old man in his autumn years. He was destined to remain frozen in time and watch generation after generation of his family come and go, like the passing of the seasons. Had it not been for Oriyanna and the love he felt for her, which seemed to grow stronger year by year, he'd have gladly returned to mortality in an instant. They still had no children of their own, after all there was no real rush for them, and they had all the time in the world, so to speak. He was also not sure he could take watching his own children grow old and die, it was bad enough seeing it happen to Lucie and Sam's.

  “We are here today to hear the case of Adam Fisher and Samuel Becker,” began Elohim, his voice booming through the chamber. As he spoke he stood in his booth, his deep brown hair flowed behind his shoulders in waves, highlighted by the royal blue cape which he wore over his white trousers and long-sleeved top. Both garments were decorated in a pattern of golden glyphs running down the arms and around the neckline, much like the one they'd found Oriyanna in all those years ago. Like Oriyanna he was thousands of years old, but looked to be a man in his mid-fifties. His face sported a full set beard, but was soft and kind and his hazel eyes sparkled with knowledge. He addressed the council in Arkkadian but the small earpieces which both Sam and Adam wore translated the language instantly into English. Both of them had learned the native tongue over the years but for matters such as this, still preferred to use the language of their home. “This is the eighth such meeting of this council as Adam Fisher and Samuel Becker make application for legislation to be passed that would see the Earth-Humans learn the truth behind their existence. We all know that this has been the hope of the council for many thousands of years, but we need to look at how this will affect the planet as a whole. The main point being, are they ready? All previous eight applications have been rejected, and as always once you have listened to the evidence made by the applicants the council will need a majority vote of eighty percent for the legislation to be passed. I will now hand the audience over to the applicants.” He looked to Adam and added, “Good luck.”

  “I'll let you do the talking,” Sam whispered, his thin lips turning up a smile. “You were always better at this stuff, I'll just stand here and look pretty.”

  “Members of the council,” Adam began, forcing back a grin at Sam's comment. “We appear before you today to make the aforementioned application,” as he spoke his voice emanated through the room in Arkkadian. “In truth I do not have anything further to present than I did last time I addressed you, so I respectfully won't take up too much of your valuable time. You all know why you are here, and I have no doubt in my mind that you knew how you wanted to vote before you even set foot in the room, for this hearing is just the end of another ten years' worth of work toward our cause. I would, however, ask you to consider the following. Compared to the Arkkadian race we are still young, and with that, foolish. Over the years you have watched over us, seen us make no end of mistakes, and on more than one occasion fight wars which have killed millions, and in that are we not too dissimilar from you. Whilst you have had no domestic conflicts on this planet in thousands and thousands of years, you do understand the necessity of war at times, and it is my hope that now, after the Sheolian conflict over eighty Earth years ago, war will now be truly a part of your history. Sadly, without aid and guidance it will take us many, many more years to reach this point and many millions may die as a result. Nonetheless all of the wars and conflicts we have fought have helped to shape humanity into what it is today, just as it has with you.

  I have kept appraised of my homeworld over the last eighty years and whilst I personally have not been back, I do believe I am in a position to say that we are not the same people who we were in the days leading up to the Nazca incident. The planet is still free of nuclear weapons, it has now been this way for the past seventy five years after the non-launch ready stockpiles were mothballed. Work on the Hundred Year Starship Program is nearing breakthrough, and as your scientists estimate, in a further thirty years Earth-Humans will have a prototype ship that uses the same technologies that you developed. I know for a fact that this planet is known to Earth, but only as a spec of light taken from the Kepler Space Telescope many years ago when I was a young man. We are where you were many thousands of years ago, looking to the stars and wondering if we truly are alone. I can guarantee you that when they do launch that prototype, this will be one of the very first places they send a probe, just like your ancestors did with Earth. Arkkadia is the embodiment of everything that I believe we can be, and with your direct help and guidance I believe you can guide us to this same destiny. Oriyanna once told me that view the people of Earth as a parent views a child, if this is the case do you not believe that it is every child's right to know its parent?”

  “What are your views now on how this will affect the planet's religious dependence?” Elohim asked.

  “It had widely been accepted that when the human race discovers that it is not alone in this vast universe, it will have massive implications for religion. I am, perhaps, not the best person to advise you on this matter as I have never held any of the religions on Earth as a belief. I do know, though, that religion is a two-pronged sword. It has an overwhelming power for good, but it has also been responsible for some of the worst atrocities that the human race has seen. There is no question that it will be the biggest event in human history, there is no doubt that it will shake the planet to its core, however, in our very being we are adaptable to change and it is my belief that in the end this change will be for the better. Although I have lived on this planet for the majority of the time I have been alive, at heart I am still a child of Earth, and as such I believe that myself and Samuel are best placed to know how this revelation will affect our homeworld. Elohim, members of the council, it is my belief that we have been ready for many years, the time is right. Never more so than now. Pass this legislation and help us be all that we can be.”

  “Do you have any further evidence to bring to the council's attention?” Elohim asked.

  “No, sir, that is all.”

  “Very well,” he stood and addressed the room. “You have heard the statement as read by Adam Fisher, it is now your responsibility to vote and pass judgement.”

  One thing that Adam liked was the speed and finesse at which the Arkkadian political system worked, there would be no lengthily discussions and adjournments the matter would be decided then and there, if unsuccessful there were no appeals, it would be another ten years.

  With a little unease, Adam waited in the speakers' box with Sam as the vote was passed. After what seemed like an age, Elohim stood and addressed the room.

  “As you may recall, last time this council met on this matter the legislation was denied having a vote of sixty percent no to forty percent yes.” He paused and looked directly at Adam, his eyes seemed to smile
. “There is no question that you both have slaved on this campaign relentlessly over the last number of years and that today's hearing is just a brief snippet of the work you have done to convince this council. Adam, Sam, it would seem that your work has paid off.” He shifted once again to address the room. “It is the finding of this council by a majority of ninety percent yes, to ten percent no, that new legislation will be passed that will see Earth-Humans learn the truth about their origins.”

  “You did it,” Sam said, slapping Adam on the back.

  “No, we – we did it,” he corrected, not quite able to believe the result.

  “Well done, both of you,” Elohim said, his face carrying a smile. “You have changed the course of both of our planets' history with this decision, I just hope it is the right one.”

  “I can assure you that it is, sir,” beamed Adam.

  “Which now brings us to the matter of when and how this will be done. As leader of this council I decree that one year in Earth time from this day, a mission will be launched to Earth conveying the news. In the time we have between now and then, we will discuss just how this information will be passed so that everyone learns it. You both will be heavily involved in this.”

  “We wouldn't have it any other way, sir,” said Adam. “I would also like us both to be on that craft.”

  “Of course,” Elohim replied.

  Adam looked at his friend and hoped that Sam would be well enough in a year to make the trip. He wasn't so sure.

  Epilogue Part 3

  Xavier Becker emerged from the transportation hub and immediately felt the cold, unforgiving rain hit his grey hair, plastering it to his face. The ice-cold droplets ran down his brow and chased each other along the wrinkles in his skin that had become ever more prevalent over the last few years. He barely noticed the tiny electrical charges that ran all over his body, like a million tiny excitable hands, and why would he? The hub was the only way to travel on Arkkadia, a seemingly infinite number of tiny gateways that crisscrossed the entire planet allowing the user to travel instantaneously to any point on the globe. It was fast, but more importantly it was completely carbon neutral and powered from the planet itself. A much smaller and less power hungry version of The Tabut, which his father and uncle had used to travel here many years earlier. His mother and father, as well as his uncle had told him stories as a boy, stories of Earth and the millions of cars and other fuel hungry devices that were used by Earth-Humans to travel across their planet. Although technically a child of Earth, he'd never seen such things, and to him they seemed as odd and alien as this marvellous system would to any Earth-Human.

  Without thinking he pulled the slightly off white collar of his coat up, hunching it further over his shoulders in a futile effort to stop the intruding rain from running down his neck and reaching his back. Without pausing he immediately made his way along the path and toward Adam and Oriyanna's residence.

  The structure, like many on Arkkadia looked seamless, as if moulded in its entirety at the point of manufacture; the large windows were black, as if Onyx had been fed into the mixture at the time of production. It meant one thing, neither Adam nor Oriyanna were awake yet, and why would they be? It was earlier in the day here than in Unia. Arkus, the planet's sun was still low in the sky, hidden behind the brooding dark grey skies. Behind the three story property the land rolled down to a beach, and in the distance Xavier could just see the closest of the Halethian Islands, the rest were obscured by wet mist. A dreary and depressing dawn was on its way to creating a new day. For the briefest of moments Xavier thought how fitting it was that a day, such as this day, was a reflection on his own sombre mood.

  His shoes splashed their way across the water-logged path and arrived at the door, like the windows it was as black as sack-cloth. There was no time to worry about the earliness of the hour, and clearing his throat Xavier thumped hard on the door, his wet hand balled tightly into a fist. Time seemed to pass in slow motion as he waited, one foot tapping impatiently on the path, splashing up small droplets of water that beaded on his shoes. As he raised his hand to knock for a second time the blackened glass in every window turned perfectly clear, and on the other side, dry and wrapped in a robe was his uncle, Adam. His youthful face still half asleep, his eyes squinting in the dim light to see who was calling at such an early hour. Seeing his younger, yet older looking nephew, his face paled, worry creasing across his brow, just like the lines of age that framed Xavier's emerald green eyes.

  “Is it?” began Adam, pulling the robe tighter around his body as he opened the door and felt the rain on his face.

  “Yes,” replied Xavier solemnly, “he has been asking for you, for both of you!” Xavier stepped into the house and shook a little of the rain from his coat, the droplets flew to the sides and pooled on the granite-like tiled floor, the effect was almost that of a dog shaking himself dry after a swim in a chilly yet inviting lake, Xavier, however, had never seen such an animal, other than in educational texts about Earth.

  Adam turned and made his way toward the bedroom, “How much longer does he have?” he asked, looking briefly over his shoulder, his voice already starting to waver.

  “An hour, two at most. The nurse said it might be less, they just don't know. He is going downhill fast.” Xavier raised his voice as Adam disappeared from view. “They have tried to treat him but he is having none of it, he says it's time!” A minute later his uncle appeared dressed in pale slacks, pulling a thin blue jumper over his matted brown hair. Using his hands he ran them over the material, immediately freeing it of any creases.

  “I see he's still being as stubborn as a mule.”

  “Always,” Xavier replied, managing a half-cocked smile.

  “Some things never change.”

  “Is the hub still open for the return trip?” came Oriyanna's voice as she paced through into the lobby, pawing at her long, sleep-tangled blonde hair in an inane effort to tidy it. She was dressed, but her black legging style trousers and red tee-shirt top looked as if they'd been thrown on in a hurry.

  “Yes, we can go straight to the hospital, but we must leave now!” Xavier turned, pushed the door open and stepped back out into the cold, wet morning. Not bothering to grab a jacket, both Adam and Oriyanna followed suit, and the three huddled figures rushed down the path, toward the transportation hub and vanished.

  * * *

  Adam found Sam laid up in a partially reclined bed, a single small, white square hung four feet above his frail body, it monitored everything from his pulse to his bowl movements. A small screen to the left of the bed displayed the readings in Arkkadian.

  “This is – the – same hospital – they had – us in – right back when – we – first came through –The Tabut,” Sam croaked, noticing Adam and Oriyanna by his side.

  “I know,” Adam replied, taking hold of his friend's hand. It felt bony and cold, almost like a claw. “Is there nothing they can do?”

  Sam smiled, his lips no more than think lines on his mottled flesh, “Likely, yes,” he croaked. “This – isn't the NHS, you – know.”

  “Then let them help you,” Adam pleaded. “We are so close now to going home, I need you there.”

  “No,” Sam said, his face creased with pain and Adam felt his cold grip tighten on his hand. “I'm tired, this – is – your thing, Adam. We both – knew I'd not make that trip, not alive - anyway. I – got to – see us succeed – that is enough.” He broke into a painful wet coughing fit, when he got it under control he grinned and said, “Hey – those NASA guys – are – going to be – pissed when they – find out they are not going to be – the- first to get a human – to an alien - planet. One – small step 'n all that shit.” Sam broke into another fit of hacking coughs that shook his frail body, when it finally subsided he managed a half-cocked smile.

  Adam smiled, too, but it was forced, “Joker 'til the end,” he said, fighting back tears which seemed destined to come no matter how hard he tried to quell them.

 
“I – fully intend – on being – on – that mission. Me and Lucie,” he said, each word seeming harder for him to say than the last. “Take – us home, you know – where.”

  “Oxleas Meadows, where you proposed?” The tears were falling now, he looked at Oriyanna and saw her blue eyes were swimming with them, too. Xavier was sat on a chair, on the opposite side of the bed, clutching his father's other hand.

  Sam nodded, his head moving slowly on the pillow, “That's the – place. Unless they have – built – a – council estate – on it since we – left.” Sam tried to grin but his face drooped slightly. “We – made a – difference, didn't we?”

  “Yeah,” said Adam, his voice broken. “I think we just might have done. It was a hell of a ride, though, huh.”

  Sam didn't offer a reply, he managed to nod his head as if satisfied before falling asleep. Deep, rattling sounds echoed from his frail body.

  “He is very close,” Oriyanna said in a sad voice.

  That was the last time Adam spoke to him, he never regained consciousness. Much to everyone's amazement Sam held on in that comatose sleep for the rest of the morning and most of the afternoon, none of them left his side. Occasionally he would mumble inaudible words as if in conversation with someone. Occasionally he called Lucie's name with amazing clarity, sometimes Adam's, too, as his dying brain randomly fired him through old memories. Adam and Xavier held his hands in theirs the whole time, occasionally moving a loose strand of grey hair from his cold forehead.

  By the early afternoon the morning's rain had cleared and a breeze had chased the clouds away, leaving behind a beautifully bright day. Sam died peacefully as the sun finally began to set behind the distant mountains, casting his hospital room in a golden, almost serene light.