Reunion

by Greg Mutton

  ‘Welcome Man-Nix, A-Bra-Ham. I trust you rested well?’

  ‘Very well, thank you,’ Petra answered. They were joined by Eldrac-Tar, Mondrac and the Ambassador Goldoc-Mul. To Aaron’s surprise, breakfast was more human than he thought possible; bacon, eggs and toast, with a variety of spreads and a hot drink, similar to tea. The conversation was mainly about recent events and how to respond, with Eldrac-Tar putting forward a number of alternatives which he suggested he and Aaron discuss later.

  ‘A-Bra-Ham, you seem a little pre-occupied. May I ask what is concerning you?’

  “Yeah, I’m in a bit of a quandary. Ever since we met your race, we have considered you to be somewhat different. We looked at you in awe… almost reverence. You seemed so far more advanced as to be almost god like. Yet here we are, enjoying a very human meal together.’

  Jok-Tar was looking furtively toward Aaron. Finally he spoke. ‘My sire, I think we need to discuss this with A-Bra-Ham and Man-Nix.’ Eldrac-Tar nodded and indicated for Jok-Tar to continue. ‘A-Bra-Ham, I believe we have a misunderstanding between us. Your initial assumption was that we are not really humanoid. The general consensus of your people is that we existed in a non-corporeal form, however, as you now can see, we are most definitely flesh and bone just as you are. A-Bra-Ham, please accept our apologies for allowing this misconception to progress… we should have stopped it immediately.

  ‘Throughout human history, there have been interferences by some far less altruistic beings — two of whom you met at the meeting. Galdor and Nileros have interacted with your race a number of times, and always purely for their own benefit. Now, it seems, they wish to repeat their past but more directly. You must take this threat as real and significant! If these two races have found a way to traverse the Eleventh Realm, then you, and your realm may be in mortal danger.’ He stopped and looked to his sire.

  ‘As my offspring has said, we regret not clearing this issue before but, the threat from invasion seems to be real. Your realm must take this seriously or else face total subjugation.’ Eldrac-Tar’s voice conveyed the gravity of the situation.

  Aaron smiled as he replied, ‘I agree, while our perception of Eldorans was confused, what we now face is almost unbelievable, and that will be our greatest challenge… getting others to believe, before it is too late.’

  ‘That will be your task when you return, for now we have other matters to address,’ Mondrac began. ‘Today, Tocmal will take you to your ship so you can see their progress. This afternoon, the Mother Queen has requested your presence. Evidently, she wants to become better acquainted with you. While this is happening, I will have a discussion with our prisoners; there are many things I need to understand before we can move forward’.

  The discussion continued for another half hour, with Eldrac-Tar telling them a message had been sent to Grainger explaining why they wouldn’t be back in time to meet with him. They also asked that he postpone any action till Aaron and Petra returned with more information.

  Petra only half listened to the conversation — most of her attention was focused on the patio and garden. The structure reminded her of images she had seen from ancient Earth civilisations; heavy marble columns, very high ceilings and terrazzo floors. The garden was very similar to the one at Orange, formally laid out with many plantings that seemed familiar.

  ‘You are interested in our garden?’ Goldoc-Mul asked.

  ‘’Yes, it feels very familiar, Mister Ambassador.’

  ‘That is because it was designed from images of many gardens on Earth. We Eldorans may have reached the pinnacle of our development, but we lost so much on the way. We have no art, no music and most certainly no gardens like this. Our contact with Freebooters has inspired us, something we are eternally grateful for. You will see this for yourself, when you eventually come to Eldora.’ Goldoc-Mul sat back, allowing his guest the freedom to enjoy the scene. An aide entered and informed them that Admiral Tocmal had arrived. Petra and Aaron stood, thanked the ambassador for his hospitality and left with the aide.

  14

  The damage to Junior was extensive. Aaron’s heart sank as he surveyed his ship. ‘I doubt if she’ll ever fly again,’ he said sadly.

  ‘Nonsense… we’ll have her ready to take you home in four days!’

  ‘Come on Tocmal, that’s not possible. Just look at how much work is required.’ The rear section had already been cut away, the atmospheric drive completely destroyed, all the power couplings and conduits to the Gravitron drive were either badly damaged or destroyed. Add to this the structural issues that would now appear and Aaron couldn’t see any option but to scrap her.

  ‘A-Bra-Ham, I do not lie. If I say she will be ready in four days… that is what will transpire.’ He sounded hurt by Aarons’ lack of faith.

  ‘If you say so, then I must accept it.’ Aaron agreed despondently.

  ‘Good, that is settled! Now, what to do for the next few days? I can’t let you stay at the embassy all the time… that would be improper.’ Tocmal thought for a while. ‘I have a domicile away from the cities. After the reception this afternoon, we shall go there, if you agree. You will find it a most relaxing experience.’ Once this was settled, they continued with their inspection.

  The Reglaon engineers had managed to reverse-engineer the Acrilan composite used for the exterior of Junior. Whole sections were now in production and would be fitted just as soon as agreement on the atmospheric drive was reached. The chief engineer, a female named Hallak, had examined the details of the old unit and suggested she could fit a Reglaon unit in its place. Aaron agreed and the final specifications were confirmed.

  The Gravitron drive was another area of interest as with all its couplings gone it was just so much wasted space. Hallak assured them that the standard Reglaon drive would be more efficient than the original. Finally, Tocmal led them to another lab; here he had two sections of Acrilan from the ship.

  He handed Aaron a blaster and asked him to fire at the sheet of composite. Reluctantly Aaron obeyed. The result was as expected with the Acrilan exploding. Next, Tocmal asked him to fire on the second sheet, again Aaron complied. This time, nothing happened, the blast seemed to somehow dissipate. Unable to believe his eyes, Aaron fired a second blast, this time at full power, and the result was still the same.

  ‘A-Bra-Ham, this is coated with the resin I told you about.’ Tocmal explained. ‘We use it on all our space ships… that’s what makes them so hard to destroy. Unfortunately for the pilot the other day, we do not do the same for atmospheric craft. With your permission, we will apply a coating of this to your ship.’

  With the results he had just seen, Aaron agreed enthusiastically. They left Hallak to get on with the job of rebuilding Junior. ‘As we have some time till we must be at the palace, I would like to show you something.’ Tocmal announced as he entered his shuttle.

  They left the orbiting repair dock and headed back to the planet. Tocmal took a different route, still heading toward the city he wanted to show them — Zeril. It had suffered most and had almost been completely destroyed. The remains of the city gave the impression that it had been large and open. Some of the buildings that had survived were elegant and thoughtfully designed to complement, not dominate, the surrounding, something humans still had problems achieving. Throughout the rubble there were Reglaons, digging desperately, trying to find lost family members, a sight that Aaron and Petra would never forget.

  Tocmal’s voice was heavy with sadness as he spoke. ‘Over 7 million of my people perished here, and for what? We still have no idea of the purpose of all this destruction and death. If we were at war I could understand it, but we are not. A-Bra-Ham, do you have any idea as to the purpose for this?’ He cast his arms wide to encompass all they saw before them.

  Aaron shook his head. ‘Sadly my friend, I don’t. I can think of no reason for this or what purpose it might serve. I also can’t see how the blast in our realm could possibly cause all this… it just wasn’t strong enough.’
>
  ‘It was not. We know that this destruction was caused by energy released in this realm, not yours. Like you, we have our suspicions but no evidence.’ Tocmal said as he turned the shuttle away from the devastated city.

  Fifteen minutes later, they approached a mountainside. As they got closer, the side opened and they flew into a tunnel which led to a massive cave, revealing thousands of large space ships. Tocmal guided the small craft into a vacant dock space. The three disembarked and Tocmal led them to a viewing platform.

  ‘This is a secret few have ever seen. Our defence forces are vast; we have many thousand fighting vessels and the crews to man them. Many have been deployed and soon many more will follow. We believe we know who the aggressor is and we will not be caught waiting for them to attack again.’ As they continued the tour, Aaron and Petra were staggered by the scale of the operation. Finally, Tocmal guided them back to the shuttle and they left for the palace.

  The reception was in two parts. Firstly Aaron, Petra and Tocmal were invited to a private audience with the Mother Queen. Without the usual attendants that always accompanied the Regent, the meeting was relaxed and informal. After two hours many issues had been discussed; the most important being the establishing of permanent ties between the two realms. It was also agreed that when they returned, Tocmal should accompany them. His standing on Reglaos, his grasp of recent events and inner realm politics would be invaluable in establishing the relationships needed. The second part was the official reception. The huge hall where the council had met was now being utilised as an informal reception hall.

  As with any function back in the Twelfth Realm, this was an opportunity for political posturing and grandstanding. Aaron and Petra were the centre of attention; most delegates vied for their people and planet to be in a favourable position when the eventuality of inter-realm trade was realised. Luckily, this was Aaron’s forte and he played it as a master. The opportunities were everywhere and, Aaron was in a position now to be able to take advantage of the many opportunities opening up, his years of negotiating trade deals were evident and impressed those who spoke with him. Although he could see the possibilities for his own companies, he also saw immense potential for all in his realm. The Mother Queen gave him the title of Twelfth Realm Ambassador and, although this was completely unofficial, all other delegates approached him as such.

  After four hours of meeting and greeting, both Aaron and Petra were exhausted and thankful when Tocmal took them aside.

  ‘I think it is time to make a tactical retreat,’ he chuckled as he led his companions through the melee. They had reached the side of the room, close to the exit, when the Regent called everyone’s attention. Graciously she thanked everyone for their attendance and wished them all well; the reception was over. Tocmal almost dragged Aaron and Petra out the door and straight into his shuttle. ‘If we had not made it here now, you would probably not get out for many hours.’ Tocmal chuckled again as the shuttle rose into the air.

  The flight to his country residence took them over some of the most beautiful scenery Petra had ever seen. ‘Tocmal, your planet looks like it is uninhabited; the forests appear to be virgin territory. How many live on Reglaos?’

  Tocmal chuckled. ‘Many billions, in your terms… you need to understand our history. Initially we evolved from a swarm creature. Our ancestors lived in caves and built large communal domiciles… you would call them hives. The legend of the sacred forest tells us that that was the place where our forebears were granted the power of reason… that’s why it is so revered. While most Reglaons have a degree of faith, only a few are devout, but our social structure has not changed greatly… we still have our Regent.

  ‘Eons ago she would have been the only breeding female. Each colony or hive had a queen. Thankfully we have evolved past that, but the social and political structure is still reminiscent of then. We have many underground cities… it is a favoured lifestyle in our society… as well as a number of above ground cities, as you have seen. Very few know our true numbers or strength, and we prefer it that way. The only issue we have ever had is with Galdor. Even though they are in a different realm, they still covet what we have. They have tried to subdue us a number of times and have been defeated each time. Some creatures never learn, no matter how painful the lessons become.’

  As he finished he began to descend, finally landing on a pad in the centre of a clearing. He completed his power-down sequence, opened the main airlock and led them out. They followed a trail that seemed well worn, up a small hill and stopped above an idyllic stream.

  ‘This is so beautiful,’ Petra gasped.

  ‘Yes, it is beautiful, but I advise two things: don’t go into the stream; and always carry a blaster… this forest has some very large and hungry predators; Humans would bring a welcome change to their diet.’ Tocmal turned and led them back to the shuttle pad.

  At the front of the pad was a door, so cleverly concealed that it was almost invisible. He opened the door and allowed his companions to enter. Sounds were coming from further in the domicile. ‘Excellent… that will be my mate. She has taken time to be with us.’ He carefully closed the door behind them explaining, ‘We don’t want any unwelcome guests.’

  Tocmal led them through the structure. It was much taller than either had expected and Aaron asked why.

  ‘Simple: we are flying creatures and the height of the roof allows us to stretch our wings when the mood takes us’. He looked at Aaron, as if sharing some secret. Aaron’s stunned expression caused Tocmal to stop. He beckoned Aaron down to his level and whispered, ‘It is essential… Reglaons mate on the wing.’

  They finally reached what Aaron took for a sitting area; here they met Tocmal’s mate, Saddari. Reglaons don’t sit, their physical structure made this impossible. Instead they utilised an elevated couch making their final rest position close to 600 to the horizontal with their upper body supported by the device. Thankfully, Tocmal had some human-like chairs that proved to be very comfortable. With the introductions completed, they settled into to the business of relaxing, something they all desperately needed after the recent events.

  Saddari offered them some wine, Eldrac-Tar had, according to her, made the suggestion. It was a soft red and quite enjoyable as the conversation drifted around. She was an artist with many commissioned works hanging in cultural spaces in a number of Reglaon cities. There were even some scattered in the domicile. To Aaron and Petra they were stunning, landscapes and images of natural beauty of the planet.

  Saddari had also taken time to learn about human food and while it was very different to theirs, she had brought in the necessary ingredients to make a human meal. She and Petra decided to work together on this as Aaron and Tocmal seemed comfortable in their discussions. A call from the palace informed them that unfortunately Aaron and Petra would have only the next day free; such was the eagerness of delegates to meet with them.

  The next morning Tocmal suggested they take a walk in the forest, also insisting that they carry weapons. His warning was taken seriously, some sounds they heard were reminiscent of large predators on Argos.

  ‘One thing I do notice,’ Petra spoke as they stood on a hill behind the domicile site, ‘is the almost total lack of intrusion. Reglaons seem to take extraordinary measures to preserve the natural sanctity of the planet.’

  Saddari answered, ‘We do. We have seen many other worlds where this hasn’t been done and, as a species, we take the preservation of our planet very seriously.’

  ‘Then Humans could learn much from you. When you eventually come to the Twelfth Realm, we will show you what damage we have done, and just how much we could benefit from your philosophy.’ Aaron replied.

  The time went far too quickly and it felt like only a few hours later that Tocmal and Saddari were accompanying them back to the city. The next three days were a blur, with endless meetings from daylight till deep into the evening.

  The opportunities for trade completely staggered Aaron and, while no commit
ments were formed, agreements to discuss mutual opportunities were made for their next visit.

  Finally, word came that the repairs to Junior had been completed. Everyone assembled at the Eldoran embassy to finalise plans to leave. It was decided that Mondrac should accompany them as well as Tocmal — his expertise in inner-realm politics could prove invaluable.

  The discussions with the prisoners had yielded much intelligence and Tocmal quickly returned to the defence ministry to brief his subordinates, the others remaining at the Embassy awaiting his return.

  ‘A-Bra-Ham, what do you know of portals?’ Mondrac asked.

  ‘No idea… it means nothing to me. Why?’

  ‘The prisoners told us that the energy released in this realm was a failure of their portal. They believe that a surge of energy, from the other side, caused a catastrophic overload resulting in the damage here. Do you know what they mean?’

  Petra broke in, ‘Aaron, remember the old Exodus Gateways? Some called them portals.’

  He nodded and turned to Mondrac. ‘In the early days, Humans developed huge structures that generated worm holes. They used these Exodus Gates, as they were called, to send colonists to distant worlds. Most have now been dismantled, though I think there are half a dozen still in existence. They’re mainly used for large non-time-critical freight operations.’

  ‘That fits with what the prisoners said. Possibly Tocmal’s people will solve the mystery, he is sending a ship to investigate. Now to your ship… it is complete and the Reglaons have improved a number of systems. We have installed the navigation data to allow you to transit the Eleventh Realm. Use it wisely my friend, only Eldorans have had this until now,’ Mondrac’s tone warned Aaron he was serious.

  When Tocmal returned, Aaron, Petra and Mondrac joined him on his shuttle. They made the short journey back to the repair dock to find Junior completely renovated, with nothing to indicate she had sustained any damage. The only noticeable difference was the colour change. Gone was the polished silver hue — Junior was now a mid-blue colour, a by-product of the molecular fusing between Acrilan and the Reglaon resin.