Reality: The Struggle for Sternessence

by Daniel A. Liut

  “Sir, I think I should—”

  “No, no, no, no, no, Mr. Dahncion. You must not forget that you are under a strict interrogatory procedure. Therefore, you will strive to limit your answers exclusively to the scope of my questions. Do I make myself clear?”

  Duncan did not answer. Resistance could be read in his eyes. Yet he knew he was dealing with potentially important allies for the Realdom. Their nation was at war with another that was known to receive Establishment aid. Impossible as it seemed, Duncan had to do his best to try to communicate with his interrogator.

  “Do I make myself clear, Mr. Dahncion?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Excellent. So now, I will make things easy for you. I will reformulate my last questions addressing the details. Mr. Dahncion, have you and Miss Erina performed a stealth penetration into Aquaelight territorial space?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Have you, at any moment, tried to identify yourself or your vessel?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Did you follow any procedure for requesting landing in our territory?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Did you pick a highly uninhabited area of our polar continent to avoid detection of any kind?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Very good, Mr. Dahncion. Very good. Now, tell us, are you aware of the extra-Aquaelitian aggression we are presently undergoing?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Were you acquainted with the fact that the area you landed in was not under control of the enemy of our planet?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Did you have any information about the people who live in this hemisphere and our present status?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “So you must know we are at war.”

  “I do, sir.”

  “And I’m sure you will agree with us that if entering a territory under conflict is not to be interpreted as a hostile action, above anything else, identification and expected procedures should be rigorously adopted.”

  Duncan delayed his answer.

  “Do we agree on this, Mr. Dahncion?”

  “Well . . . yes—”

  “So again, Mr. Dahncion, did you try to contact us before landing on our territory?”

  Duncan closed his eyes, as if trying to find some way to get the course of the interrogatory changed.

  “I’m still awaiting your answer, Mr. Dahncion.” The Aquaelitian raised his voice.

  “Well, I didn’t, but—”

  “No excuses required, Mr. Dahncion. You’ve already answered my question, I did not!”

  “Yeah, I didn’t!” Duncan repeated hotly. “But you aren’t giving me a chance to explain the whole thing!”

  The Aquaelitian hit the table with one of his white, bearish fists. Fixing his eyes on Duncan’s, he resumed his grave low tone. “Mr. Dahncion, please don’t make me lose my temper. I believe I’ve been very specific about what is expected from you. Therefore, you must strive to confine your answers to the interrogatory procedure hereby implemented.

  “Now, Mr. Dahncion,” the Aquaelitian continued, leaning threateningly towards the human, “listen very carefully to the next two questions, and please, give me a straight, clean answer to each one of them. Do you, or Miss Erina, have any connection with the so-called Establishment? For your own good, and your friend’s, I strongly recommend that you do not depart from the facts concerning this matter.”

  “No, sir,” Duncan replied with confidence.

  “Mr. Dahncion, are you part of the invading forces?”

  “No, sir.”

  “You are lying!”

  “I’m not lying, sir.”

  With a more relaxed tone, the Aquaelitian continued. “Let us be reasonable, Mr. Dahncion. You intruded into Aquaelight’s territory, landing stealthily in a carefully selected, widely uninhabited area of our country, having done all that without attempting to make any contact with us, and being perfectly aware of the current war status—facts that you have just corroborated,” he added pointing at the red light on the device he had placed in front of Duncan.

  “Now, Mr. Dahncion, I will give you just one more chance, so for your own sake, and that of your friend’s, I advise you to restrict your answers to the actual facts. Do you confess to being part of the invading force to Aquaelight or having cooperated with the enemy at any point?”

  “No, sir, absolutely not. We are not part of any invasion, quite the contrary—”

  The Aquaelitian suddenly thrust the table to one side. The papers he had brought were now fluttering to the floor, leaf after leaf. Leaving his chair, the interrogator kicked it aside and started walking towards Duncan, cornering him against a wall.

  “You have already proven yourself a remarkable fool, Mr. Dahncion. You’re deliberately attempting to twist the facts in the face of all the blatant transgressions that you and your friend have committed! But I can assure you that your foolishness will not interfere with our work.” The Aquaelitian shook his head, a shaking that quickly shifted into an asserting nod. “I’m positive Miss Erina will be more reasonable, much more reasonable.”

  “You’re deliberately attempting to twist the facts in the face of all the blatant transgressions that you have committed!”

  The Aquaelitian placed his reading spectacles carefully in a narrow tin case, and put on some dark glasses. “I hope I’m right—for her own sake.” Stepping towards the door, he opened it calmly. “We will meet soon enough, Mr. Dahncion.”

  44.

  Duncan stood still in one corner, leaning against the wall. The shattered table lay crippled, with one of its legs on the opposite side of the room. Having suffered a similar fate, a chair lay by the table, upside-down.

  After a while, Duncan started pacing, restlessly, until he stumbled over the broken chair. He put it upright on its cracked legs, and resumed his nervous walking. He was startled by the chair falling back down behind him.

  The camera in one corner buzzed and buzzed, with an obsessive automatism, rotating back and forth, following each of Duncan’s movements.

  But Duncan did not care anymore. He was immersed within himself, delving into the episode he had just gone through and dwelling on the way he had been dealt with. The last words the Aquaelitian had said about Erina were a constant theme in the background of his thoughts. Her presence in this universe had been quite brief; her knowledge of it, very limited. The complex circumstances of the war and the different cultures involved, the peculiarities and diversity of all the different intelligent species, and so many other things, would be beyond her current understanding, he reasoned. Duncan pictured the Aquaelitian yelling at her as he had done to him. The thought triggered hate, and hate, despair.

  And to think that sternessence—love—was the key. That seemed too lofty, ethereal, alien to reality, if not obnoxious under the circumstances. Depression followed, with the reenergized perception of being of no account, already defeated. Reflecting on his distressed state of mind, Duncan recognized that the feeling of hate had triggered it. He decided to put away the subject, at least temporarily, and focus back on the mission. That did not work entirely, but still gave him some serenity. With it, a much needed sleep overpowered his tired mind and immersed his body in a relaxing slumber.

  45.

  Duncan woke up. He had lost track of time and wondered whether it was night or day. Even the fact of being immersed in a long polar daylight season now escaped his mind. He was very thirsty and still tired. After a while, he began daydreaming of an outdoors landscape much cooler than the overheated, stifling room in which he was locked.

  Eventually the door opened again, and someone new, a female, stepped inside. Smiling at Duncan, she raised a hand. “I’m glad to meet you, Mr. Dahncion. My name is Kaletectla.” Her movements were feminine and graceful. She had traits reminiscent of a polar feline, though sharply humanoid. She was larger than Duncan.

  “I don’t know whether to say good morning or good evening, Ms. Kalete
ctla,” Duncan said in an upset tone.

  “I understand.” The female looked at her wristwatch. “It’s three o’clock in the afternoon.”

  Duncan had thought it was much later, though he was not sure about the time convention used by the natives, either.

  “Mr. Dahncion, I anticipate that after your exposure to Mr. Moglontl’s complete lack of courtesy, you may not be in the best of moods. Fortunately, I have quite different manners and—I believe—a much different perspective.”

  “Does that mean that after one hell of a day, somebody is finally gonna listen to me?”

  “I’d like to apologize for any inconvenience. Of course, I’m here to listen to you, and to try to help you in any capacity within our reach. By the way, you can just call me Kaletectla. May I call you Dahncion?”

  Duncan was upset but still focused. He was there to make contact with the local authorities, if possible. He had to maintain a positive disposition above anything else. “Of course, Kale . . . tec-tla?”

  “That’s a very good pronunciation.”

  Duncan’s next question was predictable. “Excuse me if I start by asking about my companion, Erina.”

  “Erina?”

  “Yes, the woman—the female—that came along with me.”

  “I’m afraid I don’t know about her.”

  Duncan gazed at her skeptically, but he decided not to challenge her claim of ignorance. “So, how can I help you, Kaletectla?”

  “As I’ve just told you, I’m here to help you, and to try to make up for any lack of understanding you may have experienced.”

  “I hope this is not just another form of interrogation.”

  “I don’t think that would help anybody,” Kaletectla said, with a dismissive smile. “Although . . . yes, a better insight of the circumstances that brought you here—to our planet—could be mutually beneficial. You can talk freely; you are safe here. A positive disposition will make it easier for us to help you in every way possible.”

  The sudden change in his captors’ approach was not making a positive impression on Duncan. “My mission is about helping you. I can’t explain this in a few words, Kaletectla. If you’d let me explain all the facts, you will see that I bring a new hope of freedom to your people.”

  “I’d be very glad to listen to anything you want to share with us. And, please, don’t have any time misgivings. You’ll have all the time you need.”

  Duncan smiled politely. “So, I guess—”

  “Excuse me, Dahncion, would you like something to eat or drink? Please, don’t hesitate to ask for anything that would make you feel more comfortable.”

  Duncan smiled uneasily. “I don’t know much about your customs, but . . . is it possible that I go to . . . a rest room . . . for a moment?”

  “Of course. I’ll have someone show you there. In the meantime, I’ll have some food brought over.”

  Kaletectla gave some instructions through a communicator, and a security guard appeared at the door. “Molotkl, show Dahncion to the hygiene aisle, please.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Duncan looked at the trooper and back again.

  “Please, take all the time you need, Dahncion,” added Kaletectla.

  “I appreciate this.” Duncan got up and left the room, escorted by the hostile-looking guard.

  They were back within minutes. A table had now been set with dishes full of what looked like broiled litics. There was a jar with water, and another with a dark bubbling juice. Duncan picked a small litic and started his story.

  A few minutes later, Kaletectla asked her first question.

  “So you come from a world different from the Establishment’s,” Kaletectla said.

  “That’s right.”

  “You seem to suggest there are many other worlds inhabited by intelligent species.”

  “Haven’t you been in contact with people from other worlds before?” Duncan asked.

  “Our actual enemy is extra-Aquaelitian.”

  “Right, but in this universe there are probably millions of different civilizations, about thirty thousand in this galaxy alone,” Duncan nodded. “Most star systems are teeming with life—I mean, in this universe.”

  “Why do you stress this universe so much?”

  “Because this is not the only universe that there is.”

  “Oh.”

  “Yes, as a matter of fact, I actually come from a different universe.” As he said that, Duncan realized he was already stretching the limits of what he should be discussing in his first conversation with the Aquaelitian. “And so does Erina—the woman that came along with me to this world.”

  Kaletectla pressed her lips together, inclining her head to one side. The gesture distressed Duncan. Perhaps having actually seen Erina already, he thought, she found it hard to believe that both Erina and he had come from the same world or universe. Duncan’s rilitian traits looked very different from Erina’s, and rather similar to those of many people who lived in Aquaelight.

  “Yes, it’s a long story. We got to this universe in different ways—we’re not even from the same country. I was actually brought by a people from this universe. They sort of adjusted the way I look. That’s why my complexion looks somewhat similar to yours, while Erina’s—if you’d seen her, you could tell the difference.” Duncan paused, trying to stress confidence with a positive gesture.

  “It’s a fascinating story, but how did you—and Erina—manage to come to our world alone?”

  “We were traveling in a rather small ship, the Angel Spark, that was supposed to rendezvous with a battleship at some point in space near the boundaries of this star system. But something went wrong. So instead of coming with the Intrepid’s team —the battleship’s team— Erina and I had to come alone, following an alternative plan.”

  “Why didn’t you let us know of your coming? Your entering our airspace had the appearance of an enemy incursion.”

  “That was the best way we could find to get here without raising suspicions on the Establishment detection systems.”

  “But we both know that the enemy has technology far superior to our nation’s.” Kaletectla paused and looked into Duncan’s eyes. “It was very easy for our modest technology to detect and plot your trajectory, Dahncion.”

  Duncan nodded. “We intended to simulate a meteorite trajectory. The vehicle that brought us here was specially designed to act as a meteorite would when piercing through the atmosphere.”

  “But when a meteorite hits the ground—if it manages to get there—it does so at a very high speed,” Kaletectla objected. “The final deceleration your vehicle would have required to avoid crashing against the surface would have been something very easy to spot, something that would have given away the real nature of your vessel to the extra-Aquaelitian forces.”

  “Right! But our vehicle was specially designed to penetrate and decelerate within the ice. That’s why we picked a thick glacier to land in.”

  Duncan’s story, which would have sounded odd to an average Realitian citizen, was clearly reaching levels of unconvincing extravagance in the Aquaelitian’s perception. “I don’t mean to contradict your facts, Dahncion, but it’s hard to picture a vehicle hitting the surface at hundreds, if not thousands, of miles per hour without being destroyed—or, at the very least, without killing its occupants.”

  “I know it sounds incredible, but that’s the way we got here, hoping to pass unnoticed by the enemy.”

  Kaletectla stared at Duncan. “I certainly want to help you, Dahncion. But for that to be possible, we must have an environment of mutual reliance. You have to trust me—to trust us.”

  “And I do trust you, and I am trying to cooperate with you—with all of you.”

  Kaletectla sighed. “Let me describe our situation from our perspective. We are currently at war with an alien force that is supporting, with technology and intelligence, our old enemy, the Krytiff Islanders. We are living in critical times. Many of my people have died in a very sho
rt time, while many others have been taken prisoner. My country is shocked, yet still committed to a personalitarian disposition with prisoners of war. We know that being a POW is a traumatic experience; soldiers typically have precise instructions about what they can’t say and what they are supposed to say. I guess that’s pretty much the same in any side of a conflict. We understand this well. The only thing we expect is a reasonable amount of honesty, that’s all.”

  “Honesty?” Duncan shook his head with frustration. “So I’m not being honest?”

  “We are not saying that, Dahncion, but your story does have unclear spots.”

  “Ms. Kaletectla,” Duncan said, standing up. “You must believe me.”

  The interviewer smiled politely and checked her watch.

  With a beaten expression, Duncan sat down again. His complex story, regardless of its veracity, had been anything but convincing.

  46.

  Events transpired rather quickly. After the interview with Kaletectla, Mr. Moglontl came back and bluntly demanded that Duncan confess to being part of the invading task force. Seeing that he was not getting anywhere, the Aquaelitian summoned a soldier who seized Duncan and escorted him out of the complex.

  Outside, the powerful engines of a gargantuan aircraft were already revving. The vehicle was basically a big cargo bay with a cockpit on its bow. Several smaller compartments stuck out around the fuselage, creating an ugly, bulky appearance. The helicopter looked truly imposing, much bigger than any other Duncan had seen on his native Earth.

  Moglontl led Duncan inside the aircraft. As the Aquaelitian talked with the pilots, Duncan thought he heard something about a concentration camp. A male soldier, with a feline appearance similar to Kaletectla’s, ordered Duncan to sit down in a corner on deck, in the back of the bay. A moment later, another soldier hustled Erina into the aircraft and pushed her onto her knees towards Duncan.