Epic of Aravinda 1: The Truth Beyond the Sky (14 page)

As he grew closer, they resolved themselves into familiar creatures. Huddled together in midair were three flycats, or ‘prowlers’, as Vivienne had called them, and all three of them were moaning loudly, as if they were injured.

He approached with apprehension.

“Hello there,” he said.

Before he had a chance to react, eight more prowlers darted out of the jungle from either side and screamed in what Zahn could only describe later as a battle cry. He saw a glimpse of a few of the prowlers’ open mouths, revealing many tiny but sharp teeth, and then it hit him:

The entire performance had been a trap.

CHAPTER
21

A PARALYZING SOUND

Just a fraction of a second before he could get bitten, Zahn turned around in a flash and bolted back down the trail as fast as he could—so fast, he must have looked like a golden blur in his Aaravan robe. When he glanced back, he saw that all eleven prowlers were gaining on him, and they were howling. One nipped at his robe, yet Zahn was already running as fast as he could. He wouldn’t be able to outrun them.

Out of the corner of his eye, Zahn thought he saw a shadow, but before he could react, the shadow leapt out of the forest and tackled him. As they flew through the air, Zahn heard a series of loud screams in the distance. When they hit the ground, the figure rotated to absorb most of the impact and released Zahn, letting him skid across the path.

For a few seconds, everything was calm.

Zahn heard a strange booming sound that he quickly realized was laughter, a deep booming laughter.

“You were almost prowler chow!”

Now that they had stopped moving, Zahn stood up and processed his surroundings. The one who tackled him was a tall, scruffy man who looked as though he had actually been living in this jungle for some time. His camouflaged clothes were perfectly suited for the environment, and he wore large brown boots.

Zahn looked back toward where the prowlers had been and watched as they flew away in the opposite direction. Farther ahead, he thought he saw one lying on the ground, motionless.

The man stood up and squinted his eyes at Zahn.

“What are you doing in my jungle?”

The man’s voice was rough and very deep. His head was bald, and his skin was as dark as a moonless night. Zahn looked up and met his dark eyes. This man was nearly two meters tall.

“I—”

“Was about to be eaten alive by prowlers? I noticed. Hah! If I hadn’t come along those prowlers would be using your bones as toothpicks by now. Not the big bones in your legs, though. The little ones in your feet. Those work pretty well as toothpicks… or so I’ve heard.”

“Wha—How?” Zahn was having trouble forming coherent sentences. “Thanks! What did you do to stop them?”

“Same way I always do. I shocked their little brains.” He flashed Zahn a bright smile which jumped out in contrast with his dark face. “And you are quite welcome.”

“Do you use sonic weapons? I didn’t hear any shots fired.”

“Ah! You are a smart one! What’s your name, tiny man?”

“Zahn. I’m staying at the guest house nearby.”

“I am Kulik, A Hand of the Visionaries.” He placed his right hand on his chest and bowed slightly. “I know where you are staying. That’s the only guest house you could be from if you’re standing here now.”

“Why is that?”

Kulik laughed. “Are you some kind of nut that fell from one of these trees? You already told me you knew about the sonic weapons, yes?”

“Yes, I know about them.”

“They form the invisible boundaries.” Kulik made a sweeping motion with one hand. “You can only be from the guest house nearby, because if you tried to cross one of the boundaries, the sonic disrupters would kill you, even though it would appear as if nothing had ever touched you. In the same way, my resonator does not appear to shoot anything, yet it does.”

“So the sound waves scramble the prowler’s brains?”

“Oh, they can do more than that! With the right frequency, my resonator can liquify their brains. Would you like to see?”

As Kulik ran over and grabbed the body of the prowler, Zahn was beginning to question the mental stability of his new acquaintance.

“See, now. I set the prowler on the ground, and set the resonator to a mere 13 percent.”

Zahn watched as a small part of the tail of the prowler melted. Now that the prowler was lying motionless on the ground, it looked like a bloated, pathetic creature.

“That’s fascinating. Really! But please don’t.”

Kulik looked over, his brow furrowed in suspicion.

“And why not?” he said, getting uncomfortably close to Zahn’s face. “Do you have sympathy for this absurd creature? You know these prowlers are not native to this planet, right?”

“It’s already dead. Why harm it further?”

“Dead? Dead?!” Kulik laughed so hard that his belly shook. “You are hilarious! I have merely stunned the creature.”

“Really? Looks dead to me.”

“Feel here.” Kulik grabbed Zahn’s hand, and they both knelt down to feel its neck. Sure enough, Zahn could feel a slight pulse, and Kulik flashed another smile at him. He released his hand, took out a silver device which reminded Zahn of a pen, and pressed it into the prowler’s skin.

“What did you do?”

“Signal generator. It allows us to track these little beasts.”

“So you’re not trying to kill them off?”

“Kill them off?” Kulik stood up. “Now how would I have an assignment if they were all gone? Just because I saved you doesn’t mean I’ve made the prowlers my sworn enemy. On the contrary, I have been studying them carefully.” Zahn could clearly see a wild glint in his eyes now.

“Why?”

“Because they are interesting, and for other reasons that are complex. Come, I will fly you back to the guest house, and you can tell your friends about your deadly day.”

Kulik led Zahn deep into the jungle, and Zahn noticed how Kulik’s height helped him easily step over large ferns and the wide trunks of fallen trees. Soon, they reached a narrow ramp leading up to a circular disc that was gracefully hanging in the air above the jungle floor.

“Guests first.”

With some hesitation, Zahn walked up the ramp and soon realized that Kulik’s vehicle was, in all practical terms, a small flying saucer. It wasn’t even enclosed in a dome. Everything was open to the air.

At one end of the circular vessel was a chair before a central panel, and behind it were two narrow rows with two seats per row. Zahn sat down just behind the captain’s chair, and below him he heard a rustling sound as the ramp retracted.

Soon, they were moving over the jungle floor.

“I hope you don’t mind if we take our time. I need to make observations for my report.”

“Who do you report to?”

“Hmm, maybe you aren’t as smart as I thought. Who else would I report to other than Vayuna?”

As he said this, a chill ran up Zahn’s spine. Something about Vayuna seemed more menacing the more he heard about her. He tried to restrain his reaction so Kulik wouldn’t get suspicious.

“Oh, of course.”

During the ride, Zahn’s eyes kept wandering back to the resonator weapon that Kulik kept in his holster. Something like that could be crucial as their quest continued.

“Kulik, would you be interested in a trade?

“A trade? You just got more interesting. Trade for what?”

“My friends and I are on a long journey, and for various reasons we have ended up unarmed, besides our ship, of course. I was wondering how many of those resonator weapons you had, and if I could trade you for a few of them.”

“I have as many as I need. Whether or not you’ll get any is a matter of what you have to give in return. You know, I’m not supposed to trade with guests in the quarantine zone…” Kulik’s voice became hushed. “But then, no one ever needs to find out.”

Kulik winked at him.

“Well, I guess you can look through my pack and see if there’s anything you’re interested in,” Zahn said, opening his backpack.

Kulik tapped a few of the ship’s controls and turned his attention to Zahn. He dug through the contents of the pack for a few seconds, humming to himself.

“This circular device, is it a weapon?”

He took out Zahn’s photodisc.

“It’s called a photodisc,” Zahn said. “It can preserve any image, in three dimensions—”

“A light-scoop! I have been searching for one of those. For this, I will trade with you.”

Zahn frowned.

“Are you sure there isn’t anything else in there that you like?”

Kulik dug around again and pulled out another object.

“Does this explode?”

“It’s a water canteen! Have you always been this destructive?”

“I don’t know. Have you always been so tiny?” Kulik grinned as he dug around once again and pulled out Zahn’s knife. “This knife has some blood on it! But my mind is stunned. What could you have possibly killed that is tinier than you?” Kulik let out another belly laugh, wiping tears from his eyes. “Ah, I am sorry, tiny one. Truly, I am.”

Kulik pulled out the towel.

“What is this?”

“It’s a towel.”

“Oh yes, of course. It, too, is small. But I am no longer surprised by this. Hmm, that is all, then? All I see of value is this light-scooping device.”

“You mean the photodisc? But my father gave it to me. I don’t know if I should trade it.”

“You can do whatever you want, tiny man. But that is the only item I’ll trade you for.”

Zahn massaged his forehead. He didn’t like this dilemma.

“Fine! Fine. But I want three resonators. After all, this will help you in your research into the prowlers. For instance, you could capture images of them and study their behavior. You could even hide the photodisc somewhere in the jungle and capture their activities when you aren’t even there.”

“Interesting. How does it store this information?”

“There’s a magnetic cell that stores the images. You could have it run for days before it reaches capacity. And you can always clear the storage and do it again, if you want.”

“Yes, with Vayuna’s knowledge I’m sure she could transfer the information to her systems. So I could leave this hidden in the jungle? Will water damage it?”

“Nope, it’s immune to water. You could even go swimming with it if you wanted.”

Kulik stopped the saucer and descended toward the ground, and Zahn noticed that they were on the far end of the beach. In the distance, he could see the guest house.

“We have arrived, and I think we may have a deal. How many resonators were you asking for?” Kulik folded up one of the seats, revealing a row of five resonators.

“There are three of us, so I’m asking for three. I think that’s fair considering how useful my photodisc is.”

“Is it fair or do you only think it’s fair?” Kulik tilted his head.

“It’s fair. You have five right there, and I’m sure Vayuna could give you a dozen more.”

“Indeed, she could, in time.”

“So do we have a deal?”

“Deal,” he said, and offered his open hand to Zahn.

Slowly, Zahn placed the photodisc into Kulik’s hand, and before he knew it, he was holding three of the sonic weapons. Zahn examined them, noticing that each of them were angular and made of a crystalline material that reminded him of the spires they’d discovered earlier. He put them into a large pocket of his Aaravan robe.

“Kulik, can you do me a favor? Can you be careful with it? That photodisc has been part of my life since I was very young, and I’m only making this trade because my intuition tells me that protection is more important than photography at this point in our quest.”

Kulik was already immersed into learning the device. Within a few seconds, he had already taken a few pictures of his boots.

“Hmm? Careful. Yes, I guarantee it.” He looked over to Zahn with a curious look in his eyes. “What is your quest? Where are you all going?”

“The outer core.”

“What core? The core of this planet? It’s a horrible place!”

“No, no. The outer core of the galaxy. Oonak calls it a quest, but I’m not sure if that’s quite the right word. It’s definitely an important mission, though.”

“Anyone who has the tenacity to go to the center of this galaxy had damn-well better be on a quest. How else would they have the resolve to see it through? Sounds like the mother of all journeys if you ask me.” Kulik shooed him away with his hands. “Now go on and get out of here. I still have work to do.”

“All right. Thanks again, Kulik!” Zahn shouted back as he ran down the ramp.

“Good trade. Oh, and be sure to test those resonators out before you use them. Some settings only confuse animals, but others can dissolve rock itself.”

“Good to know.”

As the ramp retracted, Zahn headed toward the guest house.

“Zahn, I almost forgot,” Kulik called out. “If you plan on wandering around the jungle again, I suggest you get comfortable using that weapon. There are many paths, and you were fortunate that I was there today. I doubt I will be there to rescue you if you get in trouble again.”

“I’ll remember. Farewell, Kulik!”

Within moments, Kulik’s saucer faded into the emerald canopy of the jungle.

Zahn heard thunder in the distance. The wind smelled like rain, and he had the feeling that a great deal was on its way. He ran up to the guest house and noticed that the wind chimes outside were already clanging furiously.

Asha was rummaging through the food canister when Zahn walked into the meeting room.

When she saw him, she ran over and hugged him tightly. “Where have you been? I never thought I’d see Oonak worried, but he was. We were about to go looking for you.”

“I’m sorry, Asha,” Zahn said, looking into her eyes. “Time got away from me, and then I was attacked by prowlers. If it wasn’t for Kulik, I’d probably be dead.”

“Dead? Zahn, what happened?! The prowlers seemed so friendly when we landed, and who is Kulik?”

“Well, they aren’t so friendly in groups, and they’re smart. Add a set of razor sharp teeth, and I think you get the picture. Kulik defended me from a swarm of them. He described himself as a Hand of the Visionaries, but I got the feeling that he takes orders directly from Vayuna.”

“Really?”

As Asha considered this, Oonak walked in.

“Zahn! Where were you?”

Before he had a chance to answer, Asha spoke. “He was attacked by prowlers. Apparently, they’re more dangerous than we thought.”

“Didn’t you stay by the guest house?”

“Yeah, I always kept it in view… at least, until the path.”

“What path? Zahn, did you enter the jungle?” The tension in Oonak’s voice was obvious now.

“Well, I was hoping, since—”

“Zahn! I told you not to wander off. We must be cautious on any worlds we encounter. Do you remember what Vivienne said? We must be vigilant when the prowlers are near. You could have been killed.”