NAAN (The Rabanians Book 1) (15 page)

The fire caught my clothes. I fell to the ground and rolled over to smother the flames. The pain was intense every time my right arm pressed against the ground. When the pain was unbearable, I stood up and ran slapping at my flaming clothes. I couldn’t see where I was running. Sometimes the fire and the smoke determined my course and sometimes I ran through clouds of smoke and over burning branches. I kept going with a determination I never knew I had. Soon all my reserves of strength were gone and I tumbled to the ground. I managed to outdistance the fire but I knew my safety was only temporary. If I didn’t get up and keep moving the fire would catch me. As soon as I thought I could stand I rose, and walked on as quickly as I could. I was too exhausted to run.

I don't know how long I walked. I lost track of time. The forest thinned. I remembered the mountain that was next to it. The thought that I was almost out of the forest encouraged me. When I felt fully exhausted for the umpteenth time, I stopped and looked around me.

I wanted to sit down, maybe to lie down, but my body was hurt so badly that I didn't know how to get to the ground without collapsing. I relaxed my knees a bit and fell onto them. My body curved forward and my shirt clung to my back. A burning pain overwhelmed me as if my shirt was made of fire. I ripped it off. The tearing sound was the last thing I heard before blackness overcame me.

When I awoke, the Aion was about to set over the mountain above me. The smell of smoke was sharp and clear, though the forest behind me was quiet. My right arm was pounding painfully and my whole body felt like it was still burning. I rolled to my knees, supported my body with my left arm, and pulled myself up. I wobbled to the left and then to the right, then steadied myself. I thought about the mountain. Could I climb it? I turned back toward the forest. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed little white spots on the ground. I walked towards them slowly. They looked like the mushrooms I’d seen once in a nature movie. I wanted to laugh but I didn't have the strength. I wondered at how the mind works. I was barely alive and yet my mind was still able to evoke memories and process irrelevant thoughts.

I thought of the nature researchers who made the film. They’d joined mineral prospectors on one of the Para system planets and amused themselves with stories about all sorts of fruits that looked beautiful, but were deadly poisonous. When I considered it more deeply I decided that maybe the memory really was quite relevant. Perhaps it was only my brain trying to protect me. But it didn't change anything. I dropped again to my knees, picked a mushroom, and took a small bite. I was starving. I decided that if I was meant to die, then I would die, and to hell with everything. The mushroom was meaty, dry, tasteless and odorless. I took a bigger bite and chewed. I could see the smiling faces of those nature researchers from that movie in my mind.

The mushroom didn't remind me at all of the fruits I’d eaten while on the terraces. That was only a vague memory now. Still it filled my mouth and made me feel good. I picked a few more and ate them as well. I looked for more and noticed some red dots in an open area nearby. I walked towards them and found clusters of small red granules hanging from thin green stalks. The images of the researches returned to flicker through my mind. I picked a small cluster. It was soft. I squeezed it in my black fingers and drops of red-black juice dripped from my hand. I sucked the moisture from between my fingers and the taste of sweet soot filled my mouth.

I picked few more clusters and some mushrooms then sat on a rock and ate. My mood had changed. I wasn't thinking
“the hell with everything”
anymore. Now I considered how ironic it would be to survive all I’d been through only to poison myself trying to find a meal.

From time to time a cool wind blew down from the mountain, caressing my burns and relieving the pain. These moments of relief were brief. When the wind died the burning pain returned as if coals were scattered over my skin. I collected a few mushrooms and clusters of red granules for which I had no name. I collected them into my torn and sooty shirt and started walking towards the mountain. A narrow trail soon appeared and I followed it.

As I climbed, the view around me became grayer and the green vegetation of the forest disappeared. From time to time the trail turned towards the forest and I could see smoke rising to the sky. Ledges hung over the trail from time to time and I stopped underneath them to rest. I assumed the trail was leading to the peak of the mountain. I was eager to get there to look at the town.

I remembered the man I’d left in the inferno. Was he alive when I left him or was it only a reflex when he moved his leg? The memory of his glazed eyes jumped into my mind and suddenly I saw the fire catching him. I saw his face blackening into a skull and the skull turning to ashes. I closed my eyes and shook my head. I looked at the rock under which I was resting, at the curves on it, at the trail. I looked all around me searching for something to distract me from thinking of him. I remembered the badge I’d pulled from his shirt. The only thing of him I could save. I reached my pants pocket and took it out. I ran it over my pants to clean away the dark stains. The letters glowed. I examined their odd shape. I gazed at the badge for a few more seconds before returning it to my pocket.

I stood up and continued to walk. My thoughts went to Daio. I was terrified that he’d suffered a similar fate. What about Dug? Daio said he was injured, but that someone was taking care of him. Who was taking care of him now? Suddenly I thought of Seragon, of our home there. It felt like an old memory, as if years have passed since that time. As time passes old memories are pushed away to make room for new ones.  But intense events can have the same effect over short time periods.

A strange early darkness began to fall. I looked up at the Aion. A black spot was slowly spreading across it.

“Crazy planet,” I mumbled.

As I watched the spot changed. It resolved into small dots. Soon after I realized it was a fleet of hovercrafts charging towards the planet. As they approached the whistling of their engines increased. When they reached the surface I crouched beneath one of the ledges and waited until they were gone.

Even at this distance I could feel the shockwaves trembling through the ground. I climbed to the peak of the mountain and looked down on the town beyond the smoking forest.

Dozens of hovercrafts glided over the town firing red and green rays. Flames rose from several places within its borders and more sprung up around it. The time-delayed shockwaves sounded like far off thunder. I sat on a rock watched the drama below with heavy heart. It all looked hopeless.

When the attack finally ceased I stood and walked to the other side of the mountain peak. The trail I’d followed to the summit continued down the far side. From where I stood it disappeared and reappeared several times, winding its way between the mountains all the way to the horizon. The valleys between the mountains were green and lush. With very little hesitation I started to walk.

A hovercraft landed nearby and a few moments later two soldiers appeared next to Daio. One of them shouted something at him but he didn't even wait for Daio to respond before running towards him and knocking him down. They both fell and the soldier was the first to his feet. He stood over Daio and shouted loudly. Although shocked, Daio noticed two things. One was that the soldier’s dialect was different from that he had heard so far. The second was that the soldier was as tall as him.

He rose and the solider yanked him out of the bushes. The two soldiers talked as they pushed him between the trees, limping towards the opening.  When they were out of the tree line the soldier pushed Daio again, hard, and his swollen leg gave out. He tumbled over. 

The soldier shouted a string of words at him, but he spoke so fast that the words sounded all jumbled together to Daio. He rose again and the soldier pushed him towards the hovercraft. There was a buzz from the forest and the Flyeyes started to return and swarm into a small door on the side of the hovercraft. A few of them missed the door, and smashed against the fuselage. The soldier behind Daio said something in an angry tone. When he was close to one of the twitching Flyeyes he kicked it hard. The Flyeye bounced off the side of the hovercraft with a high-pitched metallic sound and rolled onto the ground motionless.

The buzzing noise coming from the side door of the hovercraft gradually grew until it stopped abruptly.

The flight was short and the hovercraft landed in front of a building in the center of the town. Daio was already familiar with it. The front was completely destroyed, as was one of the corners of the upper floor where the chamber of the President of Naan was. The rebels had surgically removed it just before the army of Mampas took over the planet. Wreckage was scattered all over the street. A work team was busy clearing it away to restore access to the building.

Daio was taken inside, limping in pain along corridors. From afar he could see the Doctor walking toward him with his quick little steps, and a big smile on his large face. The little man started to talk enthusiastically as soon he was close enough to be heard, adjusting the device that was still on his waist.

“Sorry,” Daio heard him say, “I forgot to change it over. I am so happy to see you safe.”

A few soldiers stood next to the Doctor. They were all taller than him by at least a head. One of them spoke to him angrily and the Doctor’s smile vanished. He lifted his gaze and responded reproachfully. Three policemen in black uniforms who stood a short distance away stepped forward and stood next to the Doctor. The argument became more and more heated until someone called out from the end of the corridor. 

The man was tall. His uniform was covered in insignias of rank and shining badges. He strode forward, tall and proud, with an air of command. The soldiers came to attention along the corridor as he passed. He stopped in front of the Doctor and stared at him with contempt before shifting his gaze to Daio. He scanned him from bottom to top. Daio’s face was sooty and covered with cuts and dried blood. His hands and the legs that peeked from his burned clothes were no better. The officer wrinkled his nose at Daio’s sooty smell and his face transitioned from contempt to rejection.

He looked back at the Doctor and spoke quickly. The Doctor interrupted him several times. The little man with the big head spoke back to him decisively. The officer looked at one of the soldiers, growled a few words and started to walk away.

The soldier shoved Daio in the direction of the officer, but the Doctor stood in front of them and blocked the way. The officer turned back and smiled. He spoke again and the Doctor stepped aside, satisfied.

They walked along the corridor, the Doctor hurrying along next to Daio.

“They want to interrogate you,” he said. “I am trying to explain to them that you don't understand Mampasian, but they don't believe me.”

“Who are they?” asked Daio.

The Doctor looked at him with surprise. “Mampas!” he answered quickly.  “You did it. They arrived at the last minute.”

Daio gazed at him surprised. 

“It’s not a dream, this is real,” said the Doctor looking at his doubtful face. “They eliminated the rebels.”

“So what is the argument all about?”

“This officer wants to take you to back to Mampas with him.”

“Why?”

“For interrogation. Don't you understand?  You don't look local. I suppose they think you are Desertian.”

"Desertian?"

"From the desert of Mampas.  The rebels are from there."

Daio shook his head. He didn't really cared about the details. “Where is Sosi?” he asked.

“I don't know. I told them about him. I told them he was the one that made contact with them and that they must find him. They sent hovercrafts into the forest to look for him. I hope they find him soon.'

“The forest was burned to the ground,” said Daio, “If they find him…” he shook his head.

“Don't despair.”

“What about Dug, where is he?”

“He is being taken care of. He’ll be okay.”

They entered a room and the soldier ordered him to sit down. Daio limped to the chair, held on to its back, and settled slowly into it, sighing. He shook his head again. He was worried that something had happened to Sosi. The Doctor brought another chair over and sat next to him.

“If they find out we are from Seragon we are doomed,” he said, but the words came out of his mouth almost indifferently. The pain, the weariness, and the thoughts about Sosi made him think that maybe it didn’t matter anymore.