by Kumar Lomash
Joti had always respected Holum but recent secrets had lead her to question his abilities as a leader. She still believed he had good intentions overall but he may be too cautious to negotiate a good deal with the Hums when the time came. She always wanted to lead Humanity and what could be better than working with the president himself? She nodded.
With clapping all around, Joti was appointed the executive secretary to the President. Following this a few other strategic decisions were made. Joti grew restless as the meeting extended hours beyond its schedule. She knew it was more than 12 hours since Kevin had returned to the ship and she wanted to meet him to share the news about the Hums. She knew he was not completely bought into what Francis had told them the other night but now that she had seen the Hum’s ships herself, she knew Kevin would accept the facts and share her concerns about the future of humanity. Joti was only partially present in the room as the rest of her was with Kevin. Meanwhile, Holum was executing a well thought out plan. He was promoting people in every department to have more decision making people in the Union and its ministries. It looked like the right thing to do before landing on Nole. He wanted every department to grow quickly in its new responsibilities on Nole.
It was almost dinner when Joti finally had some time on her hands. She rushed towards level 20 to meet Kevin. She met Moji who told her that Kevin had been waiting for her since last night and that he almost slept at her door. Joti grew more eager and asked where he would be at this time to which Moji replied “his cabin”.
Joti walked into Kevin’s cabin and saw him lying in his bed looking bored. He was playing with what looked like a pen drive. Kevin saw Joti and his gloomy face brightened up. He quickly threw the pen drive to one side of the bed and jumped up to greet Joti. They both hugged with smiles on their faces. Both of them held each other tightly as if they were meeting after weeks of separation. It felt like a long time because they both had a lifetime of information to share with each other. As eager as they were to jump right into it, they knew the information was supposed to be kept a secret. So they hesitated at first. Joti was not letting go of Kevin and neither was he letting go of her.
“Looks like you missed me.”, Kevin said.
Joti replied, still holding on to Kevin, “Yes. I did. There is so much that we need to talk about.”
Kevin wondered what Joti had in mind. Did she already know?, he asked himself. “What do you want to talk about, Joti?”, Kevin started loosening his hold.
“Tell me about Nole, Kevin. Tell me that it was worth coming here.”, Joti said as she let him go.
“Of course it was! I have never seen a planet so beautiful. It looks like the Earth we have never seen. Blue waters and green forests. The gravity is a bit taxing so I was not able to explore a lot. I remained in my bunker the whole time.”, Kevin said, hiding the real reason for staying in the bunker.
“A bunker? Is that where everyone is staying there?”, Joti asked with wonder.
“I don’t know. I was asked to stay in one.”, Kevin replied casually. He continued, “The air is so pure that you can take deep breaths without inhaling a single grain of dust. The nights are more beautiful with 3 moons in the sky. You can hardly see the stars with those in the sky. The nights are not so dark, it feels like evening throughout the night.”
“So, you had to close all doors and windows to be able to sleep?”, Joti was not sure if she was interested in every little detail of Kevin’s trip or just wanted to delay the conversation that she wanted to have.
“No. I slept fine with the window open. I thought of you when I looked at the moons.”, Kevin replied.
They kept talking about Kevin’s flight and stay on Nole. Joti asked a lot of questions and he answered them patiently. He too was not sure how to begin talking about the Hums. They were soon out of all the small talk they could imagine. Joti began thinking about the things which were bothering her for the last couple of days.
“You know, we just announced we would begin stage 11 in 8 days.”, Joti thought it to be a good place to start.
“Ya, I know. Moji told me yesterday. Is the formal announcement already made?”, Kevin asked.
“Yes. Didn’t you hear? Holum just announced it.”, Joti replied.
“No. I was just too tired to get off my bed.”, Kevin went back to lying on the bed. He left a lot of space for Joti to lie down too. Joti sat beside him and continued.
“Are you not surprised that we are preponing the landing?”, Joti asked.
“Not so much. Maybe they found Nole ready to be populated.”, Kevin said what made sense to him.
“You take things so lightly, Kevin. Sometimes I wonder if you are so naive.”, Joti said lightly but was not entirely joking.
“Hey, is there something you want to tell me?”, Kevin was fighting the idea that Joti might know everything.
“I found out that Holum is conspiring with the aliens.”, Joti said in a breath.
“What?”, Kevin was shocked.
“Yes, I tracked his LSC to RAP03. He went there to talk to the aliens and knew about the Hums all along.”, Joti revealed with some disappointment.
Kevin realised that Joti might know a lot so he should come clean about everything he knows. Meanwhile, Joti felt it was too much for Kevin to process and comment so she continued explaining further.
“You will have to agree now, Kevin. This is no more something that I have heard from angels or conspiracy theorists but this is something I have seen with my own eyes. Yesterday when Holum came back from Nole, he revealed everything to the ministers and a few officers in a meeting. We have been making plans and preparing strategies since then. I wanted to meet you earlier but I was stuck with so much happening around.”, Joti paused.
Kevin was still trying to understand how much Joti knew. Did she know about Kevin’s lineage?
Joti continued, “It seems, Hums tricked us into coming to Nole, Kevin”.
Kevin did not believe this. He sat up and started telling his side of the story.
“I too have something I need you to know, Joti.”, Kevin began. “When I reached Nole, I was told to stay in a bunker because I was under threat and my security was of primary concern.”
“What?”, said Joti shocked
“Yes, I was shocked too but I followed orders as they were coming from Holum and Ibu themselves. I asked them about Gambhir and the other Ks who were supposed to come to Nole with Ibu but they told me that their craft was hijacked.”, Kevin said.
“Yes, Kevin. I am sorry but it's true. Those Hums have started attacking us.”, Joti had already made her conclusions.
“No. That's not true, Joti”, Kevin tried to explain.
“How come?”
“Yes, Holum told me the Union had purposely sent that craft to Peele.”
“But, why? Holum can’t be intentionally sending Humans to the Hums.”, Joti was confused.
“He is not, Joti. What a silly thing to say.”, Kevin was tired of everyone judging Holum and the Hums. Yesterday it was Gollow and now Joti too. He wanted Joti to at least understand the situation.
“I am not being silly, Kevin. Holum did propose to resign this morning following the revelation about his contacts with the Hums.”, Joti clarified.
“What is wrong with having contact with the Hums?”, Kevin argued. “Aren’t you the one who said that Humans and Hums need to find a peaceful coexistence?”
“Yes, I said so and I thought at the time Holum was the only person capable of negotiating that. But what is up with all this secrecy?”, Joti was a little angry now.
“He came clean, didn’t he?”, Kevin confronted her.
“Yes, but only after I found out on my own.”, Joti explained.
“How did you find out?”, Kevin asked.
“I was asked to track a LSC as It flew to Peele. I was surprised that our craft was flying away from Nole to another planet so I found out who was in it and it turned out to be Holum.”, Joti stated.
“Don’t you find it a bit out of the
ordinary to be pulled out for this sudden mission to track a craft to Peele? If he wanted you to not find out, he would have arranged otherwise.”, Kevin tried to defend Holum.
Joti thought for a while, then said, “I don’t know if he wanted me to know but I am sure he hid it for a long time from all of us.”
“There is a reason for that Joti, if only I could tell you.”, Kevin said with desperation.
Joti realised there is more to the story, so she calmed down and asked Kevin to finish. Kevin told her everything about how Hums engineered Humans in their own image and how Kevin ended up being the sole survivor with the full genetic payload. He also told her about Boris.
Joti listened to everything with patience but didn’t know what to believe. When Kevin stopped, Joti told him she needed to think about all of this alone. Kevin was not happy the way things ended that evening. He was worried that Joti was not looking at things from a universal point of view and he was convinced that if Joti could, for once, see the situation not just from a Human’s point of view, she would understand.
Joti on the other hand was no longer sure whom to believe. Holum, the leader she had respected her whole life seemed to be a traitor now, who sold his people to the Hums. The Union, the organization which she had spent her whole life idolizing looked like a dark net of lies and conspiracies. Among all of this the worst being Kevin, who failed to see or appreciate her concerns. Joti wondered if Kevin would ultimately see himself more as a Hum than a Human. After all, he was the one the Hums really wanted. Joti also entertained the thought that Kevin was new to the Union and might have hated the Union his whole life. She wouldn’t be surprised if someone from a class 4 colony didn’t share the same patriotism that she had for the Union and its people. She would have to convince Kevin to understand that all of this is just a ploy to destroy humans before they could settle on Nole. She loved Kevin too much to let him get fooled by the Hums. She knew that Kevin was a great guy and would never intentionally sabotage Joti or her people but also knew Kevin was too convinced about the story that Holum and Boris had sold him. She alone could not change his mind. Now that Holum was no longer trustworthy, she pondered on who else would be able to convince Kevin.
A couple of days passed by as Kevin looked for opportunities to talk to Joti. Joti, on the other hand was busy in her new responsibilities as the secretary and found less time to do other things. She ignored Kevin for the time being because she wanted to talk about the Hums when she had found someone who could convince Kevin of their lies. She finally made up her mind to take Kevin to Francis as soon as possible. He was the only one who could rescue Joti and the Humans now.
One day Kevin was having lunch alone with Moji when suddenly Boris dropped by. He said softly, “My friend, do you remember my cabin number?”
“Yes”, replied Kevin. “It’s L14-413”
“Drop by after dinner, will you?”, Boris left in a hurry.
“Okay.”, Kevin murmured.
Kevin waited for Joti to come back to her cabin the whole afternoon, but she didn’t. He grew even more restless as the day progressed. He was not sure what he was more frightened of, the growing hate between Humans and the Hums or the growing misunderstanding between Joti and himself. As more time passed by without them talking, he felt that convincing her to drop her hate for the Hums and keep an open mind had become increasingly difficult.
Kevin skipped dinner in all this restlessness. He got off the bed and headed straight to the elevator. He saw Joti getting out of it and tried approaching her but she looked in a hurry as she rushed towards the canteen. He couldn’t believe she was ignoring him on purpose. He made up his mind to talk to her after seeing Boris tonight. With a sad face, he reached level 14 and dragged himself to Boris’ cabin. Boris greeted him with enthusiasm and seemed confident and cheerful as always.
“Hey, how come nobody notices a Hum on this spaceship?”, Kevin asked
“It depends, Kevin, on what you are looking for. For example, if I was looking for genetic footprint then you would be more Hum than I am.”, Boris responded logically.
“Oh, you and your obvious answers.”, Kevin was not in a good mood.
“What is it, my friend?”, asked Boris.
“I am finding it really difficult to convince people that Hums and Humans can live together after all.”, Kevin trusted Boris completely it seemed and Boris seemed like a capable and wise man anyways.
“Whom have you told?”, Boris showed some concern.
“A friend.”, Kevin answered.
“But our instructions were clear, this information cannot be leaked.”, Boris was looking for an explanation.
“She already knew it”, Kevin clarified.
“She might have known about Hums but not about your lineage, my friend. Hums are no longer hidden. You can see us everywhere if you look around this spaceship. But your lineage is still a secret, we cannot risk disclosing that.”, Boris explained.
“I trust her completely.”, Kevin insisted.
“I know, Kevin. But what about the people she trusts? What if she talks?”, Boris asserted.
“Talks to Who?”, Kevin was curious.
Boris realised this was going in a direction which he did not intend for now. He changed the topic promptly, “No one specific. I am just trying to be cautious”. He then went ahead with his planned conversation.
“I, on the other hand, have some good news Kevin. I saw my friends on Peele after a long time and was delighted to see how prepared they were to have you on Peele. We will soon go there when the time is right. Once there, your life would not be in danger anymore.”, Boris said.
“But, why do I have to go there? I want to be here with my friends, help them set up things on Nole.”, Kevin argued.
“I can understand Kevin but you have the opportunity to help them in the most significant way, don’t you see?”, Boris asked.
“How can I help them if I abandon them, Boris?”, Kevin was thinking emotionally, he was convinced he had to stay.
Boris tried calming him down and attempted to explain the situation with an analogy. He said, “Let me tell you a short story, Kevin. Long ago, when humans were still in their early stages of evolution, some tribes had learned the skills to make tools like an axe or a hammer while most others were still working with stones and bones. A man, whom we will call Tim, lived in one of those modern villages. One day, he left his village to travel the world because there was nothing that could keep him rooted at one place. Tim was a skilled man who knew how to make tools. He knew how to use tools to maximize efficiency in the day to day chores of human life. Bored by his monotonous life, he decided to leave his village and look for adventure elsewhere.”, Boris paused to let Kevin understand the context. Kevin looked interested in where this was all going, so Boris continued.
“In his travels, Tim came across a tribe which seemed to be living their life to the fullest. It had fun people, who would gather in the evening and celebrate each night. He watched them from a distance for a couple of nights and then approached them. They appeared friendly to him and he appreciated the energy and spark that these people had. He decided to stay with them for some time and enjoyed their hospitality. One morning, Tim decided that he should contribute to the people whom he has been living with for some time now. He didn’t want to take undue advantage of their hospitality. Tim accompanied some young men to the forest where they would work all day to gather wood for fuel and hunt a few animals for food. He couldn’t help but notice that these men, although strong and dedicated to their jobs, were gathering fallen wood using their hands. He knew that with a tool like an axe, cutting trees and chopping wood becomes very easy and Tim thought of repaying them for their hospitality by introducing them to the tools that he knew about. So he stopped gathering wood as asked earlier and told his friends that he wanted to build them an axe. Obviously, his friends were not nearly convinced that wasting the day-time to create some sort of a toy was a good idea. Tim tried to convince them ab
out the ease and efficiency of using tools but soon realised that his friends thought he was trying to save himself from a day of hard labour. One of his friends told him that although he felt obliged to help them as they had given him food and shelter, Tim was their guest and that if he was not willing to toil in the sun for wood, they would understand. Tim decided to not argue any further and went back to picking wood. He did not want his friends to judge him as a lazy person.”
Boris stopped and looked at Kevin. He asked, “Do you agree Kevin, what Tim did was the right thing for him to do? After all, what he did was in alignment with what his friends expected of him.”
“Absolutely not.”, Kevin objected strongly. “Tim knew better. With the knowledge and skills he had, he could not only have helped them that day but for the rest of their lives. An axe would have made them more efficient everyday. Even when Tim had moved on, his contribution would have made their lives easier.”
“But, what about his friends thinking that Tim was lazy or that he didn’t have the intent to help?”, Boris argued.
“His friends had never seen an axe. They didn’t know what they were saying no to. Tim should have gone ahead and done the right thing especially when he was the only one who was in a position to judge both the outcomes of how he spent his time.”, Kevin replied confidently.
“So, you think Kevin should have made them an axe at the risk of being judged unhelpful?”, Boris wanted to understand what Kevin was trying to say.
“I believe you meant ‘Tim should have made them an axe’, right? You said Kevin should have made...”, Kevin corrected Boris.
“Oh, I must have confused them in my mind. Tim or Kevin, they are the same to me, my friend.”, Boris smiled.
Kevin understood the point of his story now. He paused and went over the story in his mind. He understood that Tim was in fact Kevin, who has something special which no one else does. Tim was naive at best, in the story, to have given in to the judgemental arguments of his friends. In fact, Tim was selfish, thought Kevin, to not have made them an axe just to keep his own dignity and pride intact. Kevin accepted readily what Boris was trying to say and he concluded out loud, “Tim should have made the axe, I agree. He should have done it in spite of being judged unhelpful or lazy. His friends would have ultimately recognized his contribution when they saw what an axe could do. And even if they failed to appreciate it, he should have done it anyways. He owes his best efforts to the people he wants to help. Tim’s capability to contribute at a higher level makes it obligatory on his part.”