AKLESH (Under Strange Skies) (5 page)

Soon they were all lying on their mats trying to get whatever rest they could manage after such an eventful day. The fire was beginning to die down with the occasional spark popping high into the night sky. The place was actually quite beautiful in the stillness of the night air and the breeze was surprisingly warm. If he hadn’t been so sore, Gar was sure he could’ve been quite comfortable.

All alone for the first time, a frightening thought washed over him.
What if I never get
home?

Panic gripped his throat for a moment but he forced the feeling back and wiped it from his head.

The prince had to keep remembering there was a spy in his mind. Hopefully, someone in the little tribe would be smart enough to fix the situation he found himself tangled in and he could get out of there. He reminded himself that his family, not to mention the government, wouldn’t rest until he was found. Till then he had to make do.

He looked over at the campsite where the others slept peacefully.

Kai was staring at him. He was lying on his stomach, his face resting on his hands. Gar could only see his eyes. He stared back. This young man had saved him yet he couldn’t help feeling resentful. He was violated. Indignation filled his stomach.

Just then words drifted into his mind.

I’m so sorry.

Gar hated this mental invasion.

For the first time he used the connection between them to say one thing.

Stay out of my mind.

Gar had considered himself to be in relatively good physical shape, but compared to the robust nature of the tribesmen, he found himself lacking. To add to his degradation, they were also carrying heavy leather bags full of fish, as well as their nets. The prince only had his jacket. This fact hurt his ego a bit. So, despite a pace he found a bit punishing, he did his best to keep up. The last thing he was going to do was ask them to slow down.

To feel better he told himself that his injuries held him back. There was some truth to it, if only a little.

Gar was still sore in several places and his head pulsed on occasion, but considering he’d fallen out of the sky, almost drowned and lived to tell the tale, he was doing pretty well. Also, sleeping on the beach had actually been surprisingly refreshing.

They had set out early that morning. No one had spoken except the one named Tyro, and then it was only to give orders. There was uneasiness with the group that remained unspoken. Gar was certain it had everything to do with him.

None of the travelers would not look at him directly, especially Kai. This was fine as far as he was concerned. Gar was bitter. He could still sense the primitive’s thoughts. The fact the native could see into the recesses of his mind sent a shiver down his spine. That sort of access was too invasive. He couldn’t understand how these people could live with it. There could never be any true privacy.

They had been traveling for the better part of the morning through the flourishing forests of the area.

Although surrounded by hills, their path had been fairly even. On occasion they crossed a small field of white grasses or an interesting rock formation, but on the whole it was the purple vegetation the surrounded them. The group hiked under tall, tan trees stretching into the air with umbrellas of violet that created a delicate canopy.

For some time the prince had been resisting the urge to ask how much farther they had to travel.

Instead he turned his attention to the twins. They were the closest ones to him. Tyro was leading the party, with Cho just behind him. He and the brothers were in the middle. Picking up his pace, he caught up, got between them and matched their strides. Each carried a large leather bag over his shoulder. The prince did his best to ignore the awful squid smell. Both men were taller than Gar by a few inches and well built, yet not as big as Tyro and not as tight as Kai. He walked with them for a while.

Neither of them spoke, but on occasion they would look at him then at each other.

“So, what’s going on with you two? You’re both so quiet. Or are you guys the strong, silent types?” Gar said, trying to sound light.

The twins smiled, but said nothing.

“Don’t you guys ever speak or are you willfully ignoring everyone?” Their almost mute existence seemed so strange to him.

He heard laughter from ahead of them. It was Cho. She looked over her shoulder. “Are you kidding? They hardly ever shut up.”

Gar stopped, dumbfounded. It had to be the stupidest thing he’d ever heard. “You’re crazy.

Neither of them has said more than two words since we started out!”

The boys smirked at each other and walked on ahead through the brush, chuckling under their breath.

“There’s a limited telepathy between close family members among my people,” said Kai, coming from behind Gar. He’d been following up behind the party, choosing to be alone. This was the first thing he had said since they had woken up.

“It’s not as strong as it is with those who are joined, but the thoughts are still shared. Parents to children, brother and sisters. But not beyond.” Gar became sullen. This native was the last person he wanted to be talking to.

They were now walking side by side. Gar was about an inch shorter than Kai. He noticed that the native had to double his pace as well to keep up with his tribesmen.

“Don’t worry. I’m staying out of your head,” continued Kai. “As much as possible.”

“Good,” Gar replied, curtly.

“Besides, it’s not a very nice place.” The prince glared at this pest who dared to make such a comment. His first instinct was to demand what he’d meant, then decided it wasn’t worth it. How could this savage have any understanding of what went on in his head? They were from entirely different worlds. He was from a place of advanced science and learning, this simpleton --well, he had to give him credit for being a good swimmer.

They had been walking for several minutes before Kai spoke again.

“Did you dream last night?”

“No.”

Kai considered this for a moment. “I dreamt last night.”

“Oh?” replied Gar, not really interested.

Mostly, he wished Kai would leave him alone.

Kai went on. “I dreamt of an endless night sky, like a massive lake, but larger. And there were great boats that crossed it. They were so fast.

They passed a giant red moon. And there were huge villages that floated on them with many people coming and going.”

Gar found the tribesman’s take on his universe slightly amusing. He supposed that as they slept Kai couldn’t help some mental overlap.

Much to his relief, of all the images that dwelled in Gar’s head, he was glad images of Orestus was all that the native was seeing.

“You want to know what you are dreaming about,” Gar stated more than asked.

Kai regarded him. Again, the prince could feel the intense curiosity he’d sensed the night before coming from Kai. He supposed some conversation was better than none at all. Besides, no one else seemed to want to talk to him.

“You’re seeing my home world, Orestus, and the gas giant it orbits called Phrayen. Probably also some of the G.S.P. ”

Kai

looked

at

him,

confused.

Gar

remembered that the nanites which helped his brain translate language weren’t prefect. It didn’t always work when there were no words in the native language for what he was describing. He sighed, slightly put out.

“Your dream was about my Sky Tribe.” This answer seemed to make more sense for Kai who nodded and continued walking, taking this information in.

“And you have had no dreams since…?” Kai let this sentence trail off. He could tell the stranger did not want to talk about what had happened. He sensed Gar bristle at the mere inference. They walked in silence for a few more minutes while Gar swallowed his resentment. It seemed as if their short conversation was over.

“Hunting,” Gar said, abruptly.

Kai’s face turned to him quickly with a look of surprise. “You dreamt of the hunt?” Gar didn’t like Kai’s reaction. It made him feel stupid somehow. “Yeah. I was hunting my ship. It turned into a monster. My mother was there…yeah, I know…it makes no sense.” There was an awkward pause between them.

“Maybe conversation’s just not a good idea,” Gar stated bluntly and walked ahead.

***

It was noon and they had been climbing a gentle incline for about half an hour. There had been a few breaks throughout the morning, but they hadn’t been nearly long enough for Gar and at that point he was becoming quite fatigued.

Everyone in the royal palace, and pretty much all of Orestus, was compelled to partake in body conditioning, but it had never been anything of this manner. Mostly, they ran on virtual tracks and worked with maintainers who would monitor the various exercise devices. Real world applications were not really considered and Gar was quickly reaching his fill of this real world.

As they walked, he had been trying to remember the interstellar assignment he had programmed into this ship’s computer but could recall nothing. The assignment number would be able to tell him a little about where he was.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t jog his memory. Next time he would make sure he left a trail of breadcrumbs to follow home.

From about 50 feet ahead he heard Tyro shout. “We’re almost there. Hurry up!” Gar caught up to the group. They were standing at the top of a forested ridge. Tyro motioned for Gar to come forward and pulled some of the foliage back so the stranger could see.

For a person who had traveled the universe and seen many wonders, he found himself impressed by the sight that lay before him.

Their keep, as the Aklesh warrior referred to it, was a tree of monumental size. Gar estimated it to be about 14 or 15 stories high and as wide as the Hale Plaza on Orestus. It was made up of huge knots and winding growth.

It had grown by the side of a small river.

Next to its base there had been a series of steps carved out of stones that lead to the water. He could see people bathing and washing clothes. The sounds of children laughing could be made out even from their vantage point.

They were still a good 15 minutes walk away and Gar was grateful it was downhill from that point on. As they descended, the young prince couldn’t keep his eyes off of the spectacle.

The tree had a mass of roots that spread out like huge fingers upon the ground. These swelled up and created a natural plateau. On this flat area a large sort of platform had been built out of the tree itself. From it the Aklesh had extended it further so it created a common area where countless huts sat, as well as hung from different parts of the tree, which were connected by little balconies and ladders of varying sizes. Where these great balconies were not supported by the tree itself, massive supports, as large as the normal trees that surrounded it, had been driven into the ground and tied to the platform.

From this common area two large trunks grew and twisted above, creating a second natural platform where numerous huts sat. It was hard to tell the actual number since the man-made platforms wrapped completely around the huge trunks. From there the two trunks became four large branches. Spiraling platforms had been built into the reaching arms of the tree. These also contained huts. Each massive branch had a wide reaching parasol of purple and blue leaves that seemed to cascade from the top and hang about a third of the way down like the lingering sparks of fireworks. Up by the tallest canopy there was a large structure about as big as ten of the huts in size.

Several huge staircases carved out of the tree connected all of these places.

Around the base of the tree several structures had been built. These included a small tower that nestled into the crook of one of the larger root systems. It had a large, pulley elevator which they were using to ferry supplies from the ground to the platforms. There were also several huts nestled at the base of the tree and roots which formed a village. They seemed to fit a hut into any nook and cranny available. Underneath the lower platform were several large structures that he could only assume were used for food storage.

Lastly, behind it all he could see various groupings of cultivated gardens as well as an area fenced off for large, furry white creatures which were the first other life forms he’d encountered besides his current traveling companions.

The place was bustling with activity. Gar had been expected a few simple huts, crudely built, but what he had stumbled upon was a whole tribal metropolis.

“Home,” Cho said as they drew near. He could sense Kai behind him tensing nervously, full of uncertainty. Gar could sense that the word home held mixed feelings for the younger warrior. The twins and Cho also became agitated as they began to walk among the huts on the outskirts on the forest village, but Gar could only notice that from seeing it; he couldn’t sense it in them.

The people of the Aklesh tribe had the same distinguishing features as those of the fishing party he was with. The men were strong and tall in general, their heads shaved in the same fashion as Tyro, Kai and the twins. There was more variation among the women; some were dressed like Cho, in loincloths and leggings, while others had simple leather dresses. Some of the other, younger women had exposed midriffs. It seemed the older a person was, the more modest the attire worn. Some pieces of clothing were decorated with blue and purple beadwork or white fur. It was then Gar realized that this race’s legs from the knee down also had a blue patterning, including the entire foot. It became apparent they were born with this coloring.