But is this the right time for romance? What if she’s just getting swept up in the adventure of it all? I can’t do this right now. After all, she’s technically an extraterrestrial! Still, Oonak said we’re all just people, and I’ve never met anyone I’ve enjoyed talking to this much, either. Maybe once the situation with the Confederation is settled…
Zahn had to admit that he hadn’t known her for that long at all, and tried to let the thoughts go. Now just didn’t feel right.
He looked up and noticed that she was watching the ocean.
“Sapphire forests, mountain peaks… and hammocks,” she said. “What a place. The closest I have to compare to is a ship we worked on a few years ago. All of the passenger cabins had hammocks because the ship was too small to hold bunks.”
“Really? Sounds like a really small ship.”
“Oh, you have no idea. They were trying to fit something like three dozen passengers, and the ship wasn’t that much bigger than Navika.”
“That’s crazy. Why were they trying to fit so many people?”
“It was a smuggler’s ship. Apparently, they even smuggled people sometimes.”
Asha stood up. “How about we find that food Vivienne was talking about? I’m getting hungry. You in?”
Zahn turned to her, the hint of a smile on his lips.
“I’m in.”
One by one, they opened the large containers along the wall of the bedroom, but found most of them empty. The ones that weren’t empty contained strange clothes, some of which were similar to Vivienne’s robe. They also examined the huge cylindrical shape embedded in the far wall, and soon realized that it was a shower. By pressing a pad beside it, the cylinder rotated open, revealing a bright interior that was lit by a skylight above. Along a shelf were colorful cubes that Zahn assumed were various kinds of soap.
Unable to find any food, they opened up the next door in the hall, revealing an identical room. And just as Asha was about to open a third door, Zahn remembered something.
“Wait a minute, if you were designing a guest house, wouldn’t you put the food near where it was going to be eaten?”
“Depends on the culture, I suppose.”
“Well, remember those round canisters along the wall in the meeting room? We should check there—I’ll race you!”
Even though Zahn had a head start on Asha, she caught up to him, yelling “Not so fast, hammock man!” as they blazed into the meeting room with a speed that startled Oonak out of his meditation as he sat on the floor near the far wall.
“What are you two doing? Is something wrong?” Oonak said as they both touched a large, black canister at the same time.
Zahn took a second to catch his breath. “No. Just a little game, and I think we just found what we were looking for.”
“Sorry if we disturbed your meditation, Oon,” Asha said. “Completely slipped our minds.”
“Oh,” Zahn said. “That’s right. Sorry, Oon.”
“Be mindful of your actions, especially on foreign worlds. One misstep could result in an unfortunate delay, and I know that isn’t what either of you want. I can slip back into a meditative state, but please try to be quiet.”
“We will.”
“Sorry.”
As Oonak closed his eyes once more, their gaze returned to the large, black canister.
“I was here first,” Zahn whispered.
“No, I’m pretty sure I touched it first.”
“No way,” Zahn said a bit louder. “I distinctly remember my hand touching the canister before—”
“Zahn,” Oonak interrupted. “You both touched it at the same instant. Now please remain calm as I finish rebalancing, and do not eat too much. Moderation is the key to long life, and I would like to cook a midday meal for all three of us later.”
“Sorry!” they both whispered at the same time. “Okay.”
Carefully, they both opened the canister. As they pried it open, it hissed quietly as if they’d broken an airtight seal. Once they had removed the lid, they were stunned at what they saw.
Meticulously arranged into equal sections were hundreds of small packets of food. All of it was frozen, but all of it looked colorful and delicious.
“How do you think Oonak knew there was food here?”
“Maybe it’s obvious from his point of view,” Asha said quietly.
“Right. So how do we heat the food up?”
“The lid we just pulled off. Take a look at its underside.”
Now that it was upside down, Zahn noticed that in the center of the lid was a wide circular depression with glowing controls beside it. As quietly as he could, he set it on the table.
“A heating element?”
“Looks like.”
Zahn pulled out a chair and, after playing around with it for a few minutes, figured out how to activate the heat and change the temperature of the surface of the depression. As he did this, Asha picked a packet of food that looked familiar and poured it out.
“This should be enough for a snack.”
They cooked as quietly as they could, but when it was ready, Zahn realized that they didn’t have any eating utensils at all.
“Here,” Asha said, handing him a fork and bowl.
“Where’d you find those?”
“In the canister, of course. Couldn’t find any plates, though. I guess the Aaravans always eat from bowls.”
“That’s true,” Zahn said. “They do seem to like bowls.”
When they had finished their snack, they each decided to use the luxuriously large showers that the Aaravans had provided. When he thought about it, he felt a sense of strange satisfaction that he was actually going to have a chance to use the towel he had brought. Whenever he travelled, he made sure to bring his towel. In fact, he felt that a trip wasn’t truly complete until he had used it. But as he was rummaging through the clothes in the guest room containers, he came upon a drawer full of towels that he hadn’t noticed before. Even so, he decided to use his own towel. After all, it reminded him of home.
When Zahn emerged from the shower some time later, he felt as though he had been reborn. He wasn’t sure if it was something in the soap or something in the water, but his skin felt crisp and smooth, and his mind felt revitalized.
After toweling off and putting on a silky blue Aaravan robe he found, he walked back into the meeting room to see if Oonak was still there. He was, and in the midst of cooking a huge amount of food in the same way Zahn and Asha had earlier.
“How was your meditation?” Zahn said.
“Very good. And how was your shower?”
“Wonderful. I’m starting to wonder what their soap is made out of actually. Whatever it is, I think I’m taking a few cubes with me. Have you seen Asha?”
“Yes, she said she would be out here in a few minutes. Please sit. The meal is nearly ready.”
When Asha came in, Zahn was surprised to see that her hair was no longer up in a bun as it had been before. Now it flowed down her head and over her shoulders. She was wearing a golden Aaravan robe, and Zahn thought she looked mesmerizing, though he would never admit it. At least, not yet.
“It smells wonderful, Oon!” Asha walked over to the table. “I can’t wait to try some.”
“Indeed, you are both in luck,” Oonak said. “I recognize some of these ingredients. They’re actually quite similar to some plants from my own world.
“Where are you from, Oonak?” Zahn said.
“That is not important. What is important is our continued progress in our mission. Here, have some.” Oonak filled a bowl with some reddish soup and handed it to Zahn.
“Thanks, Oon. It really does smell good.”
As Zahn stirred the soup with his spoon, he noticed there were lots of different pieces of different plants floating in the red broth. It looked bizarre, but also appetizing.
“And for you.” Oonak did the same for Asha.
“Thank you!”
Oonak sat down next to Zahn and served hims
elf last.
“Oonak, do you think we could explore the area after our meal? How safe do you think it is out there?” Zahn said.
“Navika indicated that this area was empty of any large predators or settlements of any kind besides these guest houses, so exploration is permissible. Indeed, we ought to become familiar with the area if we’re going to be here for a few days.”
“We should stargaze tonight, too!” Asha said between sips. “I bet we could see all kinds of weird constellations that you can’t see from the outpost.”
“A good plan. So it shall be then.”
After the meal, they followed the curving path down from the outcrop to the beach once more.
“It looks like the tide is rising.” Oonak’s eyes studied the water. “If it rises too much, it could block the path up to the guest house.”
“Any idea when the tide will reach its peak?” Zahn said.
Oonak tapped his wristband and blinked his eyes.
“The tide here is difficult to predict because Aarava has many moons. Navika indicates that the tides rise and fall in uneven intervals here. We would be wise to keep this in mind.”
“How is Navika doing, anyway?” Asha said.
“Doing? He is nominal and monitoring the surrounding area. Actually, since our encounter with Vivienne, he has detected some faint energy anomalies nearby.”
“Where are they originating from?” Asha said. “Are they that way, down the beach? Because I keep getting this feeling that we need to head down the beach, as if something is calling out.”
“As a matter of fact,” Oonak said as he touched his wristband once more, “one of the signatures that Navika detected is down this way, although it appears scattered in Navika’s scans, as if it were within a scrambling field.”
Zahn was beginning to feel sleepy from the big meal they had just eaten, but he realized that if he passed up the opportunity to explore now, he might regret it later.
“Then it’s settled,” Zahn said. “Let’s go investigate it. Lead the way, Oonak.”
“I shall. However, I should remind you that I am unarmed. As I said back at the outpost, my sidearm was damaged beyond repair when I crashed on Avani. So, considering the situation, I advise that we keep these on hand. We want everyone to be in one piece when we leave this rock.”
Out of a pocket in his uniform, Oonak pulled out three tiny black plates and handed one to each of them.
“Ideally,” he said. “We won’t have to use these personal cloaking chips, but we must be cautious. Would you like to demonstrate, Asha? Your father made them after all.”
“Sure, Oonak. Thanks.”
Asha took a minute to show them how to activate the field by pressing a bump on one side of the tiny plate. When Zahn pressed the bump, he vanished completely. Then, Asha told him to touch an indentation on the other side, and he reappeared once more.
Now feeling prepared, Oonak led the way, and they headed down the dark grey beach. To their left side, the beach quickly became jungle, and Zahn’s eye couldn’t help but be drawn back toward the emerald leaves. Before today, he had never imagined that entire jungles could be radiant shades of green, but this reality was now staring him in the face, impossible to ignore.
They walked for some time, and eventually they came upon a place where the coast made a sharp curve to the left. When they turned the corner, they were confronted with an unusual sight.
Towering out of the beach sand were about a dozen crystalline spires that rose far above their heads. They reminded Zahn of trees except that they had no branches and formed a bowl-like shape at the top. In a few areas, the spires had a webbing that appeared to be climbable, and a calm, low hum radiated out from them. The frequency was so low that Zahn felt it in his chest.
Atop the center spire, hovering in midair above its bowl, was a large, amber crystal with eight identical sides. It reminded Zahn of two pyramids combined, and it seemed familiar to him, though he wasn’t sure why. Then the name for it popped into his mind: octahedron.
“How are they just floating up there?” Zahn said.
Oonak pulled out his scanner.
“It’s fantastic.” Asha gasped. “Zahn, what if it’s the Tulari? That webbing looks easy to climb. If I could just get up there and have a closer look…”
“Asha, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
“You worry too much, Zahn!” Asha approached the nearest spire. “This webbing is here for a reason. For all we know, these are for us to use.”
Before Zahn could say anything else, Asha put her hands over her ears and screamed as she ran back.
“Vakra-gaaag!” she yelled. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Zahn said. “Are you okay?”
A drop of blood dripped down from her nose.
“I felt like my ears were bleeding. It was the loudest sound I’ve ever heard! You must have heard that. My ears are ringing!”
Zahn reached into his pocket and pulled out a handkerchief he’d found in his room earlier.
“Here. You can wipe your nose with this,” he said.
“Thanks.”
“Fascinating,” Oonak said. “It must be a sonic disruptor designed to keep intruders away from the spires.”
“But how can she hear it, and we didn’t?” Zahn said.
“There are various ways. In this case I would hypothesize that canceling frequencies were used. Two ultrahigh frequencies create a difference pattern. Unless you’re in the resonance zone, you won’t hear anything. It’s quite elegant, actually.”
“Elegant to you, maybe!” Asha said. “Tell that to my ringing ears, and my nose.”
“Zahn told you that it was not a good idea. We are on another world now, Asha. We must exercise caution and not jump into situations hastily.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Asha said sarcastically and walked away, still holding her nose with the handkerchief.
“Where are you going?” Zahn said.
“Back. I’d like to be alone. It’s getting late anyway, and who knows what kinds of creatures come out at night around here.”
Oonak looked at the sun, now low along the horizon.
“The days are shorter here. Soon, Aarava’s star will descend below the horizon,” he said. “Asha is right, we would be wise to head back. We do not yet know enough about this world to safely explore it at night.”
Zahn looked up at the octahedron floating just a meter or so above the spires. He breathed slowly. He could still feel the low, deep sound in his chest.
When they returned to the rocky outcrop, the sun was just setting behind the jungle canopy, and Zahn could already tell that the tide had risen. The first stars were already starting to appear, and Zahn called out to Asha to come back and stargaze with them. But she was already far ahead and didn’t hear him.
“Do you think she’s going to be okay? I’m starting to wonder if this place is more of a prison than a paradise,” Zahn said.
“The truth is that it is neither, Zahn. Merely a quarantine, the necessity of which I hope we will soon discover. I wouldn’t worry about Asha. The effects are most likely temporary. I will scan her ears tomorrow if she desires. But for now, I think an uninterrupted sleep cycle is the best medicine for her.”
“Especially after what she’s been through.”
Magenta and orange hues were still spread across the sky, but a dusting of stars now began to bleed through the hues. Zahn tried to find a constellation that seemed familiar, although he knew logically that this was impossible.
“Do you recognize any?” Zahn said.
Oonak scanned the sky for a few moments.
“Well, I am not from this part of the galaxy, but there is one star that I recognize from our approach. There.” Oonak pointed toward a bright star just above the violet horizon.
“Yeah, that’s the brightest star out right now, I think.”
“That is Akasha-Dipa, a guide star. After we came through the last gate, it was one of the stars tha
t Navika used to confirm our position.”
“No wonder it’s a guide star. Must be one of the brightest stars in the sky here.” Zahn turned to Oonak. “Does it have a great story behind it? I’m sure a star like that was involved in a galactic battle or a monumental discovery or something, right?”
“According to Navika’s records, that star has no planets at all, so that is unlikely. I learned about it from Navika’s star maps when we entered this system. Even I cannot memorize all of the stars in the galaxy. After all, there are over 900 billion of them, but I suppose Akasha-Dipa could have been part of a legend. For all we know, it had many planets long ago.”
Zahn and Oonak gazed in silence as stars slowly filled the sky.
“Oonak, have you ever lost someone? Someone close to you?”
Oonak was silent for a long time.
“Yes, long ago.”
“What did you do about it? After my mom disappeared, the islands didn’t even feel like home anymore. But sometimes I wonder how it might have been if I were stronger. Your people seem a lot more advanced than mine, so that’s why I’m curious.”
“Loss is never easy, Zahn, especially if it is someone you love deeply. Sometimes, you cannot help but watch the entire world around you become unrecognizable, no matter how strong you think you are. What is important is that you face it honestly.”
“How?”
“Take it slowly. Remember that all you see is temporary and clinging to the past only brings suffering. You must continue to renew your mind and expose yourself to new experiences.” Oonak turned and gazed deeply into Zahn’s eyes. “Someday, when we shed our physical selves, we will see the Universe for what it truly is.”
Oonak paused and looked out toward the sky once more.
“This was told to me many years ago… under a similar sky.”
Zahn smiled. “Thanks, Oon.”
In stark contrast to the warmth of the day, a cool breeze kicked up, and Zahn realized that he’d left his jacket inside.
“Let’s head inside,” Oonak said. “It is nearly nightfall, and you look tired.”
Upon hearing that, Zahn had a strange feeling of déjà vu, but he brushed it aside. Oonak was right. He was exhausted. He’d felt as though he hadn’t slept in two days, and he wondered if it might actually be true.
Epic of Aravinda 1: The Truth Beyond the Sky Page 12
