RABAN (The Rabanian Book 2)

by Dan Haronian

  I hooked up the sensor and a few seconds later I surfed my way to the door. It wasn't there. I changed my position on the chair and tried again but the door still wouldn't open.

  "In the name of all plagues," I mumbled myself and removed the sensor. "This is a nightmare," I said and stood up.

  I paced the room for several minutes thinking about Seragon. I sat back down and surfed all the way to Shor. I twisted my neck as I surfed backward and the door blinked. I repeated the movement several times just to make sure I was doing it right. I surfed back to Naan and tried to find the door three more times. I failed every time. I stood up and helplessly walked to the window. The daylight dazzled my eyes, so I immediately turned to face in the direction of the room.

  Another layer of questions began to bother me now. I thought my head was going to explode. Had my father discovered me? Had I failed to clean up my trails well enough? Perhaps he’d found them and removed the door. Or maybe the whole thing was just a network anomaly. Perhaps it was a discontinuity in the network that would disappear in time.

  I wanted to believe I was developing an obsession and everything I’d been doing over the last few days was based on some silly idea that had settled into the center of my brain and wouldn’t let go. I wanted to believe that somehow I’d turned an innocent dream about an eighth Book into a ridiculous thought that some anomaly had attacked the Shuttle. But I couldn’t. The hidden door was there, in the network terminal in the Shuttle. I didn't dream it. I felt like I was climbing a tall steel tower, when the structure suddenly turned into toothpicks, and everything was threatening to collapse and send me into the abyss.

  That night I went back to the Shuttle. I sat at a terminal and surfed through the seventh book. A few people were still there but I knew that eventually the halls would empty. But after my sleepless night I was exhausted. At some point I fell asleep.

  "It's only me," said my father when I lifted my head in a panic at the light touch on my shoulder.

  "Dad," I said surprised.

  "You shouldn’t be here if you are that tired," he said gazing at the screen. "Especially if you are studying the seventh book."

  “It's cumulative fatigue," I mumbled.

  He nodded at the screen. "I see you're not giving up."

  My face fell.

  "It becomes quite complicated when you get into the high order. Sometimes it looks like something completely different is hidden in the text."

  "Something different," I mumbled again.

  He nodded. "In any case it's not something you can learn when you are half asleep."

  "Yes, I guess so," I said and he walked away. A few seconds later I heard his steps on the metal stairs leading up to the room.

  I went back to studying, but after half an hour I was too exhausted to wait for him to leave. I drove home, fell onto my bed, and slept till morning.

  The next day dragged by slowly. When I was finished with my work I went home and went to sleep. A few hours before dawn the clock woke me up, and an hour later I was already parking my car in the lot outside the Shuttle. I opened the door to find the Shuttle empty so I climbed the stairs and opened the door.

  Surfing my way to the location of the door in the network went smoothly. I looked around me to make sure there was no nearby activity in the network, and then opened the door. "It's a damn anomaly," I mumbled myself. "The network got screwed up, and it had to happen in this terminal just to punish me," I continued angrily. But I still wasn't sure.

  My curiosity pushed away my anger; I opened the door again and went inside. The screen went dark but instead of moving forward I moved to the left. The screen changed color a bit but then darkened. I continued moving to the left and the screen steadily brightened until I found myself outside the door. I tried again, but this time after the screen went black I turned to the right. The result was the same and I again found myself outside. The third time, when the screen went black, I surfed backwards. The screen brightened in the same way but just before I thought I would end up outside again a few addresses appeared before me. I panicked. My heart started to race: History, Thoughts, Others, hung on the screen drifting up and down as if they were floating. “This is no anomaly,” I mumbled. I entered Others. The screen cleared, and a few new lines appeared. One of them was Book. A mix feeling of excitement, alertness, and anger filled me. Had my twisted thoughts come true?

  I entered the path marked Book and Naanite writings like those in the Books appeared on the screen. I started to read. At first I was near panic. I ran forward and backward trying to taste everything that was there like a starving man at a feast. I swallowed the words and the sentences whole. After an hour I went back to the beginning and started again. This time I read the book slowly. I pushed away the thoughts that kept screaming for my attention.

  The messages in order two and three were easy to understand. The conclusion was sharp and clear like the pain from the keen edge of a knife held across my throat. In order three, I learned about the chosen rising from among the Naanites. It was clear that neither the Naanites nor the Mampas would love him, and yet he would become the ruler of Mampas. There was no indication as to when this thing was going to happen, but it was clear to me who this leader was. The mixture of my feelings changed. My excitement was being steadily overpowered by anger. I forced myself to calm down so I could continue.

  I was still there when the light from the lenses began to illuminate the wall in front of me. My muscles were aching when I stood up. I ignored them. I didn't even try to stretch myself. I walked to the door and suddenly felt everything around me begin to spin. I reached forward and held on to the doorframe for support. I heard footsteps from below and I forced myself down the stairs. I stumbled near the bottom of the stairs but recovered at the last minute. People arriving by the hovercraft stopped and stared at me. I gazed back at them.

  "It's him,” I said. They said something in reply but I couldn't understand what they were saying. "It's him," I said again and walked outside. The light blinded me. Out of habit I walked to the parking lot, but I felt so blinded that all I wanted was to shut my eyes. I didn't stop and continued walking straight into the forest beyond the parking lot.

  I didn't go far, I was too tired. After a few moments I felt too dizzy to stand and lay down beneath one of the trees and closed my eyes.

  "The book exists," I mumbled. "Father is the chosen. He hid the book. Hid it in the network.”

  I wanted to laugh about this last detail. It was so typical of him and so untypical at the same time; he preached that we should keep the Books away from the network then did the exact opposite. He’d been lying to us the whole time.

  My mind demanded better answers to the questions my discovery had raised. The only ones I had I didn't like. They branded my father a liar and meant that our entire way of life at the Chosen was based on lies. I pushed these questions away and fell asleep curled against a tree.

  When I next opened my eyes I felt the breeze on my face. Dion was about to set. I lifted my head and shook out my right hand. It was all painful pins and needles from sleeping on it. My thoughts gradually cleared. I stood up and started walking. I stopped twice to contemplate the situation. When I reached the parking lot it was empty except for my car and my father's.

  I crossed the lot and walked into the Shuttle. It was empty too. The door of the upper room was open. I took a deep breath and went up the stairs. My father was in front of the network terminal. When he heard my steps he turned in his chair. We looked at each other for a few seconds. I was the first to lower my gaze.

  "I'm sorry," I said. I really was sorry, but not for the things I'd done.

  He sighed then smiled and started to laugh. I was surprised. I didn’t understand what he was laughing about. He picked up his comlink and called Musan. "He's here," he said in a calm voice. "He looks fine," he said looking at me. He listened for a few seconds then nodded and said, "Fine, just tell Su-Thor that he is here and that everything is fine."


  He broke the connection and looked at me again quietly for a few seconds. "Raban the great and ambitious," he said.

  I ground my teeth.

  "Your intoxication for greatness led you to do the worst thing of all."

  "My intoxication for greatness and your intoxication for smallness," I replied.

  "My intoxication for smallness?"

  "You're hiding the Eighth Book because you want to live your small comfortable life. How can you live with such a lie?"

  "I live well with it."

  "But you are hiding the fact that you are the chosen?"

  He shook his head. "Is that what you saw?" he said surprised.

  "That is what is there," I said. "I'm sorry for your secret to come out this way, but I haven’t scrambled anything. I didn't take anything that wasn't mine."

  "You broke into the network. You broke into a private place you know you should not have entered," he promptly replied.

  "I still didn't take anything that wasn't mine. “That is your only answer?"

  "You hid a whole Book from us. What gives you the right? The Book belongs to everyone. How could you steal it from us?"

  "I have all the right!" he said.

  "What about our rights?"

  "It's too early for this Book to be revealed."

  "Too early? What kind of an answer is that? Who says so?"

  He looked at me angrily. He was having a hard time accepting my words.

  "You don't want to take responsibility for Naan."

  "Seven will see all one will see eight," he said.

  But I didn't listen. " You are distorting the truth?"

  He stood up and walked away from me.

  "You are the chosen, I always knew that," I called out to him.

  "I'm not the chosen. Daio is the chosen."

  "That’s not what the Book says," I said.

  He shook his head. "So you read the Book for a few hours and you think you understand what it says?"

  "What is there to understand? All of your students know how to read in order two or three. That’s not such a big deal anymore."

  He shook his head again and looked at me helplessly.

  "To Naan came three brothers of a mother, one of them is the line of the chosen," I said. "Any of your student would have learned this from the first chapter of the Book. Three brothers arrived and one of them is the chosen. And it's you. Not Daio, not Dug, it's you. Otherwise you wouldn't have hidden the book."

  He didn't answer and I thought he was simply speechless. I was encouraged by that feeling and continued, "Maybe I don't understand everything, but if the Book doesn't say that this chosen leader will help them escape their destiny, then I don't understand what you're doing here."

  "It's all decoration," he said.

  "Decoration?!" I returned. I wasn't sure I heard right. I walked towards him. "Decoration for what?"

  "I cannot talk to you about this now," he said and lowered his head.

  It was clear to me he was surprised. My whole life he’d lorded over every discussion he had. Whether it was with his students or me. Something in his sharpness cracked when he spoke to me now.

  "Of course you don't want to talk about this," I said.

  "I won’t, but-"

  He fell silent and lowered his head again. I thought about the things I’d said and I knew I’d hurt him. I hadn’t meant to but I’d been holding all of this in my heart for quite some time. Our lives would have been so different if he had fulfilled his destiny and become the leader of Naan. But then I looked at his skinny body. He’d risked his life twice for the Naanites and he never asked for nor received any compensation. He hadn’t even gotten any recognition. All he asked was to be left alone. Maybe he’d run out of power. Maybe his soul was exhausted from all he’d been through since he was born. I knew the painful situation he was born into, and in what circumstances he grew up. Now his son was standing here demanding that he fulfill his destiny. Maybe he wanted to, but simply could not.

  I started to cry. Not for him, but for me. He'd exhausted himself and now I was demanding more. I was saddened by how heartless I had been. I was right, but it was a selfish right.

  He walked over to me. "Things are not as simple as you think. There's a good reason I hid the Book. I should've destroyed it, erased its existence entirely."

  "How can you say such a thing? This Book is the peak of everything. How can you think such heretical thoughts?"

  He held my arms strongly and shook me. "Listen and listen well. I cannot tell you more than you already know, but if you really believe I'm the chosen then you have to accept my leadership."

  I nodded. I didn’t know what I was agreeing to, but I felt remorse for everything I’d done. What had I gained? I knew the truth, but it was a painful and meaningless one.

  "No one else can know about this Book."

  "I won’t tell anyone, but explain to me why? Why does this Book frighten you so much? It tells the truth. It says that you are chosen. Why are you so afraid of this? Are you afraid of Daio? We would help you, all of us."

  "Everything will happen in time, but not now. It's too early," he said.

  "Too early?"

  He nodded.

  "How is it too early? You are not getting younger. If you don't have the strength for this now when will you have it?"

  "I have more strength than you think. I look to you like a leaf blown in the wind, but we are not talking about physical strength. Let's postpone this discussion for a while. I promise you things will be clearer."

  We stood silent. I knew it wasn't about physical strength even though the way he looked didn't correlate well with an image of a leader. Soon I calmed down and he laid his hand on my arm. He guided me to one of the chairs and sat down next to me.

  "Where is everyone?" I asked.

  "Looking for you."

  I opened my eyes wide. "Looking for me?"

  "And it's not the first time."

  I gazed at him and he smiled. But his smile quickly disappeared. "I was afraid-," he said and paused.

  "You thought I was going to do something crazy," I said.

  "Sometimes knowledge can be dangerous."

  We were silent again for a time. “What did you think I was going to do? Kill Daio?”

  He shook his head. "How in the name of all plagues did you discover the Book?"

  I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know, it just happened."

  "It can't just happen."

  "How did you do it?" I returned. "The door exists only in the Shuttle. How can the network allow such a reality?"

  "It's complicated."

  I didn't think otherwise. "What about the people in Seragon?"

  He gave me a quick look. "What about them?"

  "If this is possible why didn't they do exactly the same thing to protect Shor? They know already that someone broke into Shor at least twice."

  "I guess they don't know how," he said quietly.

  "So how did you do it?"

  He looked at me silently.

  "After all I've done, that is the most detailed answer I get from you!" I said.

  "Do you really want to know?"

  I didn't answer.

  "You need to erase this day from your head," he said decisively.

  I nodded, but I knew I would never forget.

  He stood up. "I'm going home," he said and walked to the door. "And you better call your mother. She is very worried."

  "Does she know about the book?"

  He shook his head. "No one knows and that’s how it's going to stay."

  "You talk to her then. You are good at hiding things. I cannot deal with her questions now."

  I never spoke to my father about that day again and he never offered to discuss it. I assumed he wasn't interested and had nothing to add. I was cut off from the Books. I never went back to the Shuttle. I completely immersed myself in my shuttle project and filled every free minute of my life with work.

  We bought a shuttle from Finekia,
a planet at the far edge of the Dion system. The surface of Finekia was constantly frozen and the people there lived under the ground. The surface of the planet had minerals in abundance, more than any other planet in the Dion system, and its inhabitants supported themselves by harvesting them. Several huge domes covered a significant part of the planet. These domes housed the production centers of Finekia where they manufactured metals and eventually turned them into spacecraft. In time they also began to use their shuttles for intergalactic commerce. These commerce shuttles were considered to be the best made on this side of the galaxy. This fact made our decision easy, but there was still the problem of adapting the shuttle to our special needs.

  My life was divided between Naan and the Chosen. In Naan I supervised the people working on the shuttle renovation. In the Chosen I was in charge of building the special freezing systems, developing our marketing plan, and conducting experiments in advanced cryogenic cooling. I did my best not to leave any minute free, but under the circumstances it wasn't really hard. I didn't have time for visits to my parents’ house. In this way I always had an answer ready when I was asked about the last time I’d visited the Shuttle to study the Books. My father and his Onimin Books had lost their charm for me and I wanted it that way.

  Still from time to time I found myself wondering how the future would've looked if my father somehow became the leader of Naan. Would things have been different beyond the simple fact we would have been masters of our destiny? How would this independence have changed our lives?

  As I’d promised my father I left a small group of people in Naan who I was in close contact with. I didn’t want them to have any nonprofessional connections with their colleagues in Naan, and made sure they didn’t hang around in the streets. I made it clear that anyone who disobeyed my rules would be sent immediately back home. I shouldn’t have bothered. I never needed to use this threat even once. When the freezing systems were installed in the shuttle, the engineers traveled to Naan on daily basis and returned home at the end of each working day. The rest of the infrastructure work, including renovation of the engines and the navigation systems, I left in Naanite hands.