Solar Twins

by Jason F Crockett

  They made their way out of the flow of traffic and churned mud by the bank of the river to the edge of the tree line where they found some grass and a rotting log to sit on. “It’s like taking a break in our lives to just explore,” Yakobe reflected silently.

  “It’s exciting, isn’t it?” Rakhabi added. “Just think! We could have gone our entire lives without experiencing all these new sights and sounds and interesting people. Even if nothing comes of our journey (which I hope won’t happen) it will have been worth it.”

  “You two planning on staying here till I return, or are you coming with us?”

  The two of them hopped up in shock at the float-master looming over them. He was framed on either side by the floats they had been riding. “We didn’t see you cross,” Rakhabi started, but she was speaking to his back as he hurried off yelling for the drivers to press on. Yakobe and Rakhabi exchanged glances before gathering their stuff and hurrying to catch up to their float that was already lumbering by. Rakhabi almost danced to the top while Yakobe admired her from the bottom. When she reached the top, he lobbed her sweet cane up to her and grabbing the side of the float he walked on as though there had never been a river to cross.

  The float-master made his way back by them about a mark of the dial later and said, “We’ll be at the Tigreye-Kipero gateway by sundown tonight. You may find a hostel in Tigreye for the night, but you will want to be at the gateway early to be sure you can get through tomorrow without having to wait in line.”

  “Have you been to Kipero before?” Yakobe asked.

  Rakhabi joined in, “We were wondering how close the other side of the gate is to Kipero.”

  “It’s within sight of the gate,” he answered, “but still a few marks distant. They take their security very seriously and don’t want a gate that large too close to the city. I’m sure it won’t be a problem. If you can’t find a ride you can still walk it in less than a day.” He glanced up at Rakhabi perched on top the cargo and added, “Unless you have a disability that would prevent you from doing so?”

  “No, we’ll be fine”, Rakhabi said. “We were just curious and wanted to know if finding a ride would be necessary.”

  “Thank you for your insight, float-master,” Yakobe answered, “and for allowing us to travel with you.” After a couple more minutes of small talk, the float-master took his leave and headed back to the front of the floats.

  CHAPTER TWO:

  Decisions

  As Baryesu adjusted his blue coat, he also adjusted his reflection in the mirror, so he was seeing himself sideways instead of straight on. His green eyes were offset by the amber-colored crystal embedded in his forehead, and the blue of his coat was much lighter than that of his fibrous hair, though his hair seemed to catch the light in such a way that sometimes it actually seemed lighter. He liked how he looked from the side and tended to not look straight at anyone so that he would present his “better side” when they looked at him. His crystal had grown quite large and though he was less adept than many, the size of his crystal indicated that he was more powerful. He loved to teleport everywhere because many had difficulties teleporting themselves, but that particular skill he had refined. When any doubted his abilities, he used that to humble them.

  He stepped away from the mirror, looked at himself one last time, and extending his sight to span the distance from his house to the castle, he stepped through time and space, swirling out of his living quarters to a spot not too distant from the Mwene’s portico. He immediately bowed his head forward holding his palms up away from his body giving the guards no reason to spit him with their lances. The four guards immediately surrounding him simultaneously thudded the butts of their lances to the floor and a soft glow sprang from one lance to the next until he was encased in the glow of a myriad of colors. He could not feel it but knew that if he tried to move through the barrier he would be carried away to only the guards knew where and the chances of him ever returning would be slim indeed. When their search was over, and the barrier was lifted, he relaxed as they told him to stay where he was and wait for the captain of the guard to arrive. He had come before, but never uninvited.

  His eyes took in the beauty and functionality of the castle and its surrounding buildings. The castle had been grown many hundreds of centuries past. The workmanship of that era was unparalleled. It had been added to, strengthened, and modified as suited each Mwene to rule down through the ages. The colors of its crystal walls had recently been changed to a primarily deep blue sapphire offset by pearl around the doors, windows, and soffits. The floor of the portico at the entry to the castle was a swirl of different colors that blended at a distance to a translucent gray marbling. The outbuildings, including the guard shack from which the captain was exiting, had largely retained their original makeup with only slight modifications to draw the eye back to the castle.

  When the captain of the guard arrived, he imposed himself directly in front of Baryesu and looked none too happy. “Your appearance here is highly irregular and demands a good explanation. I sure hope you have one. I dare say it’s been a century or two since anyone felt the need to show up here in such a fashion.” He stood there with his hands on his hips towering a full head above Baryesu (who was not a short man himself) waiting for his response.

  Baryesu forced his stomach back down from his throat where it felt like it was choking him and managed to gather himself enough to speak without squeaking. “I carry dire news from the stars and must see the Mwene immediately.”

  The captain stepped back and looked incredulously at Baryesu. “You mean to tell me that you swirl in here without authorization and without an invitation from the Mwene and you expect me to just let you waltz into the castle at this early hour and wake the Mwene?”

  Before the captain could continue, Baryesu cut in. “I expect you to do your job cap-tain,” he drawled out his title for emphasis. “And I expect you to let me do mine. I can’t tell you how to do your job, but I can tell you that the Mwene will want to hear what I have to say and see what I need to show him. So, since you’re in charge here, I expect you to figure out how to accomplish this.”

  The captain growled as he spun around and walked off leaving Baryesu to wonder where he was going and just hoping it was to contact the Mwene and not to arrange his own containment. He tried to ignore the dark looks that the guards were giving him. That was very hard to do since they were an imposing lot. They spent their days training mentally and physically and the auras they were projecting were fearsome enough to give pause to even the hardiest of contenders. Though he was close to their height, they probably weighed half again as much as he and it wasn’t wasted, but well-proportioned across their broad chests and muscular arms and legs. Their helmets encircled their crystals embedded in their foreheads not covering them but protecting them. This design effectively amplified their abilities. The crystals in each of the guards’ heads were pulsing each in its own hue showing that they were more than prepared to take action (whatever that may be). When the captain returned, he brought the chief nlaikha with him and gruffly introduced him directing two of the guards to continue to guard him.

  The nlaikha nodded differentially at Baryesu, “Follow me,” he said, and turned around and headed off. He was shorter than Baryesu and was dressed to serve not to impress. The Mwene liked his Mlaikha to look pleasant without attracting attention or detracting from the surroundings. His clothes were nondescript. A diffuser plate was layered over his crystal and fastened with a light blue silk ribbon around the back of his head. It matched the color of his shirt and calf-length knickerbockers.

  They headed off to the right, past the main body of the castle in no apparent hurry. The street they followed skirted around the entire castle. It sprawled out like a small village within a city. They came to a nondescript side entrance and the nlaikha approached the door standing just to the side without saying a word. They had to wait for the briefest of intervals before the door opened seemingly of its own accord and
slid silently back to reveal a well-lit corridor. They entered, ushering Baryesu along with them. They passed silently through the rose-colored light filling the doorway, another built-in security to keep the unauthorized from entering. Baryesu wondered silently what would happen if one was unauthorized. He hoped to never find out.

  The corridor was well lit, but the source of the light was unapparent to the unknowledgeable. Baryesu knew from previous exposure to the marvels of the castle that the light was reflected and refracted from the very roof itself, which was a receptor of the light from the sun, stars, moon, and neighboring planet. There was a controller whose job it was to regulate the light being allowed in. Large crystal banks that stored it for future use. Gilded writing decorated the walls. They paused until a door opened in the corridor revealing another corridor identical to the first leading off in another direction. Standing at the entryway to the corridor you could not see any doors along the corridor, and it was impossible to determine the length of the corridor. Were it not for the symbols on the walls, it would have been only too easy to get hopelessly lost. The closer they came to their destination; the fewer symbols there were stating the options available through those doors. They passed few mlaikha and even fewer officials since most had already retired by this time of night.

  When they finally arrived at their destination, the nlaikha instructed him to wait before disappearing through yet another door. The guards deposited themselves next to the two entry/exits. He was in a large room with a vaulted ceiling. There was a platform lift over in the corner by its own symbol etched into its surface. Water tumbled down a small waterfall on one side of the lift, lending the serenity of its babbling to the setting. On the opposite side was a small library of crystal slates each holding a wealth of information compiled from the works of famous authors down through the ages. Baryesu was amazed at the variety of subject matter represented by just this one library set aside to entertain waiting guests. There were slates on music appreciation and theory, growth method construction, herbology, and sea life and much more.

  Baryesu slid out a slate on astronomy and grasped it with both hands on either side. After a couple of moments of concentration, a barely visible beam of light was emitted from the crystal on his brow. When it struck the slate, the light danced along its edges and seemed to fill up the areas etched within. What was projected up was a type of interactive hologram. The slate now hung suspended while he manipulated the hologram. He zoomed in on their solar system and rotated it to show the perspective most recently seen from the crystal scope. He was pleased to note that it did not show the object they had discovered. He traced its recorded trajectory and noted that throughout the turns there had been some very weak low-frequency signals from that general area that were noted as unidentifiable and questionable in origin.

  So engrossed was he in what he was doing that he did not notice the nlaikha visible through the swirl of information projected from the plate.

  “If that has anything to do with what you are here for, you may bring it with you,” said the nlaikha. “Please follow me.”

  Baryesu released the hologram and slid the slate into a fold of his robe while hurrying to catch up with the nlaikha. The two guards bracketed him as he stepped onto the lift.

  At a gesture from the nlaikha, they swirled from the lift in the waiting room onto an identical lift in the Mwene’s anteroom. They stepped into the simple barren room and presented themselves to the Mwene’s special guard before being ushered into his presence.

  They bowed low and remained there until the rich, deep voice of Mwene Crisólito beckoned them to approach his throne. He looked none too happy about being woken to attend to Baryesu’s “needs,” but was civil in addressing him nonetheless.

  The throne room was a large room but was currently totally empty but for the Mwene, his guards, the nlaikha, and Baryesu. There were no chairs and no furniture in sight, but large tapestries adorned the walls flaunting colorful scenes reminiscent of Ma Mwene gone by. Each tapestry was a mural showing the memorable turns of each Mwene.

  The Mwene was not in appearance as his voice. He was shorter than Baryesu, though not by much. He was, however, an intelligent man and one look into his bright eyes more than confirmed that. He was one of, if not the most, powerful of the skilled on the planet. His crystal was large and seemed to not reflect but emit a rainbow of hues that confirmed that he was not limited to a particular skill but was a master in every skill at a high level.

  The only time Baryesu had physically met the Mwene was at the advancement ceremony when he had been accepted as the head of the astronomers.

  The Mwene spoke first as was customary. “We have been told that this was a pressing matter that cannot wait until a more convenient mark of the dial. We shall assume that you are aware of the…” he paused for effect, “inconvenience of your timing. So please enlighten us as to the dire situation of which you have become aware that we may put your mind at ease by sharing that same burden.” He managed to keep the sarcasm and inconvenience out of his tone of voice, though the words spoke volumes about how he felt about the situation.

  Baryesu looked around for support, but he was on his own. Finding no support, he began. “With your permission, your Excellency, I found a slate in the waiting room library with which I can explain myself much better. May I display it?”

  “Please continue,” the Mwene said.

  Baryesu pulled out the slate and activated it as before. “Please forgive me if I point out much that you already know, but it will help what I have to say flow better.” The slate hovered between the Mwene and Baryesu and the hologram projected above it was visible to all in the hall. “Here you can see our planet and if you look out in this direction,” he said, rotating the display and causing a ray of blue light to trace the path he was indicating. “It has been noted periodically, as is inscribed here, that certain unidentifiable signals have emanated from this sector. What now concerns us is that we have discovered in our scopes an object coming towards us from this exact region, displaying a certain amount of intelligence or at the least, mobility. If it continues to approach at its current velocity, it will be within visible sight by this time tomorrow and could even impact us if its trajectory doesn’t change. I have instructed my assistant to keep it in view in the scope so that you may see it for yourself.”

  “You were right in coming to me,” the Mwene said. “We will come take a look. Do you have the help you need to monitor this object around the dial?”

  “Yes, your Excellency,” Baryesu replied. “It should only be until tomorrow and my assistant and I can rotate shifts until then.”

  “Nlaikha, show Baryesu to the transportation center. We shall meet you there and tesser together to your observatory.”

  The nlaikha bowed low saying, “Your wish, your Excellency,” and turning he strode out of the hall.

  Baryesu followed and soon found himself on the lift with the guards. They swirled into a large domed room resembling a vault more than anything else. The walls were not of the same material the rest of the building had been. Rather, it was like a webbed lattice of crystalline thread. Fully one half of the dome shimmered with various iridescent colors working their way through the rainbow. Baryesu had never seen a tesser room before and he strode around it, careful not to touch the webbing while probing it with a thin ray of energy from his crystal. Each varying spot on the web that he probed reflected back a dim hologram showing the location to which it was tuned and showed him what was happening in that location.

  When the Mwene swirled in with his advisors and attendants, he asked, “Send to us the location where stands your observatory.”

  Baryesu drew a mental picture of where the observatory stood, as a map would display it, and then projected that to the Mwene.

  “Zoom in with more detail,” commanded the Mwene.

  Again, he constructed a mental image of the observatory, this time as if he were looking at it from the hill just south of it where he oft
en went to refresh himself and contemplate. He sent that image, panning through it to show what the surroundings were like.

  “O.K., I think we’ve got it. Let’s check it out,” said the Mwene; then a beam of light burst from his crystal and a portion of the crystal webbing glowed. The Mwene adjusted his thoughts from ones of inscribing the new location on the webbing, to having it projected into the center of the domed room. What they all saw then was not the static picture that Baryesu had visualized but was the observatory in real life but contained as it were in a large bubble. At a wave from the Mwene, four of his guards stepped into the bubble and the onlookers saw them fanning out and making sure it was safe. The captain of the guard returned to where he had first appeared and gave the all-clear signal. The Mwene and his retinue then proceeded to enter the bubble and were tessered immediately to that location.

  Jacinto stood in front of one of the guards by the entrance to the observatory and bowed low as the Mwene approached.

  Commander Savage could taste the excitement of the crews as he strode down the corridor to the meeting room. The probes had worked like a charm. Rumors were flying about what was going on and what they would do. In under an hour, the meeting with the captains would be over and he would make the announcement they were all waiting for. He slowed down as he entered the cross-section of the corridor and joined Captain Gaston and his crew also heading for the meeting room. Gaston was a good man, he reflected as he greeted them. His crew seemed to really respect him.

  Gaston nodded at him and said, “It looks like it’s going to happen, Commander.”

  Savage could see the suppressed excitement in Gaston’s eyes though he was doing a good job keeping it out of the rest of his demeanor. “How are the rest of your preparations coming along Captain? Are you on schedule?”