Aurora Saga 2 Immortality for Life (30 page)

‘Please, follow me,’ the servant said, and then stepped off the hover-pod.

They followed him through the doors and into a huge entrance lobby. Zoren’s mouth opened as he gazed up to the ceiling, which was over one hundred and fifty metres above him. The walls were all carved crystal giving the appearance of a frozen waterfall all around him.

The servant now approached a far door. His knocks echoed around the lobby like thunder and then the door swung inwards.

‘Please, we can enter,’ the servant said.

The servant led them through the doorway.

Wow!

To Zoren’s surprise they entered an even larger room. The ceiling was so high that he thought a small microclimate could have existed. The glass roof was barely visible, making the room appear to be open to the sky. About fifty metres away in the centre of the room were a few lavish seats. The rest of the room was empty. A young man got up from one of the seats. He strolled from the centre, his footsteps sounding out his approach.

The young man recognised Hifmo. ‘What are you doing here?’

That must be Lord Saylmon,
Zoren thought.

Hifmo did not respond, and Lord Saylmon seemed slightly irritated by his lack of acknowledgement. ‘Aren’t you supposed to be with my mother? Hifmo! I asked you a question,’ he said, and then moved towards him, but Hifmo shied away. Lord Saylmon looked bewildered. ‘What’s wrong? You look terrified of me.’

Addressing Zoren and Kalrea, Lord Saylmon said, ‘What have you done to him?’

‘Something I’m not very proud of, but unfortunately I had no choice. Believe me Saylmon, you would not like me when I’m angry.’

‘Then you must be Kalrea,’ Lord Saylmon said and grinned.

‘I suggest you have someone attend to Hifmo. He’s going to need looking after from now on,’ Kalrea said.

‘Take Hifmo to the doctor,’ Lord Saylmon said to the servant.

‘Yes, sir,’ the servant replied. He took hold of Hifmo’s arm, but Hifmo quickly pulled it away and then turned to Zoren for some assurance.

‘Follow the nice man,’ Zoren said to him. ‘He’s a… he’s a friend. He will help you now.’

Zoren took hold of Hifmo’s hand and pasted him to the servant. Very reluctantly, Hifmo was led away.

‘Please join me,’ Lord Saylmon said, indicating towards the seats arranged in a circle around a stone plinth. As they sat, he asked Kalrea, ‘Can I offer you a drink?

‘Not for me, thank you,’ Kalrea replied.

‘Hope you don’t mind if I do.’ Lord Saylmon pressed a few buttons on the arm of his seat. The stone plinth descended and then returned with a slim glass of green coloured drink at its centre.

Zoren felt a bit upset at not being asked, but said nothing. It seemed that Lord Saylmon was not acknowledging his presence.

The sound of distant footsteps approaching from the side of the room, made Zoren look over his shoulder. A servant marched slowly up to the plinth, took the drink and then handed it to Lord Saylmon, before marching away.

Unbelievable!
Zoren thought.
Couldn’t he have just got it?
He peered at Lord Saylmon as he sipped his drink.
He seems a little nervous, but still looks very self-confident.

Lord Saylmon looked to Kalrea and said, ‘My mother told me she had killed you, yet you live. She thinks you’re some kind of machine. Is she right?’

‘This body is a machine, yes. Call it a drone, robot, whatever you want. Destroy it and I will activate another one. It’s a bit like your body when you become immortal. I’m able to repair myself, it just happens to be in a more radical way.’ Kalrea crossed her legs. ‘Of course you’re not immortal yet, are you Saylmon? I hope you don’t mind me calling you simply Saylmon, the Lord bit sounds a bit pompous to me.’

‘Yes, it does,’ he replied cheerfully. ‘I actually hate being called that. I have to say I had to laugh when my mother said you’d blown her up. My mother’s never been blown up before. She sounded very angry when I spoke to her.’

Come on! Get to the point, Kalrea,
Zoren thought, feeling impatient.
What about my people?

‘Well that’s her fault. She shouldn’t have shot me,’ Kalrea said.

‘Yes, indeed.’

Zoren interrupted them. ‘So are my people still alive?’ he said to Lord Saylmon, and then thought,
He looks a bit annoyed. Is he ignoring me?

‘So, Kalrea, I suppose you want to know if the Agonian people are here,’ Lord Saylmon said, looking at her.

‘Zoren asked you a question,’ Kalrea said assertively. ‘Aren’t you going to answer him? He represents the Agonian people.’

Lord Saylmon reluctantly turned to Zoren. ‘All right, yes, all twenty-one are here in the palace. Now don’t get any ideas about jumping up and freeing them. My mother gave me some good advice.’

‘Oh, and what was that?’ Zoren replied.

‘They’re no good to either of us if they’re dead. If Kalrea tries to take them, then my men have orders to kill them. All of them!’ he said, and then addressing Kalrea he added, ‘And you know your defensive shield and weapon are useless in here. The room is being jammed.’

‘Yes, I can detect it. It’s my technology from the shuttle. You shouldn’t mess with things you don’t understand though.’

Lord Saylmon looked puzzle. ‘Well it worked on Trafth, didn’t it?’

‘Only because I chose not to do something about it. After all, as I said, it’s my technology. Don’t you think it would be easy for me to access it? Let say I could and choose to increase the power output by thirty percent. I think…’

Without warning, there was a loud explosion from an adjoining room to the main hall. The sound echoed like gun-fire and a vibration was felt from the floor.

‘Yes, I think that might cause an overload. By the way, I hope no one was in there. That type of radiation acts very quickly. Now I have my shield and weapon.’

Lord Saylmon’s expression changed. He now appeared uneasy and not in control of the situation.

Kalrea leant forward towards him. ‘You’re very young just like Zoren here. You have your life ahead of you, but in an instant I could take that from you. You would be dead! Yes, that feels frightening, doesn’t it? Don’t worry, I’m not going to do that. I want to come to some arrangement with you, Saylmon. I will give you your life in exchange for all the Agonian people.’

Lord Saylmon got to his feet. ‘That’s… That’s not possible. My mother promised me immortality when I became seventeen. I’d rather die.’

Kalrea seemed taken by surprise by Lord Saylmon comment.

‘You don’t value your life?’ she replied.

‘Of course I do, but you will not leave this planet if I die. You and all the Agonian people that you so wanted to save will die as well. Your choice! It seems we have a stalemate.’

‘Wait!’ Zoren said. ‘You want immortality, Saylmon, and for that you need one of my people.’ Zoren glanced at Kalrea. ‘I will stay at my own free will-’

‘Zoren, what are you saying!’ Kalrea said, looking concerned. ‘I cannot allow you to-’

‘Kalrea, please!’ he said, interrupting her. He turned to Lord Saylmon and then said, ‘I will stay. You can take my life to become immortal, but on one condition: You must release my people and give them free passage away from here.’

‘Zoren, do you know what you’re saying?’ Kalrea said to him in a very forceful voice.

‘Kalrea, I’ve not been whole since Sabri died. I want to be with her. This would give me what I want, what Lord Saylmon wants and free my people.’ He turned to Lord Saylmon. ‘So, what do you say? Instead of everyone dying, you get immortality. I give you my word that I’ll stay.’

‘I think we should wait for my mother to return. She wanted to be here for the process,’ Lord Saylmon replied.

‘If you wait, she may not like my offer,’ Zoren said. ‘What if she disagrees? After all, she’s already immortal. She could think sacrificing you is worth it. Kalrea would have to kill you.’

Lord Saylmon looked alarmed. ‘My mother wouldn’t do that!’ His tone seemed unconvincing to Zoren.

‘If we do the process now, then you’ll be immortal. Doesn’t really matter what Lady Sathodee thinks then,’ Zoren said. ‘I’m ready to do this now, if you are.’

‘I wonder how long it will be before she returns,’ Lord Saylmon commented.

‘I estimate four hours, eleven minutes, so there’s plenty of time if you really want to proceed,’ Kalrea replied, staring at Zoren with disapproval written all over her face.

‘If not, it’s a long wait for you wondering what she might decide,’ Zoren added.

‘Give me a minute to think,’ Lord Saylmon said. He sauntered away from the seats into the large open space.

‘Zoren, what the hell are you doing? You can’t to go through with this,’ Kalrea whispered to him, but her voice was raised enough that Lord Saylmon glanced back at them.

‘You won’t change my mind, Kalrea,’ he said quietly. ‘Please don’t interfere. This is between me and Lord Saylmon.’

‘But I swore I would protect you. I have to protect you. Zoren, I cannot allow you to do this.’

‘Don’t tell me what I can and cannot do, ok! I don’t care what you’re programmed for... I mean what your beliefs are. I don’t want your protection. Stay out of this, Kalrea. I’ve made my decision.’

He knew that Kalrea was finding it hard to accept.

‘Kalrea, please understand that I will not endanger the lives of my people just so that I can live on. I would hate myself for the rest of my life. You don’t need to protect me. What you believe is wrong. You are a person, someone who can make her own decisions and choose her own destiny. Forget you need someone to protect. It’s wrong! Can’t you see that?’

They stopped talking as Lord Saylmon’s footsteps indicated his return.

‘All right, you have a deal, but your people don’t leave the palace until the process is underway. At that time there’s no going back for you, and your people will be taken to Kalrea’s ship.’

‘If you try to trick us,’ Kalrea said, with deep hate in her eyes. ‘I will kill you and Zoren during the process. Do you understand me, Saylmon?’ she said raising her voice.

‘I understand. Then we have an arrangement.’

Lord Saylmon went to shake Kalrea’s hand.

‘It’s Zoren’s hand you need to shake, not mine!’ she said, turning her head away from him.

He offered his hand to Zoren, who shook it.

Kalrea looked very angry and troubled.

‘Kalrea, don’t worry! I’m happy to do this, really. Thank you for what you’ve done for me and my people.’ He paused a moment and then took hold of her hand. ‘Will you do one thing for me, Kalrea?’

She managed a forced smile. ‘Whatever you want, just say it.’

‘Please promise me you’ll get my people away from this hell.’

‘I will,’ Kalrea replied. ‘I know a few beautiful planets which are uninhabited, far away from this area of the galaxy. They’ll be safe, I promise.’

Zoren smiled. ‘Good, then I’m ready. Where do we need to go, Saylmon?’

Lord Saylmon led them to a guarded section of the palace and into a long narrow room with another very high ceiling. The room was very bright because of the star-light streaming into it through a tall window at the farthest end. There were two ornate beds inclined at forty-five degrees, positioned in front of the window, so the patients could see out. They were very similar to those Kalrea had seen in the Liyp building on Onliv and she knew they would be used to perform the immortality process. Sitting with his back to the three of them, at a desk behind the beds, was an old man dressed in a blue robe. Kalrea could detect a faint odour of ozone in the air contrasting with a hospital smell of cleanliness.

Hearing footsteps behind him, the old man glanced over his shoulder. Upon realising it was Lord Saylmon, he got quickly to his feet.

‘Good, you’re already here,’ Lord Saylmon said to the old man. ‘I’m going to perform the immortality process now. Please prepare the catuop.’

‘But… Lord Saylmon, Lady Sathodee gave explicit orders to wait until she returned,’ the old man said.

Kalrea strolled past the beds and over to the window. The building was high on the mountain side and the room had a breathtaking panoramic view of the countryside stretching out into the distance.

I must protect Zoren. If I let him die, then I’ve failed,
she thought as she glanced over at him. By the way he was fidgeting, she knew he was very nervous.
But he’s right. Why do I really need someone to protect? Why do I feel a need for a pilot? My creators gave me this need, but why should I have to believe in it? It feels wrong because to protect Zoren may mean the deaths of twenty-one Agonians. I have to decide what to believe in and what to do.

‘...Well, I’m overriding those orders,’ Lord Saylmon said sternly to the old man. ‘Do you have a problem with that?’

‘I suppose-’

‘Don’t suppose anything, prepare the catuop. Where is the other doctor?’

‘I’ll get him, Lord Saylmon,’ the old man said and then pressed a button on a console at his desk. He hurried over to the two beds and started to link up cables from a bowl-shaped device, at the head of each bed, to a spherical jar sitting between them. One of the beds had restraints.

Kalrea glanced around when she heard the sound of someone running, their heavy stride echoing around the room. A young doctor rushed over to the beds and he immediately helped the old man to prepare them.

Kalrea went back over to Zoren and put her hand on his shoulder.

‘Don’t try to interfere!’ he said, turning to her. He had a very serious look on his face.

‘I respect why you are doing this, Zoren. I won’t interfere. I promise. Please, come and have a look at the view.’

They both moved to the window.

I’m going to really miss him, yet I’ve only known him for a few weeks. Strange that. He’s so young, but he’s also very brave. He’s a better person than I’ll ever be.

‘That’s breath taking, Kalrea.’

‘Look over there in the distance. That’s the city of Piml.’ Kalrea said, pointing to a mass of tall shapes near to the horizon.

Kalrea saw that Zoren had a tear in his eye and took hold of his hand to comfort him.

He’s shaking!

‘Linud is a beautiful planet, isn’t it?’ Zoren said.

‘That it is.’

‘Will the planet you’ll be taking my people to be as stunning as this?’

‘The one I have in mind is even more impressive.’

Zoren smiled nervously at her.

He’s so frightened. There has to be another way,
Kalrea thought and then said, ‘Deep inside, I still feel I should be stopping you from doing this.’

‘Kalrea, I’ve made my decision. Twenty-one of my people are worth one life... my life.’

‘I know,’ she said softly. ‘I know.’

‘Please, promise to protect the others instead. I think you understand that if you protect me, then they will most likely die. I would never forgive you for that.’

Kalrea nodded.

Zoren started to remove the telementor from his wrist. She almost put her hand out to stop him.

No! I don’t believe this a really happening. I’m about to let him die, without even trying to prevent it.

As she took the telementor from him, she felt a deep sense of helplessness. She clutched it tightly in her hand.

This is wrong. Activate defence shield... No... I can’t!

‘Sabri’s waiting for me. I can feel her presence,’ Zoren said, as he stared out the window.

‘What?’ she said, now focusing on what Zoren had said.

‘She’s there,’ Zoren said, ‘out there, looking in at me.’

Kalrea could hear Lord Saylmon talking to a guard.

Good, he’s telling them to get the Agonian people. He’d better keep his promise, if not I’ll level this whole damn mountain.

‘Lord Saylmon, the transfer receptacle is ready,’ the old man said.

‘Excellent! Then we can begin,’ Lord Saylmon replied.

A man appeared at the door. ‘Lord Saylmon, Lady Sathodee has been trying to raise you. She says it’s urgent.’

‘Er… Tell her I’m busy with my guests. I’ll speak to her later,’ Lord Saylmon replied.

‘But sir, she was very insistent.’

Lord Saylmon waved him away and said nothing. The man waited for a moment almost unsure what to do next, but then left the room.

Lord Saylmon then said, ‘Kalrea, the Agonian people are being taken to your ship. They will be allowed onboard once the process has started. Shall we?’

Zoren seemed apprehensive, but after taking a few deep breaths moved over to the bed with the restraints. Kalrea watched on as he laid on the bed. The old man went to place his wrists within the restraints.

‘That won’t be necessary,’ Zoren said to him.

‘But, I have to,’ the old man said and then looked to Lord Saylmon.

Lord Saylmon was now making himself conformable on the other bed.

‘It’s all right, you can leave the restraints,’ he instructed.

Oh Zoren, I’ve never felt so powerless,
Kalrea thought.

‘I’m going to have to ask you to leave, ma’am,’ the old man said to Kalrea.

‘No!’ Zoren shouted out. ‘I want her here. Saylmon, please!’

Lord Saylmon nodded his approval to the old man.

‘Please keep to the side of the bed,’ the old man said to Kalrea.

‘Kalrea, I don’t want to die alone. Will you… Will you hold my hand, please?’ Zoren raised his hand and she took hold of it.

The old man lowered the bowl over Lord Saylmon’s face, and then attached electrodes to his chest. He then moved to Zoren.

‘Goodbye, Kalrea.’

‘Until we meet on the other side,’ Kalrea replied softly. ‘Say hi to Sabri for me, will you.’

He nodded back and smiled as the bowl lowered over his head.

Zoren, you’re a special person. My people, the Qinant, would have been very proud of you, to sacrifice your life for others. They would see that as a great honour.

The spherical jar in between the two beds started to glow and a sound of a constant hum emanated from within it.

The old man turned to Kalrea. ‘The process has started, ma’am.’

After a minute, Kalrea felt Zoren’s hand grip hers.

Be strong, Zoren. I’m here. I’m not going to leave you.

*****

The Agonian people were now beneath the ship.

Kalrea said to Gulco, who was on the bridge of the
Aurora
, ‘I need you to get your people onboard, please, and as quickly as possible.’

‘Of course,’ Gulco replied, before entered the Pojin lift.

Kalrea watched as the Pojin lift descended to the surface and Gulco emerged. He greeted his people and pointed back to the lift. The first group quickly entered.

*****

Kalrea felt Zoren’s hand go limp.

Goodbye, Zoren. I will always remember you,
she thought, as the humming sound continued,
and thank you for making me realise that my need for a pilot, for someone to protect, is not what I want anymore. I feel a need to explore the universe, to meet races and I know this drone will give me that freedom.

Kalrea watched as the final group of Agonians entered the
Aurora
.

Zoren, they’re all safe. No one can harm them now.

The old man studied a small display on the spherical jar, and then said,

‘All right, that’s it, the transfer’s complete. Lord Saylmon’s heart rate is steady, but he’ll need to rest for a few minutes.’

The humming noise faded away and then the old man lifted the bowl from Lord Saylmon’s face.

‘May I do the same?’ Kalrea asked him and then released Zoren’s limp hand.

‘Yes, his life-force has been transferred,’ he replied.

Kalrea carefully lifted the bowl off of Zoren’s face. His eyes were closed and he looked very peaceful.

Lord Saylmon was now regaining consciousness. He glanced around the room.

‘It’s done! Fantastic. I feel… I feel so energised.’

He got to his feet and glancing at Zoren’s lifeless body, said, ‘My men will deal with him.’

‘No!’ Kalrea replied aggressively. ‘They will do no such thing. His body’s coming back with me.’

She picked him up off the bed in her arms.

‘I have immortality,’ Lord Saylmon said, with excitement, to the old man.

‘Yes, sir,’ he replied.

‘Make sure you use it wisely,’ Kalrea said to him. ‘A good man has given his life for you.’

‘And I thank him for it. Zoren will live on forever in me.’

‘Saylmon, no one can live forever, trust me!’

‘Whatever!’ Saylmon replied, shrugging his shoulders.

‘I’d like to leave now. I’m needed back on my ship.’

‘My men will escort you,’ Lord Saylmon said, and then clapped his hands. ‘Kalrea is leaving.’