by S. W. Ahmed
Sharjam refused to touch it. After much arguing that led to no conclusion, Dumyan grabbed some of the meat, pulled down Sharjam’s veil and attempted to push the food into his brother’s mouth by force. But before things got too violent, Sharjam eventually succumbed and took a bite.
“It tastes like mud,” he said, feeling revolted.
Dumyan chewed thoughtfully, his face showing displeasure as well. “I wonder why these Doolins believe we’re gods,” he said between bites.
“And how could they even know about Aftarans, when there’s no record of these creatures anywhere?” Sharjam added.
“Ay, it makes little sense. But it’s obvious they’ve interacted with Aftarans before.”
“They weren’t surprised to see us either, which indicates that they have Aftaran visitors on a regular basis. But who?”
“I wonder if Wazilban is behind this, actually. Though I wonder what he would possibly want with primitive marine creatures such as these.”
Sharjam thought for a moment. “Hasn’t Wazilban done this sort of thing before? Remember how he came to power.”
“You mean the Eelaks? Yes, good point.”
As disgusted as he was by the taste of the Fouaa, Sharjam felt better after eating. He then tended to the wound on his leg, while Dumyan did the same to his hip. Soon after, a number of Doolins swam into view outside and bowed their heads before the Aftarans.
Chancellor Kah came forward, her face almost touching the transparent wall. “I sincerely am hoping that the Fouaa was at least somewhat edible for you?”
“Yes, it was quite good,” Dumyan said. “We enjoyed it.”
“Would you now like to rest, or inspect the fields?”
“We would like to inspect the fields,” Dumyan said after a pause.
“Hooooooeeeeeeeeee!” Kah cooed. “Please fill your robes with air and cover your faces.”
Dumyan and Sharjam did as they were told. The door to the room slid open, and water gushed back in. Once the water level had risen above their heads, they stepped through the door and followed Kah out of the building. There, a vehicle was waiting for them, similar to the one that had picked them up earlier. This time, the Aftarans went inside the vehicle, finding a snug cockpit with large windows that gave clear views of the outside. There were no seats, just enough space to stand in the back. Another Doolin was at the helm, ready to operate the single joystick-like control with his front flippers. Kah also came inside, and took position in the front next to the pilot. The Doolins did not stand – they gently swayed their tails from side to side, keeping their balance in the water that way.
The vehicle began moving, heading downwards out of the city and towards the ocean bed. Every now and then, a vehicle passed by in the opposite direction, heading back to the city. The surroundings soon grew very dark, until nothing outside was visible. Occasionally, fishlike creatures appeared ahead in the glow of the vehicle’s single headlamp. Startled by the light, they instantly swam away.
Sharjam wondered how the Doolins could navigate through such darkness. He surmised that they had to have very powerful eyes, as he could not identify any other form of navigational aid or instrument inside the cockpit.
It took almost a half hour to reach the bottom of the ocean. The pilot pointed the vehicle’s headlamp downwards, revealing a gray, rocky surface. Then, up ahead, the surface suddenly gave way to a deep, dark abyss. Sharjam didn’t like its looks at all, and really hoped they weren’t heading into it.
But that was exactly where they were heading. As the vehicle descended into the abyss, he could sense how big it was. The other end wasn’t even visible, nor was the bottom. But what was visible was something he could not even remotely have imagined. Rows and rows of red lights came into view below, stretching as far as the eye could see in each direction. And there were multiple levels of them, one below the other, stretching as far as the eye could see below.
The vehicle descended to the first level, in between two rows. Other vehicles could be seen ahead and below, either stationary or moving slowly. There were many Doolins swimming about, tending to the lights.
“So these are the fields,” Sharjam thought. Evidently, whoever had taught the Doolins to worship Aftarans had also ordered them to take care of these fields. Those same Aftarans probably came to inspect the fields on a periodic basis, and the Doolins had mistaken Dumyan and Sharjam for those Aftarans.
But what was growing in the fields? What were those mysterious red lights? Why did they need to be here, at the bottom of the ocean on a desolate planet? Who could possibly be behind all this, and why? There had to be hundreds of thousands, if not millions of those lights here in this chasm.
Sharjam tried to get a closer look at the lights. As the vehicle passed each light, he noticed that there was a balloon-like, spherical shell surrounding the light. Floating in the water with no visible support, the sphere had a diameter of about 3 feet. Inside was the red light, a brilliantly glowing sparkle that seemed to have no fixed shape. It just kept dancing around within the confines of its shell, sometimes looking like a star, at other times like a cube or even a series of disconnected straight lines. All the other spheres were identical in size and appearance.
Unable to communicate in the water, both brothers glanced at each other in complete bewilderment.
The vehicle progressed along the row for a while, then descended to other levels below and repeated the same procedure. It stopped in front of each sphere, giving the Aftarans an opportunity to examine it closely.
“They have to be some kind of living beings,” Sharjam thought. And whatever they were, they were growing, like crops. The Doolins were feeding the spheres from containers of some gaseous or liquid substance, containers that they kept refilling from somewhere in the depths of the abyss below.
Kah turned around to face the Aftarans, with an inquisitive look in her eyes. Dumyan nodded to her. Kah flapped her flippers in delight and cooed a command to the pilot. The vehicle then tilted upwards and lifted out of the crater. Soon they were on their way back up to the Doolin city.
A half hour later, Dumyan and Sharjam were back in the same air-filled chamber, with Kah and a number of other Doolins outside facing them through the window.
“O Beloved Lords, we sincerely are hoping that our humble efforts in the fields have been to your liking?” Kah said, her high-pitched voice crackling through the loudspeaker in the chamber.
“Yes,” Dumyan replied. “Everything seemed in order. They, ah, appear to have grown since our last visit.”
“Yes, O Lords who are so observant!” Kah said, bowing to them again. “The Starguzzlers are steadily growing. We hope, by your will and grace, that they will be ready to leave our waters and join you in the Heavens by the date you ordered.”
“Starguzzlers – what a strange name!” Dumyan thought. “Yes, now about that date,” he said aloud.
Kah looked concerned. “Would a year no longer be sufficient for our gracious Lords?” she asked.
“A year is definitely longer than we’d like, but it will do.”
“Hooooooeeeeeeee! Thank you, O Bountiful Lords of the Heavens above!” Kah flapped her flippers as she bowed. The other Doolins behind her did the same.
Another Doolin swam into view from outside, and quietly cooed something to Kah. Kah seemed both surprised and happy at the news.
“Dear Lords, we are indeed so fortunate to be graced by the presence of more of you,” she announced. “Two more Lords have just arrived in our city by fire-chariot. Would you like to join them?”
Sharjam looked at Dumyan in alarm.
“Not quite yet,” Dumyan replied, keeping his cool. “We’d like to rest a little first, and then pleasantly surprise the other Lords. They’re not expecting us here.”
“But of course!” Kah said. “We fully understand. We will not mention to the other Lords that you are here.”
“Good. Where are the other Lords staying, by the way?”
“They are
in a neighboring building, the one with the tower, dear Lords,” Kah replied. “We will leave you now.” With that, she bowed and swam out, the other Doolins following her.
“That was a close call!” Sharjam whispered to Dumyan.
Dumyan was worried. “We need to get out of here as soon as possible,” he said. “The Doolins’ dumbness might very well cause one of them to blurt out our presence to Wazilban’s emissaries.”
“You’re certain they’re Wazilban’s emissaries?”
“Who else could possibly be behind this whole scheme? None other in the Dominion would have the resources, or even the desire.”
Sharjam nodded. “In fact, this might also explain why Wazilban has been so keen to make sure none of us escape from Tibara. He’s worried we might discover what he’s been up to here on neighboring Droila.
“Maybe those Starguzzlers are weapons of some sort. The name itself seems to indicate that they might somehow be capable of causing damage to entire stars. Although I have no idea how something so small could harm something as large as a star. I wonder how Wazilban could possibly have acquired the knowledge to build such a weapon, and who he might use it against.”
“Maybe against our archenemies – the Phyrax and Volona. Maybe our Mendoken friends, or maybe even our own people. I wouldn’t put anything past Wazilban. In any case, it will clearly be to strengthen his power over the Dominion by force, and possibly over the whole galaxy.”
Sharjam looked horrified. “Wazilban is leading our people on a path to utter destruction. If only the Creator would open their eyes!”
“Well, our eyes are open,” Dumyan said, “and it’s up to us to get the word out.”
After some discussion on their escape plan, the two brothers slowly slid open the door to their air-filled chamber. As the water gushed in, they covered their faces with their robes and slipped out. Luckily there were no Doolins in the corridor. They swam to the front door, and cautiously slid it slightly open.
Dumyan peered out. There were a number of Doolins swimming about outside, as well as a few vehicles moving through the bottomless street. He surveyed the surroundings for the neighboring building with the tower that Kah had mentioned. He spotted it on the other side of the street, a couple of buildings away. The tower was thin and about 20 feet tall, atop a 2 story cubic building.
About another 40 feet above the top of the tower, he noticed a big shadow, and smiled. It had to be the ship the other Aftarans had come on, and it would hopefully be the ship he and his brother would use to leave this planet. The difficult part, however, would be getting up there without being noticed. Although the area wasn’t well lit, there were Doolins about. And the trip down to the Starguzzler fields had already proven that Doolins had excellent eyesight in the dark.
Nonetheless, the brothers had a plan, one that centered on the fact that the city’s buildings had no ground foundations. Dumyan dived through the door opening, making straight for the open water under the bottom of the building. Sharjam followed suit. Right away, they pushed themselves flat up against the floor of the building, staying out of sight. Fortunately, as they had hoped, there were no Doolins swimming below the street level. There was one vehicle that could be seen heading down to the depth of the ocean, and another coming back up to the city. But their occupants didn’t seem to have noticed the Aftarans.
Next, the two brothers edged their way along the building floor to the side facing the street. If they tried to just swim across the street, they would instantly be spotted. Instead, their plan was to cross under the cover of vehicles that were moving along the street in either direction. Since the street was only wide enough to fit two vehicles at a time, their hope was that they wouldn’t need more than two vehicles to reach the other side.
A vehicle soon approached on their side of the street, gliding along at a distance of 3 feet from the edge of the building. Dumyan waited for the vehicle to reach their position, and then jumped to its underside. Sharjam followed. They couldn’t find anything to clutch onto, so they had to swim very fast to stay hidden under the moving vehicle.
They had swum well past the building with the tower, before another vehicle heading in the opposite direction finally appeared. At the moment the two vehicles passed each other, they jumped again, just barely covering the 5 feet of distance between the two vehicles.
Once the vehicle passed by the building with the tower, they jumped to that building’s underside. Their next task would now be to climb up the wall to the top of the tower and make a dash for the ship above, all the while staying out of sight. If any Doolins noticed them on that final swim across the open water, they would hopefully still be able to make it in time to the ship and take off.
The far side of the building faced a narrow alley, and was the ideal wall for climbing up in hiding. Dumyan and Sharjam edged their way slowly up that wall, covering the base 2 stories without any incident. They were already halfway up the tower, when a few Doolins suddenly swam past nearby.
Dumyan was ready to kick himself in dismay. But to his surprise, the Doolins kept on swimming, unbothered by what they had seen. At first, he thought he and Sharjam were lucky that the Doolins were so dumb. But then he wondered if the whole thing was a trap. Maybe the Doolins had already tipped off the other Aftarans, and the Aftarans were now waiting inside the ship.
“Maybe’s, maybe’s,” he said to himself. Maybe’s had never prevented him from taking action in the past, and they certainly wouldn’t do so now when he was so close to the ship, so close to his means of escape.
He noticed Sharjam frantically waving his arms, trying to get him to stop climbing. “Typical Sharjam,” he thought, “always the hesitator.”
Dumyan jumped into the open water from the tip of the tower, swimming as fast as he could towards the ship. Turning his head back for a brief second, he was glad to see Sharjam swimming behind him.
Other Doolins further away could now clearly see them swimming across the open water, but they didn’t react either.
The ship above was now in full view. It was a standard medium-range Boura-class vessel, used by small groups of Aftarans to travel between neighboring star systems within the Dominion. It had the shape of a submarine, with a long, thin snout that widened towards the middle and thinned out again towards the end. A hump above the middle section served as the cockpit. The ship was not very big, especially compared to the longer range Gyra-class vessels. It was about 200 feet long, with a width of 40 feet and a height of 50 feet at its widest point. Its color was a dim orange – standard for most Aftaran ships. Not that the color was really visible so deep underwater, at least not to Aftaran eyes.
Dumyan reached the front of the ship and pressed a latch on the lower hull. A small door slid open next to the latch, and he swam up into a small, dark compartment. Once Sharjam had swum up behind him, he closed the latch and hit a control on the wall. The water began draining out right away.
“Dumyan, this could be a trap!” Sharjam whispered, uncovering his face once the water level had dropped below their heads.
“I know, but we have to take our chances,” Dumyan said, removing the veil around his own face. “There’s no alternative.” With that, he pressed another latch on the low ceiling, and a door above them slid open. Holding on to the edges of the opening with his hands, he pulled himself up into the ship’s main corridor.
“Be careful!” Sharjam hissed, pulling himself up behind his brother.
Both brothers began surveying the ship, opening the door to every room to check if anybody was there. Luckily there weren’t too many rooms – Boura-class vessels weren’t meant to house more than 9 or 10 Aftarans at a time. There was nobody in sight. After checking the last room, they felt satisfied that the ship really was empty.
Dumyan then made his way through the narrow corridor to the center of the ship, feeling relieved to be back in an air-filled environment. He found the latch he was looking for on the wall, and pressed it. A door slid open in the ceiling,
and he climbed up through it into the cockpit.
Dumyan knew all about Boura-class vessels. He had piloted many of them in his younger days. Quite the stellar champion he had been, always defeating others in racing competitions. But the majority of Aftarans didn’t care for these kinds of adventures or material extravaganzas – they were too busy praying and meditating in their monasteries. His outstanding flying skills had never gained much fame or glory among the general public.
“This is more like it!” he said gleefully, as Sharjam joined him in the cockpit. Sitting and leaning back in the pilot’s seat, he began to feel right at home.
Sharjam sat down in an adjacent seat, the only other seat in the snug cockpit. Both seats faced a wide screen that gave a clear view of the outside. The controls were very simple – there were none, not even a dashboard or a steering column. This was typical for Aftaran ships, since they relied on mind interfacing. Pilots controlled their ships’ functions with their thoughts, by simply thinking that they wanted their ships to move, turn or stop.
Dumyan closed his eyes and tried to focus his thoughts. Within a few seconds, the ship’s lights went on and the kilasic engine sprang to life. The vessel began moving through the water, slowly at first, then tilting upwards and quickly gaining speed. Soon it splashed through the ocean’s surface and flew into the stormy skies of Droila.
Chapter 18
The soothing sound of gently breaking waves stirred Marc awake. He slowly opened his eyes, and the first thing he noticed was the bright sunlight in the room. Turning his head to the right, he saw a row of windows across the wall through which the light was entering. There was a balcony outside, covering the full length of the wall. A light, pleasant breeze was blowing in through the open balcony door, causing the thin curtains in front of the windows to dance around. The ceiling and the walls were all white, as were the bed sheets. There was no other furniture in the room, just the big, comfortable bed he was lying on. Where was he, he wondered? Was he dead? Was this heaven? It couldn’t possibly be hell?
