NAAN (The Rabanians Book 1) (30 page)

“There is a
messenger
here for you,” he said excitedly as soon as he heard Daio on the other end of the line. When the call came through Daio was airborne in a hovercraft for the third time in the past three weeks. He was flying over places he planned to build new settlements.

“I have what?” he asked.

“A
messenger
. You know, from a
messenger
service? A
messenger
,” said Dug.

Dug nodded to himself, and peeked into the living room. He could only hear bits of conversation Daio was having with someone.

“I am coming,” Daio said finally.

It was a few minutes before the hovercraft stopped above the house, made a few maneuvers, and then landed on the landing pad they’d just added at the end of the lawn.

“Wait here,” he said to the people on board the hovercraft. “I think this is going to be short.”

He rushed into the house and stepped into the living room. The
messenger
turned towards him.

“Daio Plaser?” asked the
messenger
.

"Yes, that's me," said Daio.

“I need two non-relatives to bear witnesses, who have no blood connection between them, to testify that you are indeed Daio Plaser.”

Daio stared at him. “There is a whole nation that will testify that I am Daio Plaser.”

“Two people will be sufficient,” insisted the
messenger
.

Daio asked Dug to call Moah and one of his assistants. They arrived with their eyes on the ground.

“Is this Daio Plaser?” asked the
messenger
.

Moah looked at Daio for a second and then nodded. “Yes this is Daio Plaser.” 

Moah nudged his assistant’s arm. The man gave Daio a quick look and said, “Yes, this is Daio.”

The
messenger
nodded. “Please clear the room,” he said and approached Daio.

Daio looked around and nodded to Dug. Dug waved everyone towards the door and left with them.

“I have a message for you from the Shepherd. Would you accept it?”

Wrinkles appeared on Daio forehead. “Yes, of course,” he said thinking the Shepherd could only be Sosi.

“This message is from the Shepherd to Daio Plaser the Shepherd of Naan.  The message is:  ‘The Shepherd is well. The herd arrived, but there were disruptions in the transportation. And as agreed, I will not return.’”

He watched Daio for a few seconds. “Do you want me to repeat the message?”

Daio thought for a moment. 'The herd arrived but there were disruptions.’  He had no doubt of the meaning.

“Do you want me to repeat the message?” asked the
messenger
again.

“No, there is no need.”

“Do you want to send a reply to the Shepherd?”

Daio let out a sigh. “No, no return message.”

The
messenger
bowed. “At your service,” he said. He turned around and walked to the door.

Daio waked to the window and watched him getting into the taxi. The driver ran back to his side and the car left.

Dug came back into the living room with questioning look face.

“It was from Sosi,” said Daio. “I think he got the information.”

“Where is he?”

“I don’t know. I think he is delayed.”

“Delayed?”

“I think he is having hard time leaving.”

Dug nodded. “So all the mess on the network was because of him after all.”

“That is my guess,” Daio mused.

He turned away from the window and sat in one of the armchairs.

“Is there something else?” asked Dug.

Daio lifted his eyebrows. “He said he is not returning as planned, but I don’t think he means it.”

“Maybe he is tired from the whole ordeal and is planning to leave.”

Daio nodded. “I don't think so. Why send a messenger if he plans to leave?"

"To let you know he is alive."

"I don't think so," said Daio and shook his head. "Maybe he is trying to deceive whoever is after him. They won't look for him here if this message falls into their hands somehow.”

“The message will not fall into anyone's hand. That is the whole idea of hiring
messengers
.”

“He'll return," said Daio. "Give it some time. I have no doubt he is carefully planning his way back."

At first I thought I must have taken the wrong shuttle, but no shuttle takes off and returns just like that. Even if there is some malfunction, zero gravity is the safest place to work on it.

Mampas came closer. Yellow filled the window completely. I didn't see any city or airport approaching, only bright yellow ground.

The shuttle suddenly vibrated made a fast maneuver that smashed me against the wall. A sharp pain shot through my head with a time delay and I started to feel dizzy. I crawled slowly to the corner of the hold, tied myself to the net, and wondered what had happened to my luck. The engines roared with a deafening noise. I covered my ears and put my head between my legs. A thud lifted me into the air when the shuttle touched the ground.

As soon as I heard the engine whistling I ran to the window. Endless yellow dunes stretched as far as I could see. The whistle gradually died and the pounding noises came again through the walls. Seconds passed and I heard people talking. I hid behind two large containers that were anchored to the floor. The door opened and people walked inside.

“There is no sense in hiding,” said someone. “Step out.”

The dialect surprised me more than the words themselves. The shuttle was huge, with many cargo holds. It should take a full day to find someone here. I stood up and walked out of my hiding place. I thought that making things difficult would only make them angry. A few people were at the entrance. Some others were already deeper inside the cargo hold. They started to come back when they noticed me.

An old man stepped towards me until he was close enough that I could smell his sweat.

“Who are you?” he asked.

I hesitated. I tried to remember the name on the third and last card I’d used but I was so excited that the name wouldn’t come. A feeling of discouragement came over me. I put my hand to my head and felt the open wound there, and the blood. I tried to think of another name, I felt completely disoriented. The old man grunted, lifted his hand and slapped my face. I flew backward. Some of the others caught me from behind, lifted me up, and pushed me forward. 

“Who are you?” he shouted.

“Sosi… Sosi Plaser,” I answered my head spinning and my face glowing.

“What business do you have on Naan?”

The dizziness increased and I felt I was losing my balance.

“HHHMMM”, he grunted and looked at the people behind me. They immediately supported me.

“What do you have on Naan?” he asked again.

“Sick people,” I said.

“HHHMMM,” he grunted. “You are neither Mampasian nor Naanite,” he said decisively and approached me until his sour sweat filled my nose again. He looked at my eyes. “Seragonian,” he said without hesitation.

A chill caught me when I heard the word. He had discovered all of my secrets within only a few seconds. I looked at him, stunned. 

“HHHMMM. Bring him in,” he said and stepped outside.

Two people held my arms and led me outside. I was led out of the shuttle. When my feet touched the sand a flaming heat hit me. I was pushed from beneath the shuttle and the heat and light grew. I could barely walk, but it was more due to the shock than from physical weakness. A huge hanger was nearby and I was pushed towards a door in its wall. Now I noticed there were people in yellow clothes, like small ants, running all over the place. Others stood in several places with weapons in their hands. Someone opened the door and the old man went inside. I was pushed in behind him. We entered a small room with a desk and a few chairs. There was another door in the room next to a metal cabinet. The cabinet door was bent as if someone had smashed it with his fist in anger.

“Check him,” said the old man.

They pushed me to the wall and spread my legs so far apart that I felt I was about to fall. Rough hands swept over my body and emptied my pockets onto the desk. Someone grabbed my arm and threw me into a chair.

“My name is Oziri Dos,” said the old man as he walked to the desk. “I am the commander of the Mampasian rebels.” He turned and looked at me. “You caused us a lot of trouble.” He nodded, looked at the desk, and ran his hand over the things they’d found in my pockets. He held the credit card and chuckled, next he moved his finger through a wrinkled tissue, a pen, and a miniature neck sensor, I thought I might find useful on Naan.

“I am sorry,” I said. “I didn't mean to cause you any harm.”

Clearly this was a lie. What I meant to say was that I hadn’t meant to get caught.

“You didn’t mean to, but you have," he shouted. “In the last few weeks we have lost dozens of our people.”

“I am sorry,” I said again.

“HHHMMM,” he grunted, “So are we,” he said in a venomous tone.

He sat in the chair behind the desk. “What do you have on Naan?” he asked.

“Nothing.”

“You did a lot of damage for nothing.”

“I am trying to help them,” I said.

“To help them,” he said. “Help them how?”

“I am looking for a cure for a disease.”

“HHHMMM.  Do you have a family there?”

I didn’t say anything and he gave me a warning look.   

“Two brothers,” I said.

“That's it? Two brothers?”

I nodded.

He waved the credit card. “What do you know about us?”

His face had suddenly become calm.

“What do I know about you?" I asked.

“Yes, I think if you had known more about us, maybe you wouldn't have done what you did.”

I was surprised by the turn in the conversation. I expected they would throw me into the fiery furnace or send me to die in the desert, which was the essentially the same thing.  I was shocked when the old man started to talk to me as if he was a school principle scolding an errant child.

He pulled a small pamphlet from a shelf behind him and threw it on the desk in front of me.

I leaned forward and looked at the Mampasian words. “I don't read Mampasian well,” I said.

He grunted and glanced at one of his people. The man went to the cabinet, and after a quick search, he handed Oziri-Dos another pamphlet. Oziri-Dos looked at it for a few seconds and threw it on the desk. The Seragonian letters on the front made me feel sick.

“As you can see we have even reached Seragon,” he said. “These pamphlets were sent all over the galaxy to explain the facts and to recruit resources.”

I could hardly imagine how expensive it had been to spread the message in such a way. Then as if he could read my mind he said, “Because of people like you we could not spread the news through the network. We couldn't take the risk that devils like you would scramble it and hide the truth.”

I thought about the
messenger
services. These pamphlets were
messengers
on paper. 

“I understand you broke into some secret site on Seragon,” he said. “What were you looking for?”

“I wasn't…”

“The network is filled with stories of this, and we know that it was you, so stop playing dumb,” he said and one of his people approached me.

“I was looking for a cure,” I hurried to say.

“HHHMMM. And did you find it?”

“I don't know.”

He grunted again. I thought his grunt meant
, I hear
, or
I understand
but then he said, “You are lying.”

“No, it's the truth,” I said.

“Why didn't you just ask for this information? Why try to get it in such a twisted way?"