by Gabe Sluis
“So you think the dark star has returned?” Aros said.
“It has been long enough. I believe that Ekam was one of those dispatched to send the child off. Since he has not been heard from, I feel something has gone wrong. Mayhap the Dohit have tried again to take this child. We have all heard the stories of Tarkin that have escaped capture by the Dohit. There have been stories of gloves and experiments. Perhaps the Dohit have become envious of us as well as the Nar.”
“I should find Kya. Thank you for your wisdom old man,” Aros said and quickly left.
***
Kya was returning from a path leading south of the village when Aros finally found her. He waited in a branch above the main path, watching her walk back. He seemed to be stuck, paralyzed with not knowing what to say. He wondered how she would look after five years, wondered how much she had changed. She was slightly above average in height and thin. She continued to walk beneath and past him. Her hair was medium length and straight. As children, her auburn hair was always long and wild. She looked so grown, and with a closer look, Aros was even more unsure of how to approach her.
She stopped. After a second, she spun around on her heals and looked up to the exact place where Aros had concealed himself.
“So are you going to mess around, or come down here and say hello to me?”
Aros swung down and landed in front of her.
“I was getting to it. I just had not yet figured out what to say,” Aros said. “Hello Kya.”
“Hello Aros. Come on, let’s walk.”
They began to walk back to the village. When the path became tight, Aros dropped behind Kya and let her go first. They walked slowly, no haste in their movements.
“So, you finally came back home. How long are you here for?”
“As long as I want, I have nowhere to be. I am done with the guardians.”
“You didn’t decide to continue on with the Verdur? What are you going to do?”
“I haven’t said no, but I think I am going to take some time to see what I want to do. How about you,” Aros asked. “I am surprised you are still here and have not taken off.”
“I know. Things have been quiet here since everyone left. I thought about going to Kayros and finding an apprenticeship. I have always wanted to see the hanging gardens and the theater. This place is just so small. You never meet anyone from outside our forest. I bet you loved it in Kayros.”
“It is a great place. Busy, but exciting as well. So many Tarkin.” Aros paused as he mustered his next thoughts. “I heard that Ekam hasn’t checked in with you.”
She stopped and turned to him. “No, he has not.” She leaned against a vertical branch they were passing. “I’m just so worried. It’s not like him. He goes out of his way to let us know he is okay after he is headed home from a mission. Its probably not allowed, but he does it anyway. He is really good about letting us know he is okay. My only brother… He said he would check back in nine days at the most. It’s been a whole day over. I just know something went wrong. I have come to trust my feelings on these things.”
“He didn’t tell you where or what he was going to do?”
“No, you know how secretive Verdur have to be,” she said. “He did say this was a big one for him, he was lucky to be chosen for the task.”
“Yeah. He probably only knew he was supposed to meet an Appointer. From there he would find out what his task was. No one from the council has contacted your family about him?”
“No, and we don’t know what to do. We are almost certainly not supposed to know what Ekam told us before he left. You know the way things work over there, what should we do?”
“I know someone I can call and make an inquiry.”
“Thanks,” Kya said, not sounding fully hopeful. They continued their walk back.
“We were good friend, right Aros?”
“I’d say we were.”
“Even though we have both grown up and changed, I hope we can end up friends again.”
“Shouldn’t be that hard,” He said and bumped into her.
Kya hit him in the arm and they were back home.
***
The day passed by. An early dinner was held in honor of Aros and Akoda’s return. The whole village showed up and everyone had a good time getting caught up. Kya was quite, sitting on the far side of the large table in the community tree. She smiled and let the others talk. Aros and Akoda caught her eye from time to time and she made an effort to look cheerful, although both could tell she was deeply troubled.
As the meal wound down, Aros slipped out at the first opportunity. He went to his room and grabbed his handheld communicator, checking his room’s computer for the communication codes that he would need for the call he intended to make. After assuring his device was set with the proper set of frequency hops and on the correct time, he left his room. Dusk was falling as he scaled the trees to the upper levels. It had been five years, but he still knew all the best route to take to the villages main communication point.
With the trees in the forest being so thick and tall, transmitting points had to be placed in the tallest trees, to avoid any interference. While physically visiting the communication point was not necessary to make a call, the chances of having your call intercepted between the caller and the transmitter became much smaller. As guardians, the training step to become independent Verdur, the precautionary step was an ingrained action. Aros reached the small transmitter station, set into the last few feet of the trunk, he followed the cable with his eyes out to the small parabolic dish at the very top. No splices or foreign devices. He then scanned his surroundings. He didn’t have a strong feeling of being alone, but couldn’t distinctly detect anyone either.
Aros clipped the flat side of his communicator into the docking port of the transmitter. All the equipment was bought or traded from the Dohits, and fully checked out by the Tarkin to ensure security. Aros then rechecked the settings and activated the call. He sat and waited for his grandfather to see he had an incoming call and get to a place where he could answer. The blinking blue light, signifying an unnoticed call, quickly changed to blinking green as he acknowledged but had not yet answered. Aros sat patiently, listening to the forest.
“I am Arrin.”
“Hello, Grandfather.”
“Hello, young man. You made it back home, I see.”
“I did.”
“Great. How is everyone? My daughter?”
“Fine, everyone is fine, with the exception of the family of a Verdur from here. He goes by the name Ekam,” Aros said. “They had some concerns about a mission he was on.”
Arrin took a deep breath. “I am sending you a new frequency hop. Wait until we both sync up.”
Two clicks came out of the speaker and the blinking light went yellow for a few seconds. When the red of connection came back on, Aros began.
“I know this is inappropriate, but I wanted to ask if you knew anything about his mission. What happened? I heard some interesting rumors.”
“This is very inappropriate,” Aros’s Grandfather said heavily. “But I am going to tell you a few things, because I am frustrated. I just came out of a meeting of the Tarkin council. To discuss the exact mission you are asking me about now.”
“What happened to have the whole council discussing it?”
“The grey star called us together to tell us that his Appointer went, two days ago, to meet up with the team and found no one. He did some more investigating and what he found was disturbing. It appears the team was ambushed.” He stopped.
“Is it true they were moving the…” Aros lowerd his voice, “the dark star?”
“Where did you hear that?” Arrin demanded. He was clearly flustered.
“The legend. I guess its true.”
“Oh, it's no legend, boy. I was just a young man when the last one showed up. We were trying to prevent what happened last time. But it looks like we may have not been successful.”
“Has anyone else
been sent? Seven Tarkin don’t just disappear.”
“No, and that is what happened at the meeting. We have intelligence that suggests that the Dialon Kingdom has made a play for the dark star, and have our Verdur as prisoner now. The Council has voted to not send in any more teams. They want things to calm down. They want to try and talk with the Dohits first. They have grown soft,” he said in disgust. “We need to find that boy!”
“We need to get our Verdur back. Where did they take them?”
“The best we have is they were ambushed near the North Sea Palace. That’s all we have. Every Appointer we have is out searching for information.” Arrin took a deep breath again.
“Thank you, Grandfather.”
“Don’t try to get yourself involved, Aros. Leave this to the Appointers and the Council to sort out. Just tell the family that we are doing everything we can. We will get their son home.”
“Yes, Grandfather,” Aros said and punched the disconnect. He sat and stared at his handheld for a moment. How will I tell Kya her brother is missing, probably captured by Dohits? He grabbed his handheld and turned to go. I’ll just have to tell her what my grand father told me to…
Aros climbed down from the top of the tree and leapt onto the first large branch. Turning away from the trunk to head for home, he came face to face with Kya. His brain kicked into gear, preparing to recite the story of what he had discovered when she spoke first.
“I heard everything,” she said with tears rolling down her cheeks.
“I am so sorry.”
“I have made up my mind,” she said. “I’m going after him. I can’t wait for a bunch of old men skulking around while my brother is hurt or in some Dohit labor camp. I can’t loose him.”
Aros truly felt sorry for his old friend, but was a bit baffled by her loyalty to her brother. He had been nothing but insufferable growing up, always giving Aros a hard time and acting like the best at everything. Aros had no siblings, only about half of any Tarkin children did. He did not feel the strong connection to anyone the way Kya did to her brother. All Aros had, were his friends.
“I’m leaving tonight. I will get some things…” she said, turning away in thought. “I can get to the North Sea Palace by tomorrow afternoon…”
“I will come with you…” Like that, his mind was made up. “…You’ll need someone with you. I know my way around a hon-ra, which you may end up needing as well.”
Kya turned around and looked Aros full in the face. There eyes meet for a long second, then she threw her arms around his neck. Aros was stunned. By the time he had it registered what had happened, she had released him.
“Thank you so much. In truth, I have barely left this forest…”
“There is nothing to it. But we should leave in the morning. We need some rest before we go. And, I will see if Akoda wants to join us.”
Kya nodded and wiped at her eyes.
“Pack light, we may have a long way to go.”
They climbed back down to the village together, both lost in their own thoughts. When they reached the point where they would have to split to go to their separate trees, Kya grabbed Aros’s hand.
“I feel bad, you just got back. And now here I am, dragging you off again.”
“Ehh, this place will always be here. Besides, I’m sure it will be a quick trip.”
She released his hand. “Right here tomorrow? Right before the sun rises?”
Aros agreed and Kya set off to her own tree where she would pack some things in a dual-tube pack and try to fall asleep. Aros stayed on the branch.
As soon as Kya was out of sight, Akoda dropped down from his hidden place higher up in the trees. He looked at Aros and shook his head.
“What do you say, want to do one last run?” Aros asked.
“Aros,” he began with a sigh. “I’m done with all this. I don’t want to go running around in the night anymore for anyone other than me. Her stupid brother is probably locked away in some impenetrable Dohit yard where we have no chance of reaching him. And this dark star kid, I don’t even know. Let the Verdur handle that. Not our problem. You should listen to what your grandfather said.”
“She needs someone to look out for her. She has her mind set on going and she’d be lost without someone helping her. You sure that you won’t come?”
“No. I’m going home. I will leave to Lantun tomorrow. After the sun comes up. I wish you luck and let me know how it turns out.”
Akoda slipped away, now in the full dark, leaving Aros sitting in the contrasting light of darkness and the lights from the village below. He looked across the way and saw Akoda slip inside the third level.
Oh, well. Akoda was a good friend, but this was not his fight. Aros didn’t blame him. His eyes shifted over to the face of his great-grandfather carved into his home. He had never met the man, but felt like he could sense the sort of Tarkin he was, just from the likeness of his face. Aros sat for a while before he ventured to his room.
***
The next morning Kya met Aros where they parted the day before. Both were packed with minimal supplies, and they departed their village in the quiet of the early morning. The pair headed north across their forest in the direction of the North Sea Palace. The first place they would start their search was an old Dohit city on the ocean. It was one of the first real Dohit cities, constructed out of stone, full of open patios and circular towers. The city was abandoned for a time as the Dohits refined their construction type to the more current emerald buildings, that caught and converted the energy of the sunshine. The old city was eventually reused as a major trading center, a marketplace for all kinds of products and services, and open to all. Now, the modern Dohit city stood north and inland from the ancient stone patio.
Between the forests that Aros and Kya called home, the North Sea Palace lay grasslands similar to the ones Aros had crossed only days prior. The only difference was that this area was much more rocky and had small groves of trees scattered about. When the two finally reached the tree line, still midway up, they surveyed the type of terrain still to be crossed.
“This is going to take forever to cross,” Kya said, “It will be a three day cold trail by the time we begin to look for answers!”
“So don’t walk,” a voice came from behind them.
Aros just shook his head and laughed as Kya turned to greet Akoda.
“You came! Aros said you had to return home,” she said hugging him. “Why did you change your mind?”
“Well, I couldn’t let Aros think he could protect a pretty girl like you all by himself,” he said with a grin.
“So, what is your plan then, lazy Akoda?”
“I’m glad you asked, good friend. We are going to take a tri-blade.”
“Really? You have a tri-blade?” Kya asked.
“Well, I know where one is… That we can borrow,” he said bumping into Aros as he passed him, heading west. “Follow me.”
“Pleased to see you decided to come along,” Aros said.
“Well. I could use some things from the market anyway…”
***
They moved a short distance across the woods and Akoda began to decent. They arrived at the stump of an old tree that had died or been cracked by a storm. The stump looked normal enough, that was until the trio transferred from a neighboring branch to the leveled stump.
“What is this? Camouflage?” Aros asked as he sprung lightly on to the surface.
“It is. Look, peel it back here,” Akoda instructed.
The tarp like covering stretched perfectly to fit around the top of the stump and functioned like the cap on the opened top room below. Aros was amazed by the detail of the coloring used on the false stump, it looked just like the real thing. Below, the stump was hollowed out like a room, containing a tri-bladed flying vehicle. Akoda jumped down onto the pilots seat.
“A elder in my village keeps this here. He loans it out when people want to make a trip up north. I’m sure he will never miss it.”<
br />
“It is sure better than walking. You good on flying this thing?” Aros said, climbing aboard.
“He let me take the controls once,” Akoda replied. “Now, the start up sequence… There!”
The tri-blade hummed to life. Two small fans on the bottom side sat in the front of the triangular shaped vehicle. A large main fan for vertical thrust, dominated the back portion below the pilots chair. Kya took her place opposite of Aros, in a prone position over one of the smaller directional fans. The craft could fit one more person between Aros and Kya, so as to balance the vessel in the event of an even number. Akoda made one more suggestion before they took off.
“You may want to put on your jackets, flying this thing up north can get pretty cold.”
The tri-blade fans increased in power, creating the oddest sensation of weightlessness. It quickly rose from its hiding spot and began to creep out of the forest. Once clear of the wind resistance provided by its parking spot, the vehicle made a sharp drop towards the ground. It quickly bounced back to its cruising height once it got closer to the ground. Akoda tilted the front fans, setting the forward speed of the tri-blade. They were off to the North Sea Palace, cutting their journey time from hours to minutes.
***
The trip up the coast took them until the sun was at its zenith. They landed the flyer in the outskirts of the city and covered it with the camouflage tarp that they had taken from the forest. It was grey and overcast on the coast, as it was most mornings until the sun burnt away the fog in the afternoon. The three young Tarkin were all wearing their fitted animal skin jackets. Aros and Akoda flipped their hoods up. They walked single file towards one of the south entrances of the small city.
“So what is the plan here, anyway?” Akoda asked. “Are we just going to march up to one of the Dialon princes and say, ‘We heard some people in your kingdom might have kidnapped a bunch of our highly trained warriors, can you tell us what happened to them?’ I’m sure there have already been Appointers all over this place asking questions.”
“Do you have any better ideas? I was just going to ask about my brother. I have a picture of him. Someone had to have noticed him if this was the last place he was seen. And plus, I’m a young girl and family, not a representative of the Tarkin council’s will. I don’t know what else to do. Aros?”
