The computer aboard the Aneektra walked me through all the technical departure sequences for leaving Earth and in a matter of minutes, I was on my way home to Nedamla.
As far back as I could remember, I had dreamed of traveling in space. I grew up watching Star Trek™ and its various spin-offs, hoping that someday, during my lifetime, space travel would become possible. Now that I was in outer space, the beauty and wonder of its astronomical anomalies and myriad mysteries was wasted on me.
My initial thoughts as I watched Earth fade into the distance were tinged with sadness I felt at leaving behind those people who had come to mean so much to me. Danny, with his penchant for mischief and defiance of authority. Tracie whose touch could send shivers up my spine. I would even miss Detective Johnson. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that Earth was not my home--I did not belong there. Nedamla was my home and I had been absent too long already.
Besides, on Earth I was wanted for murder.
On Nedamla I was the Dorak, leader of my people and ruler of the planet. Granted, I would first have to release Nedamla from Empyrean rule, but everything has its downside.
For instance, traveling in the Aneektra wasn't exactly a roomy proposition. The main cabin/bridge is probably about one hundred square feet. There are two very comfortable chairs at the computer control console. Along the walls on either side of the main cabin are cushioned areas, similar to couches, built into the bulkhead. To the rear of the main cabin are two separate sleep chambers, which is about all they're fit for due to their size. They're hardly big enough to turn around in. Just before reaching the airlock hatch at the rear, one comes to the waste disposal unit. On Earth it would be called the head or the bathroom, depending on who you were talking to. Set in the bulkhead of the main cabin and the two sleeping chambers, are various storage compartments. On the other hand, the view is always amazing.
Soon after Earth was nothing more than a distant speck of light, no longer discernible from thousands of other specks of light, and boredom began to set in. I paced the corridor between the bridge and the living quarters as I spoke, "Tracie, I'm bored."
I found it easier to talk to the computer after I gave her a name. So before we even left Earth I christened the computer "Tracie."
"Do you have any suggestions for something to occupy my time? How long before we reach Nedamla?"
There was no noticeable pause before Tracie responded, "There are many ways you could pass your time during the remaining 32 days, 10 hours, 44 minutes and 27 seconds which remain before we arrive at Nedamla. I would suggest you spend the time learning about your home planet. My archives contain all the knowledge of Nedamla, the culture, politics, history, science--everything."
An old Earth adage popped into my mind. A nation that ignores the past has no future. I figured that what applied to a nation would certainly apply to a planet.
In orbit around Nedamla, I was mesmerized by the planet's beauty. With less browns and greens than Earth and ocean covering approximately seven-eighths of the planet's surface, it's a blue ball with wisps of white provided by the occasional cloud. Orbiting twin suns keep the temperature warm, sometimes downright hot.
"Deanna. Deanna. Dorak Deanna!"
I snapped out of my contemplation of my home world. "Yes, Tracie, what is it?"
"We need to begin our descent if we expect the solar flares to mask our arrival."
By the time I guided the Aneektra beneath the surface of Nedamla's Utoch Sea, I knew her history better than I had ever learned Earth's history. Nedamla's distant past had been a violent one, but then her people had learned to solve their differences peacefully. I knew the knowledge I had gained would come in handy in convincing Nedamlans to follow me in a revolution against the Empyre. I was also aware, however, that my information was thirty years out of date.
The foremost question I had was one the computer couldn't answer. Would my people believe me and would they follow me in a fight against the Empyre?
I guided the ship to the exact coordinates from which Miktra had departed when she fled the invading Empyrean forces with a three-day-old infant. This placed me very close to the underwater tunnels that led to the Dorak's Palace.
Not knowing what kind of patrols the Empyre might have in operation, I took the precaution of giving the computer very specific instructions before I left the ship. "Computer, you will not respond to any requests or instructions from anyone other than myself unless they call you Tracie. Do you understand what I have told you?"
"Yes, Dorak. I am to respond only to you or someone who calls me Tracie."
I entered the airlock and cycled it. It occurred to me that I would have to find another name to call the computer. At first I had thought using Tracie's name would be a way to honor her memory, but each time I spoke her name, it only increased my sadness at her absence. Besides, "Tracie" was going to be the special code word for others who might need access to the computer.
My baptism in the oceans of my home world was both wondrous and frightening. The oxygen content of the Utoch Sea is much higher than that of the Atlantic Ocean on Earth. It took a few moments for my body to adjust. Once the adjustment was complete I felt a freedom and a rightness that I cannot put into words. I was home! This was where I belonged, not just on this planet, but in this ocean. It took a few minutes of simply frolicking among the fish and enjoying the fact that I was home before I remembered there was much work to be done.
I swam toward the tunnels that honeycombed the underside of Dorak's Palace. I entered a tunnel and swam through the darkness for several yards. Finally I could feel a difference in the way the water flowed around me and I began to move upward in search of the surface.
The tunnel emptied into a pool of water with a narrow sandy beach. I walked out of the water onto the beach. The sand beneath my feet and between my toes was nothing like the gritty sand of Florida's beaches. This was more like baby powder only--without the dust effect. Where I first stepped from the water onto the beach the sand was wet and I expected it to be hard packed; instead it molded itself to the shape of my foot. It offered no resistance when I lifted my feet, but when I stepped on it, it wrapped itself around my feet like a cushion.
I knew I was somewhere beneath the palace. I shone my diver's light along the walls and located an opening to another tunnel, this one above water. As I entered this new tunnel I noticed the ground gradually sloped upward. Moving away from the wet sand of the beach to the dry sand, I was surprised to find that even the dry sand seemed to have the same embracing properties. I soon became accustomed to the feel of my home world beneath my bare feet.
The diver's light strapped to my wrist was my only source of illumination. It was enough to see the skeletons scattered along the way. The first one startled me. I reminded myself that it wasn't the dead I needed to fear, but the living. By the time I came up from the bowels of the palace and into the light of Nedamla's twin suns, I had become accustomed to stepping over the bones of the dead.
Okay, so maybe it still gave me the heebie-jeebies, but I did it anyway.
Though much of it was little more than a pile of rubble, parts of the palace still stood. Located on the shore of the Utoch Sea, it had been the center of the planet's government and the home of my parents.
Wandering through the ruins I found myself in what had once been the Dorak's bedchamber. Something that hadn't happened in a long time occurred. I experienced one of Miktra's memories.
The room was beautifully decorated in blue and purple, both with swirls of a silvery white throughout. The sea air rolled through the openings in the wall along with the sunshine. The sweet smell of blooming Treelass wafted into the room. Laughter echoed down the hallways. Miktra chased Aneesha into the room and caught her next to the bed. They fell onto the bed laughing.
I felt dizzy as the images in my mind were suddenly gone and the view of reality returned: the bare scorched walls, the rotting bed linens, and the disintegrating remnants of what had once been beautiful buildings along the shoreline.
Abruptly reality was again replaced by another memory from Miktra.
The suns still shone in clear skies, yet their light was blocked by the multitude of aircraft that filled the skies. The pungent odor of weapon fire and the sickening scent of scorched skin replaced the sweet smell of Treelass. Laughter had become screams of terror and pain. Miktra stood in the doorway holding an infant in her arms. She looked into Aneesha's eyes knowing it was probably the last time that she would ever see her lifemate. Miktra tried to memorize every detail, from the ancient battle dress of a Nedamlan warrior that Aneesha wore, to the tilt of her head when she moved in to kiss Miktra goodbye.
The images were gone as quickly as they had come. The emotional impact of the experience left me feeling weak. Unable to stand any longer, I slowly sank to the hard stone floor.
When I rose from my exhaustion-imposed nap, the suns had passed their peak and were headed down. Fearing another episode of reliving a memory from Miktra, I left the palace.
While there was no doubt the entire planet held many memories for Miktra, the most powerful ones were contained within the palace walls, the palace where she had lived with Aneesha. Watching images of Aneesha was too much like looking in a mirror.
Outside the palace I stopped and looked around me. The dim light of the setting suns did little to hide the condition of my surroundings. This was an abandoned city. Its last living had been done over a quarter of a century ago. The air was stagnant and stale, like swamp water that hasn't known a ripple of current in ages. Even the plants that grew over the buildings were puny looking and bore no blooms. They were nothing more than scraggly vines holding on to an existence that was tenuous at best.
I shook my head to clear it of such morbid thoughts and began the walk to the shore. As I traveled the streets of the ruined city, I fought a fierce internal battle to keep Miktra's memories of the invasion from taking control of my mind.
Stepping over the bones of those killed during the invasion and left to rot where they fell, no longer gave me the heebie-jeebies. Instead it added fuel to the cold burning rage that threatened to consume me. I knew I would have to be careful and not let my anger control me. The need for revenge was strong, but I had to control it and use it to my advantage.
In the center of the horseshoe arc that had been Dorak City was an open area where gatherings took place. In the middle of this area was a raised triangular shaped platform with two pillars. The Pillars of Ellipsian and Thessius.
I tried to recall the story behind the pillars. As I remembered, Dorak Ellipsian fell in love with a woman who was not of the ruling class. Nedamlan law forbade her to choose a woman as her lifemate who was not of the nobility. Ellipsian invoked the Rite of Elevation.
The computer wasn't clear about whether this was an existing rite or one Ellipsian had created. Either way, she and Thessius performed the rite and were allowed to join.
From what I recalled of the computer's history lesson, the Rite of Elevation was barbaric and violent; yet, there was also something romantic about it.
Over millennia Nedamlans had ceased to be a violent species. Their pacifism was known throughout the quadrant. Even so, the story of Ellipsian and Thessius was still considered a great love story, despite the barbarism of their times.
I stared up at the pillars and tried to imagine how much Ellipsian must have loved Thessius. One must have a great deal of love for someone to allow herself to be chained between two pillars and lashed with a Korrida by that person.
The Pillars were considered a symbol of the strength of true love. It was a favorite place for a Nedamlan to bring her lover to ask her to join with her as a lifemate.
But that was in the past.
My eyes traveled down the length of the pillars. On the platform between them was a pile of bones.
Obviously the Empyrean invaders had other ideas about how The Pillars should be used. I could picture them using these sacred objects to assist them in their torture of prisoners. By desecrating The Pillars, perhaps they thought they could destroy that which The Pillars symbolized, the strength of true love.
I could only hope their efforts had failed.
Sunlight glinted off something among the bones. I moved onto the platform and knelt down to see what dared to catch the fading light amid such dark devastation.
A bony finger still wore a ring. I inhaled sharply as I examined the ring. It bore the Dorak's crest. Which could mean only one thing--these bones were all that was left of the mother I had never known, Dorak Aneesha.
With trembling hands I removed the ring from the bone and slipped it onto the ring finger of my right hand. It was a perfect fit.
Still kneeling in front of the bones, I tried to imagine the horror of that day. One minute a new mother with a lifetime of love and happiness ahead--the next, prisoner of an invading army. Was she tortured? Did they execute her in some relatively painless way? Did it really matter? What mattered was that the Empyre had invaded our world, killed Aneesha and countless others, forced Miktra to live in exile and to die on some world far away from her home.
I knew that at the earliest possible time, I would return to Earth and bring Miktra's body home. At least in death she would be able to return home and have her remains deposited far out in the Utoch Sea.
I stood and looked out across the city: the burned and bombed out buildings, pieces of skeletons lying on the ground. Miktra's memories of what the city looked like before the invasion told the level of destruction. Anger again threatened to engulf me.
I closed my eyes. I very much needed to maintain control of myself. After several deep breaths I opened my eyes. The rage still burned, but it was a banked fire instead of an inferno consuming without direction.
I was tired so I headed for the sea and the safety of the Aneektra.
As I passed a burned out building, two Empyrean soldiers stepped from behind the remnant of a wall and directly into my path.
The bigger of the two smiled and spoke, "What have we got here? A violator? You know this place is off limits to your kind. We'll have to take you into the city for trial."
They both laughed as if someone had told a very funny joke.
The second one sneered as he commented, "Of course for the proper reward, we might be persuaded to forget we ever saw you."
I had to concentrate hard to understand what they were saying. The Nedamlan that Miktra had taught me and the Nedamlan the computer spoke, were both a far cry from the Nedamlan these soldiers were speaking. A lilting and precise language, Nedamlan was beautiful and pleasing to the ear. The barbarous mangling it was receiving from the Empyrean soldiers before me was reason enough to kill them.
Regardless of the meaning of their words, the lustful looks on their faces were universal.
The one who had spoken first began to close the short distance between us as he said, "Rank has it privileges. I'll go first. You can have what's left."
Over his shoulder I could see this idea didn't thrill his friend. It thrilled me even less.
I held the gaze of the advancing soldier. As soon as he was close enough to block his partner's view of me, I drew my knife from its sheath. By that time, he was too close to avoid my thrust and I shoved the blade into his midsection. Before I allowed him to fall from the blade to the ground, I removed his weapon from its holster. His companion stood as if frozen, staring in disbelief at his comrade who lay bleeding on the ground. I aimed and squeezed the trigger on my newly acquired weapon. The second soldier now had a big scorched spot in the center of his chest.
After stripping their bodies of anything I thought might be useful, I collected their weapons and walked into the waters of the Utoch Sea.
Swimming back to the Aneektra I mentally replayed the scenario of my first killing of an Empyrean soldier. I was amazed that it had so little effect on me. So many times I had heard it said that the first time you take a life you feel something. I hadn't felt anything when I killed Jason Alexander and I felt nothing over the deaths of the two Empyrean soldiers. It's supposed to change you in some way--at least that was what I had heard.
The truth was that I didn't feel any different. I didn't experience grief, remorse, sorrow, or some hope that I had done something differently. The words that kept running through my mind were "two down." Two down and...how many to go?