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

by S. Hansen

  'U nud vam klarp part drumait...' [I did not see that coming...] He wiped at the splatter that he felt land on his face, smearing it as he did so. The echoes he created bounced joyously around his paralyzed figure burning the image of the Renyan's decapitated corpse into his mind. He tried to focus on the land around him in order to continue his mission but was interrupted by a pulsing stomp that vibrated through Dantil's body. As the hammering noise echoed towards him a vision of thousands of Renyans marching in perfect unison across the vast expanse before him frightened Dantil into cover. He darted back into the alley he had previously run out of, dragging the grey skinned body behind him. Dantil desperately hoped the Renyans would not notice the movement or the blood left behind.

  Feeling that he could safely use his echo location system without detection due to the overwhelming pounding of thousands of hoofed feet hitting the ground in unison, Dantil began to study the Renyans. Each one of them looked straight ahead showing no emotion as they marched onwards. They all wore angular armour plating over the top of a form fitting black material. Many of the angles of the armour plating was accented with a thin streak of pale blue that seemed to glow. Their feet and the lowest section of their legs were the most heavily armoured and they were also the most extravagantly decorated with unnecessary indents that added to the Renyan armies imposing appearance. Blazoned across their chests was a symbol that consisted of a half star half planet image with flames spreading from the star that caught the sun light easily, causing them to flicker as the Renyans marched.

  A sole Renyan led the parade. His chest piece was almost identical were it not for the glowing yellow of the sun on his emblem. He shouted above the noise of the procession in a deep and haunting voice that wavered through Dantil's body and the noise flowing through him left Dantil silent and blind once more.

  'SALUR!' The marching continued for three further perfectly timed strides and then ceased in unison with another shout from the lone Renyan.

  'PARV!' Dantil waited patiently listening for any danger and hoping to find a method of safe escape soon. He was blind to their subtle movements but could hear a distant rumbling. The noise got closer and closer as it turned into a soaring roar over their heads. With the noise there to obscure him he was able to hear his surroundings once more. As soon as the drawing in his mind was completed Dantil felt sick. The roaring noise and jagged, vicious looking ships sent doom through his bones. The massive frigates dwarfed the buildings below and left them in darkness as their shadows spread across the land. The Renyans kept their faces fixed firmly facing ahead and showed no emotion as their proud engineering flew overhead.

  The ships passed by slowly but with the dying noise Dantil fell back into silence. The Renyans stood silently before another mind rumbling bellow could be heard.

  'SALUR MURXAYSARA!' The flanks of soldiers split and moved seamlessly into two columns, they halted, turned to face the adjacent column and marched backwards to widen the gap between them. Their faces never wavering, the heads never turning and their arms never shifting from their sides. Dantil could hear a metal clanking progressing along the formation of soldiers. He wasn't sure what was coming but it was becoming clear that the Renyans would not be moving for some time. He gripped the gun loosely and fumbled along a wall away from the procession.

  When he could no longer hear the clanking of metal he began to locate himself through resonations once more and as he approached the commanding central building he redirected himself towards the store room leading to his friends. But before he could amble glumly back to them a smaller ship flew over the city, it was less aggressive looking than those involved in the parade. Upon deciding that it was a similar size to The Asteria he began to sprint through the streets following the ship as best he could, it was quick but seemed to be slowing. Dantil lost sight of it as it zipped behind an outcropping building but ran on regardless.

  Turning another of Renya’s harsh corners at speed lead him to an expansive low lying building that didn't seem to have any doors but he caught a glimpse of the small ship sinking into the building and heard an electrical door smoothly sealing the roof behind the ship. He cautiously approached the broad building, and placing his forehead to the building he focused closely on the echoes that he forced into existence inside the building. As they ricocheted around to extensive hall like building he gained a blurred image of the contents. Not far from his location he could see the recently landed Renyan ship and just beyond that the object of his search, The Asteria. She lay unscathed waiting to be released from the Renyan clutches.

  With joy in his heart Dantil sprung away from the wall and ran gleefully back to his human friends. Due in large part to the military procession occurring elsewhere in the city Dantil could freely travel through the city, slide through the trapdoor and along the corridor to his safe house.

  Chapter Eight – A Looming Seriousness

  Dantil cheerfully sauntered through the door to find Polly once more with tears streaming down her face. Stark was no longer in the room and Dantil's smile dropped at the sight of Polly but she wiped away the tears and smiled her infectious smile. Dantil was incredibly confused and the puzzlement showed on his face, it did not change even as Stark entered the room from the other door, only slightly wincing in pain as he moved.

  'I do not understand, if Adam is better why are you crying?' Polly's smile persisted through her laughter; Dantil enjoyed seeing her smile more each time she did so. But as Polly swayed her eyes in his direction the smile cleared away quickly at the sight of the blood spatter and smears.

  'They are tears of joy Dantil... What happened to you?'

  'You cry when you are happy too?'

  'Yes.' Polly stood up and helped Stark into the chair.

  'You really are very wasteful of water, so strange.' Stark looked healthier than he had done but still pale and weak. He was healing well and was happy to see the return of his dependable ally, of whom Polly had told him so many good things. Stark's well trained eyes honed in on the weapon that Dantil had absentmindedly brought with him.

  'You have been busy Dan, I take it you met resistance.' Dantil looked down at the weapon in his hand and then to the spattering of blood across his white trousers and bare chest. As though on automatic pilot he began reporting to Stark.

  'One encounter with one enemy soldier, neutralised. Located The Asteria, limited enemy forces preventing retrieval due to city wide event.' Stark was taken aback by the professionalism of Dantil whilst Polly was somewhat concerned about the use of the word neutralised. Dantil stepped forward and placed the weapon on the table in front of Stark.

  'Its proportions are inconvenient for use but it is extremely effective when fired.' Without thinking about the consequences Stark picked up the gun, gingerly turned in his seat and awkwardly fired at the wall. After a vibrant flash of light a crater appeared in the wall, leaving Polly ducking for cover whilst covering her ears.

  'Well that...' Stark paused, looked at Polly, looked at Dantil and continued in childlike glee. '…was awesome! I can see why you are so messy. What did you aim at?'

  'The head.' Dantil's voice was calm and steady with his words seeming appropriately matter of fact to Stark.

  'Wow. I bet that popped like a melon.' Polly turned a sickly shade of green and bounded towards the trapdoor and fresh air.

  'If I knew what a melon was I am sure I would agree. Why does Polly look unwell?'

  'She is probably squeamish about killing peo... things.' Dantil was taken aback and deeply saddened that his actions had caused such a reaction from Polly.

  'Was it wrong to kill him?' Stark timidly rose to his feet and patted Dantil on the back. A smile broke across his face as a new assessment of Dantil made him more than simply a ship mascot in Stark’s mind.

  'Dantil what you did was eliminate a threat to our leaving the planet. If you had let that guy live we might not live, so you did the right thing.'

  'But Polly-'

  'But Polly is a human
who doesn't have to deal with big decisions like that. She lives her life protected by those of us who are prepared to make those decisions.' Dantil appeared deep in thought for a few moments before speaking softly.

  'But I don't want to be the kind of Dantan that sickens Polly.' Stark hobbled away from Dantil, leaned against the table and ran his fingers through his hair. Before speaking again he sighed, scratched his now stubbly chin and shook his head.

  'Oh boy. We are going to have to have a serious talk when we get back to The Asteria.' Polly descended the ladder as his words quietly reached Dantil preventing him from questioning further. She looked rather sheepish and could still feel a slight churn in her stomach. Stark felt an air of seriousness looming so he tried his best to fan it away.

  'Where's my waistcoat Polly?'

  'Ugh.' She begrudgingly pointed under the table leaving him to tentatively kneel and fumble in pursuit of the smooth fabric. As he struggled to get it over his arms without causing too much pain Polly gave in and sauntered over to help him into it.

  'So, Dan, tell me everything you saw up there.' What followed was an incredibly detailed report of the Renyan city and its inhabitants interspersed with stomach growls and wide yawns. Polly feeling in need of exercise and a little bored of the conversation decided to head out and refill their water supply. At first Stark was unwilling to let her but when Dantil volunteered to go with her he knew that she could be no better protected by himself, particularly in his current state.

  'Oh alright.... but before you go, do either of you have paper and a pencil?' Polly rolled her eyes at Stark as Dantil sadly shrugged his shoulders.

  'Yes, let me just get the stationary set out of my pocket.' Dantil stood expectantly, waiting for the stationary to emerge from Polly's pocket whilst Stark scuffed his foot across the floor and swung his fist gently in front of himself whilst scratching his stubbled jawline.

  'Damn. Well you two crazy kids have fun. Don't do anything I wouldn't do.' Dantil leapt up through the trapdoor with ease, took the jug from Polly and helped her through whilst she called back to Stark.

  'Is there anything you wouldn't do?' He pouted as he thought about it before muttering to himself.

  ‘Dive in lava, holiday on Snake Island, hit The Queen…'

  As they dropped the trapdoor into place Dantil's curiosity got the better of him.

  'Why didn't you give him the pencil and paper he asked for?' Without thinking much about the question or her answer Polly responded.

  'Because I don't have any.'

  'But you said you did. Why did you lie and why did Adam not care?' Polly caught on to the reason for Dantil's confusion as another demonstration of cultural differences appeared. She smiled when she spoke to Dantil.

  'It's called sarcasm, if someone asks a stupid question you respond by lying and make a joke of it. My answer was silly enough that Adam knew I was lying and being sarcastic.' Panic and concern flew across Dantil's face.

  'But what if I ask a stupid question and think that your response is sensible? What if you already have lied? I wouldn't know.' Polly subtly laughed while hooking her arm around him and squeezing him in close.

  'Oh sweetheart. Don't worry you can't ask a stupid question because you’re an alien.' She released her grip on him as the pair continued to gently stroll along side each other through the electronic forest. Dantil's skin tingled lightly where Polly's skin had met his and he felt a strange sensation in his stomach that he couldn't explain away as hunger but his head was also beginning to ache. To distract himself he continued to seek out more information on humans.

  'So, I have thought more about this new feeling. You said it was heart-breaking but also that you are happy to experience that pain again. I don't understand, if my heart breaks I would die. Do you have more than one heart? Or can you fix you heart if your heart breaks?' Polly smiled gently to herself as she struggled to find the right way to explain the human obsession with connecting love and the heart.

  'Neither actually, it's difficult to explain.'

  'I'd very much like it if you could try.' A pleasing smile and an expression of willingness to learn endeared Polly to his request although she didn't think she would have declined anyway.

  'Humans were very confused for a long time about how our bodies worked.... and as a result, we thought our hearts controlled our emotions not our brains. If you ask a human to draw a heart they probably won't draw you the shape of our actual heart.'

  'Will you draw me a heart?'

  'Remember how we don't have any paper or a pencil?'

  'Oh'

  'Anyway, now in modern human society heart break isn't really anything to do with our actual heart, it's just a metaphor for emotional pain.'

  'So, your heart doesn't break?'

  'No.'

  'Do humans lie a lot?' Polly considered this question carefully before responding.

  'Yes. I suppose we do. Although actually I read there is a human medical condition called "broken heart syndrome" and people suffering from it really do feel pain in their chest. And technically it would be possible for a human suffering from severe emotional trauma to die if the trauma caused a flooding of natural chemicals including adrenaline, which could stun the heart and thus stop it. But that is not very likely.' Dantil's dark thick eyebrows furrowed in thought, he bent down at the pool to refill the jug and smoothly scooped water to the brim. As the cool water droplets ran down the vessel and trickled back into the pool He turned to see Polly gently etching a line into the dirt embankment with her finger. He studied it when she proudly showed him the completed drawing.

  ‘There you go. One heart.’ He smiled through the increasing pain in his head and traced his own finger around the line she had drawn.

  ‘It’s a very nice shape. If it isn’t the same shape as your heart what do humans draw it for?’

  ‘For love Dantil. It’s a symbol for love.’ Suddenly very mindful of this incredibly important feeling and its link to the simple shape he looked at her with worry.

  ‘But you drew it for me.’ He felt as though he had misunderstood again but before he could articulate his concerns Polly calmed him.

  ‘Don’t worry Dantil, it doesn’t mean anything on its own really. It’s just a shape. In fact, thinking about it now, it’s really rather trivialised on Earth even with the rest…’ She shook her head sadly when her stomach moaned fiercely in protest, she agreed and patted it. They began to head back to the bunker hungrily but in high spirits none the less.

  'How do you choose who to love?'

  'Trust me, you don't choose.'

  'Oh, you are told who you will marry too?' Polly enjoyed her freedom to make all the decisions relating to her love life but she also considered Dantil lucky to have a simple straight forward marriage sorted for him. Dantil enjoyed the smiles she gained when he asked her questions although it agitated the strange feeling in the pit of his stomach.

  'No, we aren't told who to love either, love is frustrating because you never know when you are going to find yourself in love. You don't step out your front door one day, see a nice looking person and say "I am going to fall in love with that person". You just merrily go about your day to day and suddenly realise midway through conversation that you are in love and there isn't a damn thing you can do about it.' Dantil cringed.

  'Oh dear, it sounds like a disease.' Polly pursed her lips and considered all the times she had been in love or had thought she was.

  'On a bad day, it is.'

  'I don't think I want to be in love.' Polly patted him comfortingly on the back.

  'Well hopefully as you aren't human you can avoid it.' Polly seemed content to continue in silence and although Dantil wanted to see her smile at his questions again he also wanted to avoid asking any stupid questions and misunderstanding sarcasm so he merely enjoyed the faint smile her face naturally kept. When they reached the bunker Polly held the hatch open for Dantil and watched as he placed his hand over the jug and dropped effortlessly to the
floor below before following him down gracefully.

  In the dim light of the bunker Polly blinked and adjusted her eyes trying to understand what Stark was looking so proud of. He was leant over the table with a wide smile across his face and his hands gripping either side of the table which helped to support his weight.

  'What have you been up to?' She looked at him suspiciously before she noticed the newly detailed table surface.

  'Well seeing as you didn't bring paper and a pencil I decided to carve a map. Based on everything Dantil told me this is the rough lay out of the city. This is where The Asteria is.' He pointed across the table to a crudely drawn hangar.

  'Where did you find a five-year-old?'

  'What?' Stark turned his head around the room searching for the child.

  'Well it does look an awful lot like a five-year-old drew that?' Polly looked at Stark with a condescending smile

  'Oh ha ha, I'd like to see you do better with a piece of charred stone from that hole in the wall and a hard wood desk.' His head tilted forward as his face disguised the hurt with a faint smile and the challenging look in his eyes.

  'That's not what that building looked like.' Dantil could faintly hear the ridges created by Stark on the surface of the table. The looming building he had stood before did not translate well to Stark's depiction, partly because the details really weren't important to Stark and partly because Stark listened enough to get the impression the building was influential and not much else. Stark sighed, slightly hurt and mostly frustrated that his crew didn't seem to appreciate the effort he had put into planning their escape.