by Dan Haronian
The vendors looked at him as he passed. They pointed at him and spoke loudly to each other. Dug concentrated on their words but their language was very different from his own. At one stand he heard a strange plunk and jingle. A man was throwing small round disks into a metal box. The rattling sound reminded him of Sosi telling him once that something called coins were still in use in the outer reaches of the galaxy. He’d ignored Sosi's prattling back then, but now the sight transfixed him. He judged that this must be how business was conducted in this place.
The hum of a Flyeye pulled him out of his thoughts and he looked around trying to locate the source of the noise. The bad smell in the prison cell on Seragon came back to him suddenly and he felt he was about to throw up. He was hurrying back to the main street when suddenly a Flyeye passed over him. Limping quickly he arrived at the end of the alley. The stands were thinner here. Just before leaving the ally he heard the Flyeye again. The sound was coming from the open field behind the stands. He hesitated, not sure if he should run, but the humming sounded odd now and he decided to investigate. He walked up to the last of the stands and looked beyond them. A pile of empty boxes, some with red, squished fruits were laying on the ground. A few large flies, the largest he’d ever seen, were hovering over the boxes. They were the source of the hum. He watched their random buzzing flight for a few seconds and smiled to himself. The man next to a nearby stand said something grumpy to him. Dug thought it would be best to move along.
He returned to the main street wondering at the many amazing things he’d seen in such short time. Noisy and smoking cars went by periodically and little people walked quickly by on the sidewalks. A door in one of the houses, some distance away, opened and three little children ran out gaily. One of them was limping but he looked happy. It all looked normal to Dug until several more children walked out the door. He stopped noticing their number after the sixth kid. That boy was limping as well and this completely confused Dug. He paused and waited for the flood of children to stop. Fifteen was his final estimate. One of the older kids noticed at him and immediately yelled something to the kids in front.
A little woman came out the door and shouted something demanding and angry at her charges. She stopped talking once she noticed him. Dug smiled, trying to ease her mind. He stood to one side to allow the kids to pass by him. Once they were all gone she stepped back and shut the door. Dug looked back at the kids walking away from him and wondered if it was possible they were all from the same family.
The number of the kids in the sidewalks grew to the point that Dug began to wonder if kids controlled this planet. To emphasize this feeling a noisy bunch of kids emerged around the corner of the street. He heard them before he could see them. They were so busy talking among themselves that they noticed him only after they had already passed him by. They stopped and everything froze. He tried another calming smile, though he had learned by now it probably wouldn’t help. Some of the kids stared at him but kept on walking, and the rest simply scattered.
Dug crossed the street and continued along the sidewalk. The next intersection looked a bit fancier than what he had seen so far. A few people dressed in black were coming out of one of the buildings. A big sign with strange letters, so strange that he didn't know from which side to read them, hung above the entrance from which they emerged. Each carried a white bat on their belt. Some of them had large bags hanging from their belts as well. Dug assumed the people in black were policemen and tried to fade into the crowd.
Daio was taller than Dug. He towered over the passersby and stood out even more due to his large face and wide body. Within a few moments of walking into the town, some of the people became quite terrified. He thought about going back to the forest. Dug and Sosi had already left though, and he felt it would be irresponsible of him to avoid the unavoidable. He turned left off the main street and walked along a narrow secondary street. Both sides were filled with townhouses with separate entrances and external stairs that linked the three floors. He tried to smile as much as possible hoping it would put people at ease. Luckily there were not many people on the street. Once he arrived at the next crossing he turned onto another street that looked even nicer. Here the street was wider and the houses on both sides were nicely landscaped and larger. He was tall enough to see beyond the gates of the houses. They all had nice front yards with a variety of plants and flowers. As he walked the spaces between the houses grew bigger and he felt he was almost to the edge of the town.
There were fewer people here and he felt less uncomfortable, yet there was another reason why the street had started to empty. A hidden hand was preventing people from getting close to him. While he was wondering about the diminishing number of people, black clad policemen were slipping from behind one of the buildings. They ran towards him with short and quick steps, holding white bats in their hands. They surrounded him in just a few seconds. Some held big guns in their hands and they all had badges on their shirts. One of the gunmen yelled at him in short and firm sentences. Daio understood nothing of his words but he understood their spirit. He lifted his hands over his head, trying to calm things down. They all watched his hands as if they were a school of small minnows darting away in harmony from a predator.
“I am not armed,” said Daio. “I have no intention of harming anyone.”
He knew they were policeman and hoped that his calm tone would defuse the situation. They stepped closer and closed in around him. Suddenly a small truck with two benches in its open back appeared on the street and stopped near him. The whole scenario reminded him of their capture outside the bank on Seragon. It was so similar and yet so different.
One of the men walked over and reached his hand towards Daio’s arm. He didn't take his eyes off Daio, as his hand got closer. It was as if he thought he'd die on contact.
Daio didn’t resist. The man gave him a blank stare, mumbled something, and started pulling him towards the truck. The other policemen cleared a path for them as they approached. The truck rocked heavily when Daio climbed into the open back seat. Three policemen joined him.
The truck gave a noisy growl and started to move. It drove along the street for a bit before turning left onto the main street. The driver followed this for a short time then turned right at a large intersection. There were tall buildings on every side now. The truck turned into one of the buildings and pulled through a gate that opened at their approach.
Daio was led into the building. He was forced to duck under every doorframe to avoid hitting his head. In spite of their short legs the people walked fast and lightly. Daio on the other hand started to sweat and gasp. Eventually he was pushed into a small room with a few chairs and one desk. One of the policemen said something and looked at him with anticipation. He repeated his words again and this time pointed to one of the chairs. The chair was low and when Daio sat down his knees stuck up and pushed against his belly, making breathing even more difficult.
Three men in uniforms walked into the room. Behind them walked a small man with a large head. He didn’t look like a policeman to Daio. His big face was smooth like a baby’s. Daio thought he looked like some strange, out of proportion, doll.
The man approached and leaned forward a bit, as if to examine something on Daio’s face. He said something and straightened back, still examining Daio's face. Daio returned his look blankly. He was still amazed by the size of the new arrival’s head. As if to further impress him, the man leaned in close again and said something. His dialect sounded now different. Daio assumed he was trying different languages so he nodded his head and said, “My name is Daio. Daio Plaser. I arrived here accidently. I mean no harm.”
The bigheaded man opened his eyes wide. “Plaser,” he said and Daio though that maybe he had made a mistake by giving his name.
The man began talking animatedly to the people around him. Daio feared the worst. He was convinced that the man had recognized his name and knew that he was a fugitive. He wanted to say something, wanted to explain, but he
didn't know how. The man in uniform said something in an angry tone, then he walked towards Daio and slapped him. Daio’s cheek went red, and heat started to spread throughout his body. He looked at the policemen that were standing next to the wall who returned a sour look. They started talking amongst themselves until one of them bent towards his friends and said something. They whispered back.
Fool, fool, fool, thought Daio to himself, how could he have been so stupid as to reveal his name. The shock in the eyes of the bigheaded man made him wonder if the crimes they had been accused of on Seragon had crossed the galaxy and reached this pit as well.
The bigheaded man came back a few moments later carrying a large bag. He laid it on the desk and pulled out a thick book. He slammed it with a thud on the desk. He dragged a chair to the table and signed Daio to approach him. Daio held the chair he was sitting on with both hands and pulled himself up. He stepped towards the chair next to the table, feeling the blood running to his legs, and unwillingly sat down.
The bigheaded man sat down next to him and started to flop through the book’s pages. He glanced up at Daio after each page he turned. The top of each page had a series of symbols and at the bottom were pictures. Daio soon understood that every page was dedicated to a single inhabited planet and that the man was trying to find out where he had come from. He thought this was odd. The bigheaded man had seemed shocked when he’d heard Daio’s name. It should have been obvious he was from Seragon. Long minutes passed. The three men in uniforms stood next to the desk impatiently, as if they were about to resolve a big secret. Nothing familiar appeared on the pages, which in a way was a relief. Daio didn't want them to know. He hoped they were so far from Seragon that it wasn’t listed in the big book.
The man stopped turning the pages about halfway through the book. Daio thought he had simply given up. One of the uniformed men stepped closer threateningly. Daio raised his arms to defend himself. He looked at the bigheaded man and pointed to the book asking his permission to take over. The man nodded and Daio started paging though the book grumbling that he had crossed the galaxy just to browse through a book.
Seragonian letters suddenly appeared, and shivers went through his body. His gaze froze and felt tightness in his throat. Seconds passed until with some hesitation he flipped to the next page, but his hesitation had been too obvious, and the man in uniform slapped him hard across the face. The bigheaded man pulled the book towards him and gazed dourly at the page. He spoke quickly to the others. Daio heard the word Seragon several times. The three men in uniform had a short discussion then one of them stood in front of Daio and pointed to the door. Daio stood up and the policeman who was standing next to the wall walked over and led him out. They walked along the corridor then entered another room. This room too was very simple in its furnishing; only a desk and a large monitor that looked very old. There was a keyboard of the kind only seen on history feeds on the network. The man who had slapped him pulled out a chair. Daio walked towards it and sat down. The bigheaded man walked into the room and hurried over to the monitor. He sat down and his fingers flew over the keyboard. Then he started to speak, slowly though, as if he was dictating to someone.
“What is your name?” Daio suddenly heard coming from a speaker. He hesitated and the man in uniform approached him. Daio lifted his hand in a calming gesture.
“My name is Daio Plaser,” he said. After a short delay three syllables were emitted from the speaker.
“When will the invasion take place?” the bigheaded man spoke again.
Daio looked at him stunned, “Invasion?”
“Yes, when will the invasion take place?” the bigheaded man asked again. He pressed a few keys and mumbled something. The other man punched Daio in the face so hard that Daio flew backward and landed on the floor.
The man stood above him and spoke rapidly. He became silent when the bigheaded man started to speak slowly.
“We are running out of time,” came the words from the monitor. “Cooperate now or we will kill you as we killed your partner.”
Blood flowed from Daio's nose and his heart was beating fast.
“My name is Daio Plaser. I am a convict from Seragon,” he said letting his body go limp on the floor thinking of Dug and Sosi.
“This is what your friend said too but we know that’s impossible. You cannot have come from Seragon.”
“We came here aboard a shuttle. It wasn't long ago. A few of… ahh… your Aion rises? I don't know exactly how to explain. You can check my story. The shuttle landed here not long ago. Surely you have records of it. We have nothing to do with an invasion.”
The bigheaded man sighed. He pressed a key on his keyboard and started to talk to the man in the uniform. The man walked towards Daio and pointed to the door. Daio tried to pull himself up, but a sudden and massive pain shot through his head. He finally stood and rocked a bit. The policeman held his arm and led him outside. They walked along a corridor that ended at a steel door. They went through it and into a large hall with barred cells along both sides. A door opened and he was pushed inside a cell.
I left not long after Daio and headed down the road leading into the town. Just before getting to the paved road, a noisy truck approached from a side road on the right and turned towards the town. The truck was narrow and its front was open. Two men were inside. They wore vests and had wide hats on their heads. The truck pulled a narrow trailer with tall slatted sides. The trailer was loaded with what looked like fist size red fruits. Just after the turn, and before the first houses, the truck turned into a large field, crossed it, and stopped close to a large wooden structure at the edge of the field.
One of the men jumped from the truck and rushed towards the structure. He opened the lock and pushed the door sideways. The door slid freely until it hit the end with a dull thunk. At the same time, the driver turned the truck and backed the trailer slowly inside. The man on the ground unhooked the trailer. The truck jumped forward a little then pulled away from the door. The man on the ground closed the door then ran and jumped back into the truck. It drove back the same way it had come and then it vanished down the road to my right.
I was fascinated. There was nothing special in what they were doing, but I wasn't used to such sights. I was amazed that these people actually lived in these wide-open spaces. This revelation brought on a cascade of related thoughts.
I followed the truck. The road curved into the forest. Trees pushed in on all sides. Beyond the second curve mountains appeared, and on their slopes were numerous terraces. I noticed at least three different types of trees arranged in nice rows on each terrace.
A narrow trail leading to one of the terraces split off from the road I was walking on. Without hesitation I followed it. The trail was steep and I stopped along the way to catch my breath. When I reached the terrace I stopped again and looked at the trees planted along it. Red fruits, like the ones I’d seen on the wagon, peered through the leaves. A few of them were scattered on the ground. I walked to one of the trees, bent to picked one up, and bit into it. It was sweet but a different kind of sweetness than what I had known on Seragon.
I crossed the terrace and went down another trail to the terrace below. From there I descended to another. I continued to walk from terrace to terrace enjoying the different fruits, the trees, and the nice symmetry of the way the whole thing was arranged. The fruits’ textures changed from hard to soft and the taste went from sweet to sour. Once the fruit was bitter but then I realized I needed to peel off the rind to expose the fruit.
Twice I ran into people working among the plants. Some looked at me in surprise. A few mumbled something I couldn’t understand. Others gave me toothless smiles. None of them approached me, or tried to talk to me. They all seemed too busy.
The plants disappeared after a while and with them the horizon to my right changed. The clear sky made me feel as if I was walking along a high cliff. I continued down the trail toward the clear horizon until I reached its end. Beneath me was a huge,
breathtaking open space. It resembled the ones I often saw in the network. Large, square fields of different colors stretched across the plane below me, as if an artist had painted them. Dark machines were moving slowly in a few places. Where they passed, the ground changed color as it they were a brush in the hand of the same artist. I sat on a rock and looked at the scene. It felt like I was missing something I couldn't describe. The Aion already passed its peak but still I sat, my mind absorbing the wonders before me. It was as if somehow I had become detached from reality.
Suddenly it became clear that the day was over. Without warning the sky started to turn gray. I stood up quickly, gave a last look toward the fields beneath me, and then started to walk back towards the town. The trail went up and down and I stopped several times to gain my breath. The Aion had almost set when I finally reached the little creek next to the house. Daio or Dug weren't there. I drank some water, washed my sweaty face and sat exhausted beside a tree, thinking about all the things I saw today.
The darkness gradually increased. I looked at the treetops for signs of the rising of the planet, but didn't see any. I was so exhausted that I laid my head on the tree and closed my eyes. I thought something must have delayed Daio and Dug. They must have met people in the city who were willing to start a dialogue, unlike the busy workers I’d seen. The events the day ran through my mind again. A warm feeling flooded through me and I fell asleep.
I wasn't asleep long, but when I opened my eyes, panic gripped me. It was pitch black. Stars blinked between the treetops. I stood up quickly and looked around. I thought of Daio and Dug, but the complete darkness drew my full attention.
