Closer To The Core (25,000 Light-Years Book 1)

by S. Hansen

  Stark was able to quickly forget about it though as his stop was coming up and he could feel his excitement although present day Stark was unsure how to feel. A short walk from his stop was a house he knew well, he bounded up the steps and enthusiastically knocked on the door. When the door opened a slim, blonde woman leaned against the door frame. She had soft features and made Stark feel a little less nervous, he smiled and spoke.

  'Hi Jeanie, is Anna ready?' The excited smile on his face was infectious, Jeanie chuckled, winked at him and turned away as she spoke.

  'I think she's been ready for about three hours but she's not so convinced.'

  'Jeanie, do you have to embarrass me like that?' As Anna approached the door Stark stepped back and marvelled at her beauty. She had delicate features that always appealed to Stark but on this particular day her striking eye makeup pulled the focus to the mossy green eyes that he would spend so much time studying later in his life. She closed the door behind her and took Starks hand, leading him down the steps. His mind caught up and he squeezed her hand tightly, falling into rhythm with her footsteps.

  'So where are we going then birthday boy?'

  'Well, as the weather is so fine I thought we could have a picnic in a garden I know about, a kind of secret garden.' He winked at her as an older gentleman bumped into him gently. Later he would discover that the older man had left a message in his pocket, an opportunity to join MI6. But this time the jolt was enough to throw Stark back into his less focused dreaming state.

  ☆★☆

  Dantil meditated for about an hour before coming to a conclusion. He had two choices, he could either use his signal and make his way towards the populated area or he could return to Polly and suggest she go instead. His meditation gave him a sense of clarity, if he returned not only would he have failed but he would put Polly in danger by asking her to go in his stead. He would go himself and take his chances, however he hoped his first visit would be brief as all he initially required was a vessel able to carry water. He stood, stretched and continued on his way down the corridor using his resounding tones to guide him.

  Dantil confidently and excitedly strode forth, he had always wanted to explore new worlds and meet new races but had always imagined it to be unachievable. The corridor seemed poorly maintained, many of the walls had cracks and the air felt and smelt damp. Dantil had a great many concerns for the planets indigenous species as he made his way ever closer to their buildings. What worries could they have that would leave them careless of their structures in such a way? Drium had such pride in its beauty, it was a contagious pride shared by almost all Dantans. Drium had a saying very familiar to Dantil, uup suukim ta vam prustan nishva ark ta ulasivarum [a job is not finished until it is beautiful].

  An image of the towering Renyan buildings was becoming clearer in his mind as he passed beneath them and each building was just as ominous as the prison they had escaped. The blueprint in Dantil's mind gave him a little information before he could even reach the surface. He could tell what was directly above him and which buildings were a maze of corridors or spacious halls. He could hear the exit of the tunnel was near but he could also sense that there where Renyans searching the area, he could not tell what for but knew it may be the source of the noise he was emitting. Dantil stopped under the trapdoor and stood silently listening to the noises above. With a great deal of concentration, he was able to convert the noises of Renyan movement into a three-dimensional image in his mind. It wasn't as clear as usual and it strained him to create the image from ambient sounds but he could quietly observe the movements above.

  'Yora meyt!' There was a great deal of marching and grouped searches to be heard. Dantil could hear doors opening and closing, hoofed feet stomping and a lot of shouting, mostly the same two words over and over again.

  'Yora meyt!' It seemed strange to Dantil that so long after they had escaped the Renyans should still be shouting and searching every room. He thought that they should have resigned themselves to simply being on alert. Dantil also wished that the Dantans kept a wider range of languages in storage, a working knowledge of the Renyan language would have been extremely helpful.

  When it seemed as though the Renyans had moved away from the immediate area Dantil decided to check through resonation. There were no Renyans in short range of him so he kept the frequency high to prevent the sound travelling too far and lowered the amplitude to keep the noise to a minimum while he ascended the ladder and peered out of the trapdoor. A small rodent scurried past his face and scampered behind another grim looking piece of furniture, everything on Renya seemed so harsh and uninviting to Dantil that he began to wonder if he had already seen the best the galaxy had to offer back on Drium.

  Dantil firmly planted his hands on the ground and sprung through the trapdoor landing softly on his feet. The room seemed overly crowded with furniture and other items so much so that Dantil assumed it to be some kind of store room. He darted straight for the far corner of the room where the image in his mind began to fill in with colour as his eyes scanned the room. He could tell by listening that there were a number of items that would have made a passable water container in the corner. He picked up the first vase type object which turned out to have a fracture on one side. The next item was more like a jug and it was filled with a liquid already so he knew it was water tight. As Dantil picked it up he noticed an aroma start to get stronger. He inhaled deeply, signals fired and his brain began to interpret the odour, his mind wanted to liken the sweet aroma to that of the matiek sap on Drium.

  Without thinking Dantil placed his nose close to the jug and inhaled deeper still. His nostrils filled with a thick, sweet fragrance, this time he could decipher notes of fermentation and his eyes widened as he thought about the matiek sap alcohol made on Drium. He instantly placed his lips to the jug and sipped the viscous liquid. Quicker than he had begun to drink he spat and spluttered the vile tar back out.

  'Shtuur!' [Yuck] Dantil wiped his tongue with his free hand but the flavour was persistent and refused to entirely leave Dantil's mouth. For the first time he was quite keen to have some water himself.

  'Vam pisma....' [Not good] Before leaving he checked the other possible candidates for water vessel and was dissatisfied with each so he held the sweet tar jar tightly as he dropped down through the trapdoor and gently closing it behind him. He knew the corridor was mostly straight and hoped that his perception of colour would help him notice if he needed to change direction so he set off running down the corridor with nothing but the sound of his rapid footsteps marking his presence.

  He was mostly pleased with his offering for the humans so he ran with a bounce in his step. The cool air in the tunnel felt refreshing on his bare chest as he sped down the corridor with his loose fitting white trousers gently fluttering around his legs. That was until he came across a crack in the floor that had not been there before and the sole of his sandal like footwear caught on the crack causing him to lose his footing. Dantil lurched forward trying to protect the jug as he fell. With hands outstretched Dantil hit the ground face first. He slightly grazed his chin and his chest was heavily winded.

  'Vum.' [Ow] Dantil laughed to himself as he carefully rose to his feet and set off on his way again, this time deciding to use all of his faculties.

  ☆★☆

  When Dantil returned to the room he had left Polly and Stark in he found Stark sweating in a fever and Polly softly crying while grasping Stark's hand. Dantil was confused but empathetic although he did not know what it meant to cry he could understand Polly was very unhappy. He also did not know why Stark was sweating in such temperatures but he could understand that Stark was very unwell. What confused Dantil most was that a race of aliens so dependent on water should waste it so frequently. Polly quickly wiped away her tears when she realised Dantil had returned. She tried to smile but it faded quickly when she noticed a small amount of bleeding coming from Dantil's graze.

  'Oh, Dantil. You're bleeding.'

 
'Am I? Oh sorry, I'll stop that then.' He wiped at his chin and just as he said he stopped bleeding.

  'I think I found something to carry water, it needs a clean but I'll be back soon with water.' As he waved it in the air to show Polly she began to smell the sweet aromas that had previously tricked Dantil.

  'What's in it now? It smells delightful.' Dantil gripped the jar firmly and held it away from Polly.

  'It is definitely not delightful, it is yuck.' Dantil's tongue poked out of his mouth as he once again tried to remove the last traces of the sweet-smelling tar from his mouth.

  'Anyway, I'll be back soon, with water........ Nice tasty water' He smiled and merrily headed towards the ladder leading to the technologically enhanced forest.

  Back on the surface of Renya Dantil retraced his steps to the pool of water they had found before, it was an easy, relatively even trek through the forest and with little to distract him he made it to the pool quickly. The water was still very cool as the sun never seemed to warm the water much but he scooped handfuls of water into his mouth and at last was free of the foul rotting flavour of whatever the Renyans had forgotten about. When Dantil began to rinse out the jug he froze in place and fell silent. There was a faint but familiar clomping set of footsteps heading in his direction. He didn't know how far away they were without returning to his obvious noise making state so he decided it would be best to simply slip underwater and continue cleaning the jug somewhat protected by the water.

  Dantil effortlessly dove under the bone chilling water with his prized possession where he nestled at the bottom of the pool and cleaned the jug as best he could feel for he was too concerned about making noise to see how well he had achieved his goal. Dantil's deep red hair flowed gently in the water which seemed to make the colour more intense and the movement was reminiscent of a fire. The water pulsed with movement and aggravated the flickering flame of hair while Dantil was thrown into a moment he did not recognise.

  The water around him was suddenly much warmer, the jug had disappeared and currents were pushing him along rapidly. He knew it must be the effect of the device so he began to locate himself with echoes once more and he immediately felt a mixture of comfort and concern. Surrounding him he could hear Drium's subterranean water ways, tunnels that were naturally crafted centuries before Dantil graced the surface of Drium. Stalactites draped from the ceiling and stalagmites extended from the floor. The Dantans had genetically engineered underwater plant life to glow creating a familiar green glow that soothed Dantil. What concerned him was that the water was not only moving but was moving at incredible speed. Dantil had only ever known the waterways to be calm and peaceful canals between vast bodies of water.

  As the currents drove Dantil further on through the caves he struggled to avoid the many rocky formations lining the channel. A number of times the current forced a near miss causing Dantil to search his memory for knowledge of the waterways and an escape route. He recalled spending a lot of time in the water as a child, often playing with Tanika and his sister Idana. Each city had multiple entry points to the waterways but in between the populated areas there were miles of nothing but underground caves filled to the brim with water.

  Suddenly he heard an intricately crafted stair case ahead, he swam harder than he ever had done to fight against the current and make it to the stairs. His hand grasped the ledge set into the side of the cave but the water made his hand slippery and as he struggled to hold on a hand grabbed the scruff of his shirt and pulled him out of the water. From this moment forward Dantil felt unable to control his movements and speech, he felt as though something or someone were commanding him like a marionette. He jumped towards his rescuer, hugging her warmly.

  'Tanika!' She was taken aback by the strength of his hug but relaxed into his arms. As he began to pull away from her she didn't seem to want to let go but turned to walk away before he could thank her.

  'Tanika, maram kintan um ark ta vam visam.' [Tanika, please tell me it is not true.] She looked back and studied his imploring face but did not respond.

  'Maram Tanika, U kintanan umi drimir prip skuunta vam. Maram.' [Please Tanika, I told my friends she would not. Please.] Tanika kept her head low avoiding his expressions but placed a gentle hand on his chest and her words meekly flowed.

  'U mir tasil Dantil...' [I am sorry Dantil...] She stopped herself, her back turned towards Dantil as her hand slid off his chest. She gracefully ascended the stairs, her black eyebrows furrowed menacingly as her face became more serious. Dantil was left alone gazing at the water flowing past him.

  Meanwhile Stark's temperature cooled drastically as his tangled web of thoughts and dreams cleared away completely leaving him with nothingness. He felt as though he were gently floating whilst also feeling nothing. He smelt nothing, saw nothing, heard nothing and tasted nothing. His present day self searched for anything to grab hold of, something to hope for. Stark was getting a glimpse of his future and it was bleak.

  Just as Polly was noticing the drop in Stark's temperature she found herself elsewhere and else when. She caught up with her past angrily stomping through the dorm halls of University College London. She had the kind of furious expression on her face that made people move out of her way as she pounded toward them. She reached the door knowing exactly what she would find on the other side, both because she had experienced this moment before and because she had been certain at the time. She swung the door wide open to find her boyfriend, Fletcher West, getting very intimate with another woman in very little clothing. The sound of the door hitting the wall startled the two of them before Fletcher jumped up and away from the inebriated brunette perched on his bed.

  'Oh whoa, Pol, this is not what it looks like...' Polly's teeth clenched as she cocked her head and stared straight at him with fury burning in her eyes.

  'Okay, okay. This is exactly what it looks like. But… Polly pocket… I was being a stupid guy I didn't mean to do anything wrong please forgive me?' He distanced himself further from the brunette who was now looking rather dejected and as though she were about the throw up. Fletcher gave Polly a pleading smile.

  'YOU AS...' Polly raised her hands and inhaled deeply as she clenched her fists in front of her. She looked to the ceiling and sighed. She tried to calm herself down but anger seeped into her gesticulations when she spoke.

  'You know what? You don't even deserve my anger. You worked so hard to win me over and for what?' Fletcher didn't know how best to respond as his previous experience in these situations had only prepared him for screaming human personifications of hate. The two of them stared silently at each other briefly before Polly spoke.

  'I'm done. Don't call me, don't talk to me, don't wait outside my classes and don't come near me. I'm done.' She spun on her heel and set about walking away in as dignified a manner as she could achieve. She desperately held back the tears but one escaped and gently rolled down her cheek before she wiped it away with her sleeve.

  'Wow, your girlfriend is bad ass!' Polly appreciated the vote of confidence from the unknown girl but she was more pleased to hear the sound of her being sick as it meant Fletcher was going to have to clear it up. One of Polly's classmates had been in the corridor a little way down from Fletcher's room and had heard everything. As Polly walked past trying to hold her head high the girl raised her hand and smiled as she spoke.

  'Nice' Polly gave a half-hearted smile and completed the high five without stopping. The echoing of the high five bounced around whilst Polly returned to her current time.

  Concurrently Dantil was returning to the surface of the water where he briefly checked his surroundings before kneeling to meditate and dry himself off. As warmth flowed through him the colour of his hair became less vibrant and it settled back into its natural forward flick. The water droplets on his bare chest dissipated and his trousers baked dry. The regular use of his main energy burning talents was creating a growing hunger but Dantil wasn't concerned for himself. His life on Drium had taught him to be more mindful
of others than himself and he had heard the rumblings from Polly and Stark's stomachs.

  He rose to his feet and scooped up water in the jug as he did so, before setting off in the direction of his companions. Once again, he made quick progress and was back in the bunker with the humans not long after Polly returned from her past. Polly was still holding Stark's hand when Dantil dropped down the ladder. She slowly turned to him and smiled. Dantil merrily presented her with the large jug of water which she graciously accepted before speaking.

  'Can you sit him a bit more upright? I hope I can get him to drink this, he suddenly cooled right down while you were away, his temperature seems normal now so I hope he is improving.’ Dantil stood beside the table that he had previously placed Stark on and supported Stark's back with ease while Polly rose to her feet and tried to pour the water into Stark's mouth without spilling it down him. Unfortunately, it was no easy task as Stark at first seemed to reject the water. The water spluttered back out of his mouth before he began subconsciously drinking when Polly slowed the pace of the running water.

  'You should drink some too.' Dantil tried to get Polly to look at him. He was still trying to understand the intricacies of human interaction but he knew from what he had seen and what he understood about their eye sight that it was important to look at each other. Polly was focused on Stark but her eyes rose to meet Dantil's face the more he tried to move it into her field of vision. She couldn't help but laugh at his endearing attempts to console her.