Equilibrium of Terror: Part 2

by Eddie R. Hicks

  “It’s, citrus . . .” Ienthei said, resisting the urge to spit out the alien fruit.

  “Indeed.”

  “It almost tastes like Rabuabin tea, I hate that drink.”

  He forced himself to swallow the rest as his mother leaned her sun kissed body against Dienei with a smile as he offered her more of the fruit.

  “This was part of the latest shipment of items recovered from an expedition on their world. It cost me thousands of credits,” Dienei said. “But worth it. It will be a glorious day when their species joins the union and regular shipment of fruits like this becomes common place.” Dienei spat out two white seeds onto his hands. “Save the pits, I want to try growing a tree that can produce it, if I can find Earth soil.”

  “Humans in the union?” Queenea said at last.

  “It will happen one day; this support withdrawal will force their hand. You’ve spent enough time in recent council meetings to know what’s going on.” Dienei said to Ienthei. “This reminds me, good luck with the nomination.”

  Ienthei started to display the same level of contempt his sister did. He had worked day and night for a chance to be nominated in the elections to become the next Aryile representative on the Radiance council, only for Dienei to reveal the next day that he wished to run as well, not caring that it was his stepson’s dream to be a council person.

  “Likewise . . .” were all the words Ienthei could muster as Dienei shared a passionate kiss with his mother, who seemed more supportive of Dienei’s campaign rather than Ienthei her son. Gods, please knock some sense into this woman’s head!

  “I need to get ready,” Queenea said, leaving the table. “Dear brother, can you fetch my data pad for me?”

  “Of course,” Ienthei said, then addressed his mother and stepfather. “I shall return.”

  The fourth floor of their home was a pad entirely dedicated for the use of Ienthei and Queenea. A staircase in the center made of crystal took him up to their floor. On the far end of the floor was a large bedroom the two shared; the opposite end was a balcony hanging over the swimming pool and patio below. Between that was the bathing and grooming area, a room where the walls and ceilings were one giant mirror. A shower in the center of them had water falling from the ceiling, like a tiny waterfall filling up a square shaped tub.

  Ienthei entered the bathing and grooming area with Queenea’s data pad in his hands. She was standing before the wall mirror, adjusting and brushing her hair backward, taking every step to ensure none of her large curly and wavy hair covered her face. Only Aryile men with long hair were allowed to have their hair do such a thing, like Ienthei his thin straight hair covered most of the left side of his face. The only time Aryile men kept their hair from covering their face was if they had a facial hair, Aryile women were practical in how they wanted men to look.

  “Here it is,” Ienthei said, handing her the pad.

  “Thank you.”

  “No thank you for getting me out of there . . .”

  “It’s wrong for him to be running against you in the nomination race you know,” she said, jerking her head toward a bottle on the counter top, scale dye.

  Aryile women typically temporarily dyed the color of their scales to match the color of makeup they choose to wear. In this case Queenea choose to go with a light pink look to her neck scales that glittered in the sunlight when the dye was applied. She lowered her robe, stopping before the curves on her chest as Ienthei applied the gel like substance along the side of her neck, and upper back.

  “Dienei’s actions are legal at the same time,” he said, removing his hands away from her, her scales started to change color and dazzle with tiny sparkles. “But it was said countless times, the council needs younger leadership, one with a different perspective and one that won’t have to be replaced every two decades because they are too old to help run the union.”

  “Remain strong in their eyes, you have to win, I can’t stand that man,” Queenea said to him. “I want him to suffer emotionally by not getting what he wants in life for once.”

  Veromacon University, Aervounis, Luminous system

  Queenea rode a rapid transit train that connected the community she and her family lived in to one of the orbiting city platforms that made up the floating city of Veromacon. Veromacon University was perched high up top of an artificially created hill. Students at the University sat on the green freshly cut grass with data pads in their hands. Some were studying, others were sending messages to loved ones while waiting for class to start. It reminded Queenea of a time when she was once a first-year student studying here and her head being filled with knowledge from some of the greatest scholars in the union.

  Queenea walked through the hallways of the university as she walked past the main lobby that was decorated with small holograms of past students and scholars. She wore light blue pants and a sparkling aqua-colored top that hung off her body that reached down toward her shins. She smiled at some of the students as she walked past them, the university perfectly reflected Aervounis’ population make up of eighty-four percent Aryile, ten percent Javnis and five percent Linl, one percent Vorcambreum and Rabuabin. Vorcambreum and Rabuabin weren’t fond of the hot temperatures of the planet so few of them choose to live here. The Linl population was higher than the Vorcambreum and Rabuabin populations due to the fact that the Linl home world wasn’t far away and because many of the Linl here were direct descendants of Linl refugees that fled to Aervounis when the Hashmedai Empire invaded their space, centuries ago.

  An elevator took Queenea to the upper floors, the location of her class room an empty one where she studied quantum mechanics. Classes were all but complete for the students in her course, and all that remained was handing in their thesis, a long winded hundred- thirty-page report. Such a report determined if the scholars at the university allowed her to progress onward or finish her course at the level she was already, that being level four. The more years spent studying, the better career opportunities one would have available upon graduation. Only the scholars at the university determined if you can move forward, or that you’d done enough and aren’t worthy of higher paying jobs in the future.

  Very few students made it to level four in her area of study, even fewer went to level five and beyond, as those were tiers that propelled you into the life of a scientist and scholar. Everything below that? Assistants and lab workers, they were all mundane tasks for her. Her parents bought the best genes and enhancements for her, and she had every intention of making sure they got their moneys’ worth.

  And her thesis was going to be the item that would make that happen.

  Her studies of quantum mechanics led her to the theories of aether, its limitless power and the large number of scientific advancements it could bring to the union if only they could find a way to harvest it. Space travel saw a lot of people living on planets grow old and die before their loved ones returned. The Hashmedai could circumvent it via the space bridge, allowing their ships to cut back on interstellar travel time. However the technology behind the space bridge was not only unknown to Radiance but deemed to be evil and banned from ever being researched, not to mention the operation of a space bridge would require dozens of psionics to spend their lives there.

  But with aether? Her report stated that it was possible to enter a theoretical realm outside of normal time and space and gain access to exotic energy that could be used to power star ships, making them travel faster. Or perhaps coat the throat of a wormhole, allowing it to remain stable long enough for space travel. Stimulate genes within the body to manipulate the power of aging, the possibilities were endless.

  She held onto her data pad that contained her work and smiled as sunlight from the windows hit her face. She was seconds away from handing in the report. If only her father Jainuzei was alive today to see this moment. If only Dienei hadn’t killed him so he could marry her mother.

  Scholar Mil Coritea sat her computer workstation, her hands furiously typed in a long string o
f information, most likely grades for the other classes she taught in. Coritea’s four eyes turned away from the holographic screen that had her attention until Queenea entered the room to hand in her thesis.

  “Here it is,” Queenea said, offering her the data pad.

  “Alright, we’ll read it over when the time comes, hopefully soon.” Coritea quickly scanned the contents of her pad. “Aether?”

  “There’s a lot of information there I believe nobody else has considered regarding that.”

  “The last person to bring up the topic of aether was . . .” she paused to remember the name. “High Scholar Ure Telinei.”

  “Telinei’s early reports were a basis for this.”

  Coritea’s face cringed.

  Radiance Council delegation chambers, Aervounis, Luminous system

  The Radiance council moved onto their next project for the day, interviewing Aryile candidates who wished to be nominated for the election to replace Gonvilei and his aged body. Ienthei was the last one to be interviewed; he sat before the five wearing a grey and white suit. The scales on his neck glistened from the layer of oil he had rubbed in just before coming up.

  “The potential successors we saw are a fine pick,” Gonvilei said.

  “He’s young, something we need,” Byikanea said. “It’s hard to govern the union when a new seat on the council has to be filled every ten to fifty years or so, everyone has different ideas, experiences, and wants for the union.”

  “Case in point, Gonvilei has been the Aryile representative for the last one hundred years, he was very young when he was elected,” Marchei said. “And his choices remained consistent during that time.”

  “I understand,” Ienthei said.

  “I for one have high hopes for you to be nominated and elected,” Gonvilei said. “I want nothing more than to see another hundred years of consistency for the Aryile voice within the union.”

  “Any other questions?” Iey’liwea asked. There was no reply from anyone. “Excellent, then this meeting is officially concluded.”

  “Just in time too . . .” Armuzei said as he and the rest rose from their chairs, many of them stretching their arms outward.

  “Big plans?” Ienthei asked Armuzei.

  “A gathering of sorts,” he said. “Feel free to join us, if elected you will be expected to attend such gatherings and fund raisers.”

  “I’d be honored.”

  Veromacon, Aervounis, Luminous system

  Night quickly fell upon the city. It didn’t take long as a day on Aervounis lasted nineteen hours. One of the many rise structures in the central most section of the city was buzzing as its penthouse suite had a high-class party in progress. The party was being hosted by Blue Star expansions, a colonization and deep space city building company who had their eyes on a newly terraformed world called Eiri also located in the Luminous system.

  When it was first discovered, it was nothing more than a harsh desert world with a dense carbon dioxide atmosphere. That was several thousand years ago, today that world had evolved into a garden world rich in both animal and plant life, perfect gravity just five percent lower than that of Aervounis, breathable air and land to build vast metropolis cities. There was just one problem. The council was against expanding into that world in such a manner.

  It was the first planet the Aryile stepped foot on in the aftermath of nearly dying off due to the conditions of Aervounis at the time. Arrival at Eiri at the time was a sign of hope that the Aryile race can continue to live on provided they can expand on other planets and ensure that they don’t negatively affect the impact of those worlds with their presence. Domed farms were built on Eiri, the crops grown there were shipped back to Aervounis to feed its population, then later future colonies and space stations that sprung up in the system in the centuries later.

  Eiri may be terraformed now and the union now expanded across hundreds of light years, but it was still considered by many to be a sacred world. The first terraformed planet and the planet that held the union together during its infancy.

  Ienthei along with the four out of the five council members mingled about with the many party goers at the event, Gonvilei retired for the night, the meeting earlier drained what little energy he had left. The vast majority of the party goers were Aryile, though he could see a few Linl in the mix. Everyone had an expensive outfit on, thus making Ienthei feel out of place with his simple grey and white suit, even the council members made a brief detour toward their homes before coming here, dressed to impress.

  Iey’liwea wore a long orange dress that went down to her feet. Her black hair was tied back into a bun which was held in place by four large hairpins that glowed and shifted in a variety of colors. She continued to wear her visor as it populated her eye-line with news. From time to time, she stopped and spoke with her psionic personal assistant, relaying a message to them that was to be projected telepathically across the galaxy, probably an opportunity for her to cash in on an investment.

  Armuzei’s suit looked like it was made of gold as it shone its brilliance around the people that spoke with him. He disappeared from sight as Dienei, who was also invited, whispered something into his ears. Marchei was hard to spot given the size of his short body, his psionic assistant spent a lot of the night moving glasses of wine telekinetically into Marchei’s hands as he was too short to get them himself.

  Byikanea was, by far, one of the most stunning women there. A long snow-white dress, mesh sleeveless top and white lace gloves that wrapped around her wine glass. She let her hair down for the event, occasionally flicking it backward in some dramatic way when men approached her which Ienthei found odd, Byikanea was a married woman.

  A three-dimensional hologram of Eiri was projected at the end of the party room, it changed every so often to a projection of how it looked in the present day, a green world with blue oceans, into what the company planned to make it. A planet full of cities, happy Radiance families, fleets of ships in orbit, and a long line of transport ships shipping out valuable minerals and goods off the planet toward the rest of the union.

  “What is this?” Ienthei said to himself, staring at the hologram as he swirled his glass of wine.

  “It’s Eiri just with a new look,” Marchei said. “Lush vegetation, water, and comfortable temperatures all our species can enjoy.” Ienthei had not noticed the Vorcambreum rep standing next to him, Marchei’s head came up to his waist. “And so rich in life both naturally evolved and life we transplanted there, all working together as if they belonged there. We should study it and leave it be rather than drop skyscrapers all over.”

  “What does the council plan if you don’t mind me asking?”

  “Many of us want to push forward with our original plan and policies when it comes to planets like this,” Marchei said. “Study the world and leave it alone, perhaps a small city for explorers and scientist to live in, but nothing more. But . . . space expansion companies like this would rather fill the planet up with our people which would result in their credit chits capping out. So they throw parties like this to sway our votes in another direction.”

  “So you’re just here for the free food and wine?”

  “You catch on fast,” Marchei said, patting the side of Ienthei’s arm as he couldn’t reach his shoulders. “You’ll make a fine council representative of your species.”

  As the event went on Ienthei couldn’t help but notice that now Byikanea was nowhere to be seen. A pity, he thought as it was not every day he got to see Linl women in person, especially ones as stunning as she was. He moved back to the bar to get another drink and was stopped as a soft finger poked him from behind. Turning around he saw another stunning sight, a young Aryile woman in possession of features he found to be rare, and she waved at him in a flirty manner.

  Her skin was fair, a feature uncommon against Aryile due to the large amount of sunlight the planet gets. Even then, those with fair skin tend to be tanned living on this side of the planet; her hair was blonde m
uch like his, though unlike his, hers was clearly natural. Her scales had a blue glitter to them and rarest of all, she was shorter than him. Most women were just as tall as or taller than him, the downside to being a twin with modified genes. Ienthei’s mother wanted Queenea to be no higher than five feet four, and wanted her to have a twin brother who was of the same height.

  “Uh, hi,” he said, doing everything in his power to conceal the anxiety forming in his gut.

  “You’re one of the candidates, right?”

  “Uh, yeah, Ienthei.”

  “Loryea,” she said, raising her hand upward to perform the traditional Radiance greeting. “Your acquaintance is recognized.”

  “Yeah, uh,” he did the same, only his hand was shaking, “acquaintance is recognized.”

  There followed an awkward silence, he could tell she was waiting for him to say something more. Something slick, something that would attract her to the way he thought. That’s what all women expect right? The man to move in without fear to create attraction. There was only one problem, no two, his anxiety was growing stronger, and he no idea what was expected of him at this point.

  “So . . .” she said, breaking the silence. “What made you at such a young age at, want to get into politics?”

  “Well, ugh.” Stay on track, tonight might be the night I can proceed further with a woman! “Well I just wanted to do my part in helping the union; my father was a ranger, spent most of his life fighting the Hashmedai until he died.”

  He opened his mouth to say more, but no sounds came out. Realizing his mistake, he shut it quickly and produced a fake smile.

  “Come sit with me,” she said, motioning toward an empty sofa in the corner.

  Panic, nothing but uncontrollable panic paralyzed his body. He never sat with a woman, what was he to do? What was he to say? How was he supposed to act? Body language, tone of voice, conversation topics. It was too much for him, too many unknowns, and far too many chances for the whole thing to end with embarrassment beyond belief, especially in front of all these party goers.