The Solar Dispenser, hovering at thirty thousand feet, began to dissipate Blackhole emissions stored in the receptors through the radiator cones at the baseline. Beams of radiant crimson light pierced the core of Atlantis.
Djenemi watched his monitors with a fixed gaze, absorbing the tension of the moment as he led the intricacies of the maneuvre in the Solar Dispenser flanked by his co-pilots. He reckoned with what they were doing as passing air currents to the centre of an egg through a tiny tube. He knew the pressure of the air would cause the eggshell to explode any moment. He envisioned the shape of Atlantis should it explode as would a disintegrating egg and squirmed on the inside at the flicker of harrowing images criss-crossing his mind.
Djenemi put his emotions on check and perceived the operation instead as a rescue mission and not a careless, whimsical dissolution of an egg by revered Guardians of the Universe. They had gauged the right flow of energy capable of causing Atlantis to bloat. The molten state would be cast in new molds by expert hands thereafter. In the end, everything would remain the way it was at the beginning, except for some measure of displacement. A scion of the Blackhole, Djenemi, found himself always at the center of these operations even when he desired to be exempted from the reforms of their playhouses.
Amid the tensions and soaring anxieties caused by the delicate operation, Djenemi stole a moment to inspire his colleagues in the Lightship’s cockpit, all in the attempt to clear the vague, dreary cloud haunting his thoughts.
"I bet those beings down there won’t know what hit them," Djenemi quipped, grinning and glancing at his co-pilots in turn. "I can’t imagine what the feeling is like to be so ensnared without the slightest chance of escape."
Meni sat next to Djenemi on the right grunted. "What a thing to ponder at an auspicious moment like this?" he said, disapproving of Djenemi’s joke. "You are right though, but I think it’s safer if we get over with the dissipation. Later, we will have all the time to reminisce."
"Scared of failure, not so?" Djenemi joked.
"Not exactly. I think Meni’s just being cautious. The Guardians will be mad if this mission is thwarted on account of negligence of duty on our part," Pema said.
Djenemi cackled. "You are only poking Meni’s flame in a different way. Let me tell you Guardians, the tension I see around here would be our first undoing," he sneered. "If you don’t loosen up, feel jolly and see the operation in casual terms, you would quiver and fumble through it all."
Meni, snorting, pointed out the last streak of the Solar Dispenser’s dissipation on the cockpit’s monitor. "Just as we would fumble if you don’t shut the control and alert Blackhole," he leered.
“And you thought I didn’t see the radiation fizzle out?” Djenemi replied, smiling after what seemed a faint jolt. He shut the control in same breath. “This is not my debut operation you know,” he chuckled. He then became attentive as he got Blackhole on the console.
"Solar Dispenser to Blackhole. Dissipation over. We await further instruction. Over."
"Well-done Solar Dispenser, the maneuvre was perfect!" Numa’s voice rang out on the Solar Dispenser’s console and in all the vessels above Atlantis. "The saucers from the Lightship should descend now to Atlantis. They have just one swirl to rescue the chosen few, and thereafter, the pull-out of the blocs. Our engineers please take note. The gardeners, biologists, architects assigned to the chosen spots for the Rehabilitation phase should proceed as planned. Action, now!"
Numa watched the Lightship stationed sandwiched at thirty-two thousand feet between the Solar Dispenser and the other vessels. He often liked the swiftness of this gigantic wingless vessel. Similar to the Solar Dispenser in its side protrusions - made of layers of rectangular progressions. These now metamorphosed into a sturdy, trapezium-like main body of infinite alloy with an egg-head top and a looming front at the base.
In line with Numa’s Command Module, the Lightship belched forth eight glazing saucers in quick succession. Each saucer swooped down in different direction toward Atlantis, two towards Songhai, signalling the beginning of the rescue mission.
Numa laughed. Atlanteans in their gross material forms, even with their spiritual prowess, would never reckon with the invasion of Atlantis by alien saucers with their eyes. This is our swirl of victory!
Aware of the Guardians’ scheme, Tonka Manu, however, anticipated their moves within the warm atmosphere of his sanctuary.
# # #
As Tonka Manu started to drift out of his body in readiness for the change he had put in place, a call came through in his ears.
"Finia, your attention is needed in the Disk Center by Guardian Numa. You should be there in less than two swirls. It’s urgent," the voice said and disconnected.
Tonka drew a lungful of air and focused inwards after the distraction. Micro-swirls later, his soul floated through the sturdy walls of the mansion and out into the open space above Manu Square.
For a moment, he glanced around Songhai and its magnificent buildings longing to be part of the splendor forever like a chick of half-wit needing a form of cheer from an accursed environment.
He banished the weighty impulses of life in Atlantis and gazed skyward, reeling his soul toward the Blackhole.
He spread his wings and moved through space with speed. He noticed the harmless descent of the eight saucers from the Lightship, which continued their hurried whir towards various destinations in Atlantis.
The saucers’ structure often amazed Tonka. He preferred their smaller sizes to the gigantic spaceships. A typical saucer’s base resembled a dish with slight curvature. The top looked like a hat with a quaint dome stretched out to the dish’s curvature. The saucers were steered by Guardians. Tonka knew their mission to Atlantis just as he knew what his soul’s flight to the Blackhole meant. They sped past him as he soared on till the other spaceships reared in his view. Still he went farther into space leaving Atlantis and its turmoil behind.
Soon the sun, a radiant mass of ebullient energy, appeared in the distance, devoid of the scorching bite he had experienced in Atlantis in his body. Wooed by its warmth, his soul flew close to the effervescence and plunged into its core, the Blackhole, veering into the Disk Center.
"You made it just in time, Finia," Numa acknowledged as Tonka Manu swirled into the Disc Centre.
Numa’s focus remained unwavered from the screens. He waved Tonka to a free seat next to Ramune. "Why did you decide to drag us all so early into this confusion we see in Atlantis? Couldn’t you have waited a little longer to take proper bearing from the Blackhole?" he asked.
Finia stood stunned for a moment. He had expected the kind of reception he got in the Disk Center. He bowed and took the seat offered him. Finia felt ill-at-ease that Numa thought he carried on with his role as the Manu in Atlantis in a cavalier sense by virtue of his unilateral action.
"I should say I was rather surprised myself that the Guardians refused to intervene for so long, thereby, allowing the birth of a degenerate culture in Atlantis," Finia began, worried over Numa’s indictment. "Since the Guardians kept foot-dragging and the Atlanteans were getting out of control, the only logical thing to do was to wrap up the civilization. And if my action appeared unilateral and premature, I guess the Guardians would’ve to absolve me of the lone step. Under the circumstances I found myself, I think it’s the best of so many options."
Numa growled. "The best sometimes is not good enough, Finia, and you know this. Why do you think we sent you to steer that playhouse? Was it not to instil some sanity in the civilization? I remind you again of this fact if you forgot so soon. Here you go apportioning blame on the Blackhole - telling us the blunt point of your flounder or so-called lone step. Or is it ours? You say they got out of hand? Don’t try to infer you were ostracized from the Blackhole because you were part of all our meetings. I'm sure we agreed on a line of action, didn’t we?"
"Yes, we did," Finia ad
mitted. "It appears I owe the Guardians deserved apology from all indications. I’ll do that in the next meeting.”
Numa brightened up, though his stare did not stray beyond the screens. "I didn’t call you up here to talk about guilt and penitence – you’ve sounded the gong already so we have to waltz along. We excommunicated you in the last Blackhole meeting because we sensed this confusion off-shore and tried to surprise you as much as you’d surprise us here. Take a good look at the images of your invocation on the screens and you would know we are not without concern for you or the Atlantis. Go on, look.”
Finia glossed through the scenes on the screens and saw again the flotilla of spaceships hovering above Atlantis.
"We called you for one reason," Numa went on, “we still need your presence in the renaissance we’ve engendered. This means you would have to return as fast as possible to your body in Atlantis after this briefing. You are to start the new civilization along with the survivors from the milieu there."
Fini blanched.
Numa ignored his reaction from a side-glance. "Our records here have shown those that listened to your teaching - for sure you know who they are - and the other arrangements are still in place. We’ve added something new in the last meeting. We are retaining a small portion of Atlantis, a redesigned speck so to say. There, you and the load of new civilization will find great pastures, abundant food and water, undefiled environment for the next phase of our experiment."
Numa turned in full for the first time since Finia got to the Disk Center to stare at the Guardian. "You are pioneering our experiment till we find another Guardian to replace you," he entreated in a genial manner, pouting at the same time. "That won't be long after the new civilization kicks off. Thereafter, you have all the respite you need in the Blackhole."
Finia’s face creased with the news. No Guardian relished in pioneering a civilization even if it were to be in a high sphere of existence. The news that he had to stay longer than necessary in Atlantis, one of the grossest of all the playhouses, with all its dreary prospects, made it even worse to contemplate. All the Guardians were part of the cause and effects of the universe. By implication, he could not renege from a primary responsibility - the safety of all universal forms. He tried to protest, but the words would not just come.
Numa interjected with urgent orders. "Finia, you had better be gone now or else you’d lose your body in Atlantis in the shift of its tectonic plates. I reckon you have enough micro-swirls left to pick up your body and scamper into any of the saucers on the rescue mission. They have been instructed to wait for your return before they leave Atlantis’ back to the Lightship. I presume you saw them on your way here?"
"I did."
"Half a swirl, that’s just how much time you’ve got left. Your body in Atlantis is as important as the experiment, without it your soul here can’t relate properly down there. So be gone now," Numa said, dismissing Finia with a wave of his hand.
Finia bowed, swivelled on his heels and floated out of the Disk Center. Then he twirled through the Blackhole and vacuous space till he re-entered his body on the foamy seat in his sanctuary in Songhai, Atlantis.
When Finia opened his eyes less than two swirls later, he saw an alien standing close to his body staring down at him. He knew a Guardian had come from the saucers to fetch him.
"Welcome back!" the Guardian said in a deep and soothing voice. “The saucer is waiting outside," he added and walked out of the room through the wall.
# # #
The day dragged on at snail’s speed for Daya and his fellow inner circle members meditating in the Divine Theatre’s sanctuary. No instruction had come from Tonka Manu in relation to the onslaught of the hurricane. Neither was there any hint that their meditation would be over soon.
The commotion and destruction caused by the hurricane in the neighborhood hampered their attempts at concentration. Despite this, they continued with their meditation, the reason being Daya’s awe-inspiring recount of Tonka's order.
Daya tried thrice to soul-travel, and thrice within several swirls, the commotion from outside jolted him back to his body. By the fourth attempt, he sensed the gentle flight of his soul and controlled its exit. Now above the litter of bodies in the Divine Theatre’s sanctuary, Daya’s soul all at once glimpsed the chaos in the vicinity and beyond.
He recognized amongst the bodies his statue-like form seated in the sanctuary, denied of action. The dismal sight made him swear under his breath.
I don’t think I’m the one that flew out of this dense shell, he thought, levitating out of the sanctuary.
Two saucers came to a stop at the verge of the garden in Manu Square at that moment stirring Daya’s curiosity. He descended to ground level outside the sanctuary, his heart palpating as he walked towards the saucers.
Daya edged close to the ash-colored saucers a step at a time, cursing self why he had not gone his way and left them alone. As his thoughts raced, the lids of the saucers flipped open to reveal palatial interiors.
Daya gaped, bewitched by the alien wonder of these plate-like flying objects. Four times the size of an average Atlantean, the designs of the saucers perplexed him. A semi-circle of glassy compartments, seats and gadgets lined the base. The pilot’s compartment was at the centre of the semi-circle. Daya made out apparent knobs and little mounds of devices on the slab as the mechanism of flight. He could see six aliens in each saucer.
A short, taut chain ladder cringed loose from an indiscernible crack or metal flip near one of the saucers’ base and two stocky men with wings, adorned in white garbs, giant boots, thick gloves and helmets, came down the chain ladder.
Daya felt like fleeing from the aliens, but his quivering feet did not quite respond to his impulse of thought.
The Guardians stepped down from the saucer, waved and beckoned at him.
They sensed his timid hesitation and fear. "Come with us," one of them called out to him.
Daya hesitated. They walked, rather glided, past him in long strides. Caught in the spell of their mystique, Daya did not know when he followed the Guardians back to the Divine Theatre. Before then, Daya saw the other saucer discharge two of its occupants who rushed in the direction of Tonka Manu’s spatial mansion.
# # #
Set apart at the right segment of the third floor of the Divine Theatre, the sanctuary for inner circle members remained a specter of meditating bodies when the Guardians and Daya walked in.
The Guardians looked around the hall, evaluating the aura of each body. They searched for a blipping radiance from each of them.
Daya noticed this aura emanating from just three from over a hundred bodies. His body at the middle of the hall near a window blipped too, and the other two blips came from the far left near the entrance. He acknowledged his friend and colleague Tullami as the body on the far left while the one by the entrance belonged to Pullama, the young, obsequious inner circle member in charge of the altars at the Manu’s mansion.
Daya did not know what the blips or radiant auras meant, yet it gladdened his heart that the aliens came for him and others.
Having spotted the few humans they came to fetch, one of the stockier Guardians pointed at Daya and said, "Young man, do reclaim your body over there, please.” His right forefinger pointed at Daya’s shiny aura blip.
Daya’s eyes flared suspiciously. Why the imposition? I don’t want to go back to that clay now, not just yet. Why don’t you - aliens or whatever you are - give me the pleasure of spying on your strange antics? That body there is so gross, dense, paralyzing....I’m sure you alien hulks will never understand how it feels like to be trapped in this cage called body.
"Hey, do as he says," bellowed the second Guardian. Even as Guardians he called us aliens, the Guardian thought.
"We’ve got no time to waste,” the stocky Guardian warned in exasperated gasp. “If you love your soul here then you have
to reclaim that body fast, else you stand to lose both forever."
"And when you enter your body, don’t open your eyes and let them remain shut until you receive further instructions,” the second Guardian added in a hurry. “Understand? We will ensure you capture every scene with your Third-eye as we go along, and you’ll remember every detail when you wake up after a brief stupor much later. What did I say?"
"No opening of eyes as I enter my body," Daya replied.
"Correct. Now jump into your body," the stocky Guardian said.
Daya meandered through the litter of bodies in the sanctuary and came to a halt close to his body. He willed himself to hover above it and gradually merged with it. Daya sensed his heart’s quick pounding. His Third-eye perceived the aliens and other bodies in the hall just as if his eyes were open.
The stocky Guardian held Daya’s left hand and pulled him to his feet. The second Guardian hurried away and came back with Pullama and Tullami's bodies in tow with their eyes closed.
A brisk maneuvring through the litter of bodies and the Guardians steered the three Atlanteans out of the hall through the wall.
They came to a gasping halt beside the waiting saucers. Few swirls later, Daya saw the aliens aiding each of the inner circle members to clamber up the saucers’ chain ladders with their eyes still shut.
The lid of the yawning saucer in which he sat recoiled shortly afterwards. Daya then sensed the nausea of sudden drift in the saucer’s launch into space. Prior to this, he was certain he recognized the frail profile of Tonka Manu, looking rather puzzled, if not agitated, bustle from the adjoining lawns towards the ladder of the second saucer.
The glimpse troubled Daya’s thoughts till the giddy drift of the saucer began. He could not resolve the mystery whether the aliens also abducted Tonka Manu or he worked in tandem with them.
Unknown to Daya, four similar rescue operations took place at the same time at Dhusa, Tulla, Sondibo and Ditara, bringing the tally of rescued Atlanteans to eight - Tonka inclusive. Also, Guardian engineers toiled to erect a new abode for the rescued Atlanteans.
Titan Race Page 21