Joe pointed and said, “Rock.”
Nista pointed at the rock and said, “Keyvee’sta.”
“Tree.”
“Pueitana.”
Joe pointed up. “Sky.”
“E’vahn.”
They eventually came upon a clearing, a field of soft, blue ferns. In the center of the field stood a large, bright red-colored boulder. All through it were veins of Volessa, the glowing stone, which looked white in daylight.
Growing at the base of the boulder was a plant unlike Joe had ever seen on the planet. Its stem was green, its leaves, each the size of his hand, were red, and at the tip of each leaf grew a large thorn. Nista ran across the field, carefully removed a leaf and ran back to Joe. She indicated Joe should stick out his tongue and she gently poked him with the thorn. She then took the thorn and pricked the end of her tongue as well.
The pain was minor, and soon gone, replaced with a ringing in his ears. As the ringing faded, he clearly heard the sounds of the small animals and insects all around them, but somehow, their noise seemed like music to Joe, as if he’d never heard them before and he had just awakened to their beauty.
Nista took Joe by the hand and led him out into the field. They sat in the shadow of the red boulder. Once seated, Nista moved very close to him and again, took his hand in hers. She glanced slowly up at the red rock and said, “Ut’ah, Eya’Etee Ki Kee, tsay Kool Kohn.” Then turned her face toward the sun, her eyes closed.
Joe looked into her face and saw a vision. He saw peace and happiness. He knew that such contentment would be denied to him ― somehow, he just knew it. A sadness washed over him, and as it did, Nista’s great blue eyes opened, and she looked hard at him. Initially, her eyes were quite wide, but slowly, her eyelids lowered till they half-concealed those lovely blue orbs.
“Mee tah Ohmenilla cenulla oil ein Yohay?” she asked.
“I don’t know what it is, Nista,” Joe responded. “I was just suddenly very sad.”
Several seconds passed before the realization that somehow, he knew what she meant when she spoke those words. He did not understand the words but he understood her meaning.
“What was that?” he asked.
She placed her open hand in the center of his chest and said, “Lu’aya on oh hannut meidan va ihet, jot kame ola yhdesse.”
“Lu’aya has directed our steps that we be together?” Joe responded. “Us…together? I don’t see how that’s possible. Then again, I don’t see how it’s possible that I comprehend what it is you’re saying.”
“Ownen ninein Keyvee’sta.” Nista said indicating the red boulder. “Tam ah esta tooue Eya’Etee Ki Kee.”
“The work of Mother?”
“Coola. Tamaye Lun noss tahapee tue vine, kuhnoil mehn oilehmay lahay lahanen.”
“So, this only happens here by this rock?”
“Coola.” She then paused, glanced down, then slowly back up into Joe’s eyes. “Yohay, Joe, uncual halo vat meh’nuaw?”
“Do I desire you? Nista, you’re a beautiful woman — a man would have to be nuts not to—”
“Joe, uncual halo vat meh’nuaw … coola e’lay ey?”
“Yes or no, huh? Yes Nista, but I don’t act on every desire I have.”
Nista removed her right hand from his chest and, with it, grabbed his right hand and pressed his palm to the center of her chest. As his hand made contact she closed her eyes, tilted her head back, and sucked in a deep breath.
Joe felt it, too, though he did not understand it, at first. It felt as if the empty place in his chest was suddenly filled. The hollowness inside was gone, and replaced with a longing to feel Nista in his arms.
The sensation passed, leaving both Joe and Nista looking into each other’s eyes. Joe spoke first uttering a seldom used E’meset word, “Ko’maton!”
Nista was very much surprised to hear this ancient word pass his lips. “Mean tsay tea adebt amon’samon?” she asked.
“I don’t know the word, Nista. I just somehow knew I had to say it. The word means – incredible, right?”
“Colla, Joe.” Nista replied. Then after a deep breath she said, “Hallo eysin sudelainen cinuwas varat kost’Evolt.”
Joe smiled. “You’d kiss me but the fake face is in the way? Oh, you mean the respirator? I can hold my breath long enough for a kiss.”
As Joe reached for his mask Nista leapt to her feet, “Joe, no sta! Mahdin ond eyya!”
Joe got up, “Run? Run where, why?”
Nista grabbed his hand and shouted “Ula lavat, eyya, eyya!”
As they started to run back the way they had come, something crashed through the forest on the other side of the field.
“What the hell is that?” Joe shouted.
“Hainett Esso Layo’wat!” Nista shouted at Joe as she pulled him farther.
“Big jaws?” Joe repeated then glanced over his shoulder. Behind them a bipedal creature, two-and-a-half meters tall, looking like a set of jaws filled with T-Rex’s teeth was stomping after them. The thing’s huge ears were filled with the sound of their running, its nose with the smell of their flesh and blood. Joe recognized the creature the colonists called a Pakmon.
With his free right hand, Joe opened the flap of his holster and withdrew his pistol. On the run, he fired three rounds at the pursuing beast, with no effect at all. He emptied the magazine at the charging creature. He hit it maybe three times, angering the beast. It put on a burst of speed and was closing the distance between them, fast.
Nista looked off to their left, then shouted at Joe, “Key’Erey!” But this time, Joe did not comprehend the words. He did understand that she had seen something he had not.
As the Esso Layo’wat reached the spot where Nista had looked away, the wood line literally exploded. Splinters of wood, branches, large pieces of tree trunks, and millions of leaves went flying into the air.
An enormous creature burst out of the forest. The thing was perhaps eighteen meters long, like the size of a whale.
Its head was blunt with massive jaws full of spiked teeth. Its tongue acted like a tentacle that reached out to grab smaller prey. The end of this tongue had four digits each tipped with a retractable claw. The thing had four thick short legs. Its massive, blunt head was heavily scarred from years of crashing through the forest.
After bursting out of the woods, the creature grabbed the smaller Esso Layo’wat in its gargantuan jaws and bit down. The feet of the Pakmon, all that could be seen of it now, stopped kicking almost immediately. The larger creature bit even harder, and a gusher of blood poured from between its teeth and pooled up under it.
Nista did not look back, nor slow down even a little. She only stopped running when she could see that Joe was exhausted. He was in peak physical condition, but this woman could, and did, easily run him into the ground. She showed no sign of fatigue at all.
Nista was looking back now as Joe reloaded his puny pistol.
“Damn, that was a Terra Ceti,” he said excitedly between gasps for breath.
Nista pointed and said, “T’Pu Iya.”
Joe was bent forward with his hands on his knees recovering from the four-kilometer run in a respirator that he felt sure was unable to provide his body’s increased demand for oxygen as he ran. He’d have it re-calibrated upon his return.
Joe stood up, placed his weapon on safe, but did not return it to his holster.
Nista reached down and took his left hand, “It okay, Joe.”
The feel of her soft hand in his was an unfamiliar feeling, one he concentrated on as they walked.
Joe remained hyper-alert, scanning the forest and the sky as they walked back to New Roanoke. Nista doubtless saw that he was not enjoying their walk. She stopped him and leaned in close to his respirator. “Joe, is okay. No Top’Aya.” And she waved her hand to encompass the forest while shaking her head no. Joe understood. He knew the E’meset were more sensitive to the environment than humans. And this E’meset was a Poh’palm meas, to boot. To demonstrate hi
s confidence in her, he holstered his weapon and they continued their walk. Nevertheless, Joe stole the occasional glance over his shoulder.
The larger of the two red stars, Elpis 229A, called by the E’meset Ourinco, was low in the western sky as they passed through the east gate of New Roanoke. They walked past the little hut where they had met that morning and entered a stone two story building behind it.
Inside, the room was quite bright due to the several glowing stones placed about. There was also furniture here; a couple of small tables and a somewhat larger one. All E’meset tables sit low to the floor, and as all sitting was done on the ground, several large pillows, or cushions, were located in appropriate places. These were quite colorful and highly decorated. All of them were handmade, of course, and each represented many hours of work.
The glowing stones were cut into several shapes; cubes, spheres, long oval shapes, and wooden cradles were constructed to support them. One was supported on a tripod of very straight, sturdy poles. Another sat in a wooden support designed to fit it. And, in the corner, one sat on an intricately carved pedestal, and still others were supported from the ceiling wrapped in handmade nets. The room was not as bright as inside the city, of course, but then, these people were not used to that kind of illumination, even on a cloudless summer day. This was why their eyes were so large and their pupils opened so wide.
The walls were painted with pictures of nature and with the images of friends and family. On the wall opposite the entrance was a painting of Dave and Kathy holding hands and smiling.
And of course, the ceiling was well over three meters high.
They stopped in the center of the room and Nista gathered up several pillows and offered them to Joe saying, “Sit.” Then she turned and called out into the house, “Eya’Etee, Oilemet ta Kaszine!”
“Tu lavat,” Yalga called back.
Joe sat near what he would have called a coffee table. He rose when Yalga descended the narrow stairs into the room with the larger table.
On seeing Nista, Yalga said, “Tuttier heir guy gemennen huven?”
Joe watched as Nista nodded in his direction.
“Ah, Joe. I just ask of Nista if your walk went well.”
“We were interrupted by some locals, but otherwise it was fine. Can you tell me how the plants that grow at the red rock work?”
“First, you sit here at the food table.” Joe relocated and sat down. “It is called Suden ohna meer. The heart of dreams. Near it, the faithful who have … their hearts in hand, will receive help from Eya’Etee Ki Kee.”
“What does that mean…hearts in hand?”
“You must be hungry after so long a journey. I will make food.”
“Yalga, I better get back inside the city. I think my respirator is malfunctioning.”
Nista approached very close to her mother and they began to whisper back and forth to each other. Joe thought this odd because he didn’t understand a word they spoke. The two kept looking over at him and he began to feel uncomfortable.
At last, Yalga approached him, Joe stood back up.
“Joe, Nista asks to go with you. You have seen her home, she wants to see yours.”
“Yalga, that’s not possible. Our atmosphere is heavy with oxygen and she—”
“Joe, she can breathe both your air and ours.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“How—”
“Joe, we do not ask Lu’aya how the blessings we receive are done. We accept them and go on to glorify Lu’aya for them.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“I am sure.”
“Well, okay…I guess. Why not?”
Chapter 6
THE ANCIENT ILLNESS
Standing outside at the base of the city with its three-story height towering overhead and its sides stretching north and south into the distance, a person could feel very small.
Joe pressed the buttons and the airlock door opened. He and Nista stepped inside, and as the door closed, Joe watched Nista exhale as much of her atmosphere out of her lungs as she could.
The gasses were exchanged inside the chamber within fifteen seconds, and the green light appeared. When it did, Nista inhaled deeply and began coughing violently. Joe went to the emergency button but Nista stopped him. “It okay, Joe,” she said. In a few seconds, she had recovered, and seemed to be breathing normally.
The interior door opened, and they stepped into the ready room. Joe closed and reset the airlock, then removed his mask. As he did, Nista grabbed his arms and examined his face closely. Then, she looked into his eyes and smiled.
“Pretty,” she said and brushed his hair out of his eyes with her long, delicate fingers.
Joe smiled back at her, knowing he was blushing, “Ah, yeah, thanks.” Then he paused, and with some trepidation, he touched her hair and said, “Sea’ava.”
From the ready room, they entered the hallway and walked toward corridor number three where Joe intended to catch a tram.
As Joe walked hand in hand with the very curious Nista inside the confines of the city, two things struck him. One…inside, the fact that she was E’meset created a startling and unexpected contrast ― this, despite the fact that she was so much smaller than other E’meset.
And two…the sight of an E’meset inside these walls was so unique as to be startling. There she stood, all but naked in her loincloth, and her long hair decorated with colored grass and feathers. As they passed one of the colonists, Joe saw the man’s eyes become enormous!
Someone had been concerned enough to notify the CDF, and just as they reached the large and busy corridor three-one, they were stopped by four CDF soldiers. The leader, a staff sergeant, saluted. “I beg your pardon, sir,” he said directing himself to Joe. “Are you responsible for bringing this, ah, woman, into the city?”
“Yes, I am. She’s my guest.”
“Uhm, sir, no E’meset has ever been inside before.”
“What’s your point, Sergeant?”
“We’ve had a complaint, and we just don’t have a protocol for this.”
“A complaint? Stand by, Sergeant.” Joe activated his COMde and called his CO. A report on the situation went from there quickly up the chain of command.
Nista crouched next to Joe and spoke low to him, “In halowa oh onella ma.” Joe did not understand, but he knew she must be concerned, perhaps even frightened. She had to know all this was due to her.
“Don’t worry Nista, it’s okay,” he said, and smiled reassuringly at her. Just then, his COMde alerted him to an incoming call.
“Lieutenant Joe Billen, here,” Joe said, responding.
“Hello, Joe.” It was the mayor of New Roanoke, Dave Mitchel. “I’m up to speed on the situation, and I am instructing the CDF to disavow any complaints and allow you to proceed.”
“What the hell has anyone to complain about?”
“Joe, we’re only human. There’s still a lot of ignorance out there. I still experience prejudice, myself.”
“Prejudice?”
“Joe, tell your guest I’m sorry and—”
“Sir, she doesn’t speak English.”
“Oh. Well, tell her Tallevet Vahlal ― it means I’m sorry, and then say allkine Dave.”
Joe repeated the message, and Nista smiled and said, “Kare ey too Dave mi kaypitom hanta.”
Dave heard her and responded. Joe relayed his message to Nista. “Dave Kaypaw E’meset leeown. He misses the people, too.”
The staff sergeant and his men had stepped aside. “We’re sorry, sir. Just didn’t know what to do, here. We have a tram waiting for you.”
“Thank you, Sergeant.”
Nista was amazed at the mag-lift tram. To her, it must have seemed like magic.
Their first stop was the regimental dining facility. Joe was hungry, and he was sure Nista was, too.
All along their route, people stared at them. Joe understood that no one had ever seen an E’meset inside the city breathi
ng oxygen, so he tried to be understanding.
At the dining facility, Joe picked up a tray. Nista watched him closely and emulated his every move. Joe then went to the food dispensers and selected his choices. A moment passed, a door in the machine opened and his meal appeared. He picked it up and placed it on his tray.
Fortunately for Nista, the menu was illustrated. She had watched Joe and knew to press the buttons by the pictures of the items she wanted.
They took a seat at a booth in the main dining room. The place was not crowded, but every eye was on them, and every tongue was wagging about them. Joe began to feel uneasy. He knew what they were saying.
Nista seemed not to notice. She seemed to be marveling at the fact that the food of the Tuva appeared by magic. Tasting it, she acknowledged that it was good, with a big smile.
She did, however, turn up her nose at the taste of the partially filtered water.
The mess sergeant came out from behind the counter where he and a number of his associates had stood whispering and gawking at Nista. He approached and looked down at the two of them, saying, “So, we feeding the peacocks now, too? I thought they did their own hunt’n?”
Joe quickly got to his feet. “Sergeant, the vast majority of the food you prepare and eat yourself is hunted, killed, and field-dressed by the people you call peacocks. They provide us tons of food, free of charge. And one more thing.” Joe stepped in close and spoke low. “If I ever hear of you addressing an officer again as you just did me, I’ll have you busted to private faster than you can boil an egg. Now, get away from me.”
Joe sat back down, his face and ears bright red. He took a long pull on his glass of water.
None of this had escaped Nista’s attention. She placed her hand on his and graced him with that smile. “It okay, Joe.”
Joe watched as she bit into an apple ― an Earth apple from the colony’s hydroponics garden. Her eyes lit up as she tasted it. “Ohhh, i’emo!” she said.
“I take it you like it?” Joe said.
Nista reached over and took the apple off Joe’s tray, then pulled out her E’meset hunting knife and peeled it. She continued to carve it until it was a round, white ball. She then cut it in half. She looked into Joe’s eyes and slowly ate her half. She then handed the other half to Joe saying, “Eldelmat ta tu Condress Pueitana.”
The Blue of Antyllus Page 8
