RABAN (The Rabanian Book 2)

by Dan Haronian

  I did my best to stay focused. Instead of spending my nights in the big city, which provided numerous ways to pass the time, I spent my free time resting at the hotel near the airport. Sometimes I stayed in the shuttle itself.

  Only once did I go for walk in the city. It was after a week of around-the-clock work. I longed to go home but I was in charge of the whole project and I had to stay close to the shuttle in case of a problem. I remembered my father’s stories of their first days in Naan. I missed the Chosen and my worry-free childhood. I missed the time when my father was my hero and I was not bothered by questions about his actions. With thoughts of those days in my head I went for walk in Naan, a walk through the past.

  This mission was worthy, but it turned out to be impossible, as the city had changed so much. My father had told me about the Market Street with the numerous stands along it. A multi-floored mall now dominated that district and when I stood in front of it the best I could do was to imagine the streets and stands along it. I even wondered if someone with a bit of sensitivity to the history of Naan had arranged the shops in the mall as they’d once be positioned along the street.

  I knew also about the forest and the small hill from which my father had first seen the city. The trees were gone, as were the fields that had surrounded the town. Now it was all new neighborhoods, shopping malls, and industry centers.

  I encountered several Flyeyes during my trip. My father hated them, but they could have made my life easier had I used them. They could have helped to supervise the work both inside and outside the shuttle. They could have even guarded it from strangers. A few hundred constantly patrolling inside the shuttle and a few dozen outside would have made the project go much more quickly. I didn't even need to buy them. There were numerous agencies in Naan that provided such services. I’d avoided this though as I knew this would not have made my father happy. I still cared about his happiness, but I also didn't want to give him an excuse to claim that I’d fallen into the net of Mampas.

  The renovations were completed in a year, and the center of the work shifted to the Chosen. People there were preparing for the first shipment. The shuttle was scheduled for a series of test flights within the Dion system. My dream was finally about to come true.

  "Hi Mom," I said, surprised, as she walked into my office.

  "Hello Raban. How are you?"

  "I am well. Is everything okay?" I said walking towards her.

  She held out her arms to me and I leaned forward so she could kiss my cheek. "Everything is fine. You are not visiting us anymore so I decided to come to you."

  "That's not true," I said. I held her arm and looked at her with relief. "I am in your kitchen at least once a week."

  "Only in the morning, when your father is away."

  "I’m sorry," I said and shook my head. "I’m working around the clock." I walked towards my desk.

  "Yes, I know," she said, looked around and walked forward. "It's been almost a year since this thing started,” she said. “When will the work end?"

  "We are close to finishing,"

  "You've said that too many times."

  "Sorry for the mess," I said trying to arrange my desk.

  "What is that?" she suddenly asked pointing at a drawing that was pushed under my pad.

  I pulled the drawing out. "It's the symbol. Our symbol. It will be printed on the shuttle’s tail." I handed it to her.

  "That's very nice," she said looking at it carefully. "Who designed it?"

  "My people."

  She nodded and laid the drawing on the table.

  "How is father doing?" I asked.

  "He is well," she said and looked at me. "He is proud of what you are doing."

  I chuckled. I knew it wasn’t true. She looked back at the drawing. "I wonder what he'll think about this symbol," she said nodding her head.

  I looked at the drawing. "He doesn't care about the shuttle, much less the symbol on its tail"

  "Why don't you give him a chance?" she said looking at me with hope.

  "Why don't we go get some lunch here at the facility? It's not fancy but the food is very good."

  "I'll be happy to join you, but that doesn't have anything to do with what I have just said."

  "Mother, I don't want to add to my humiliation or to offend him again."

  "So what are you saying? You will not speak to him ever again?"

  I looked at her and took a deep breath.

  "Come for dinner. Whenever you are free." She looked at the drawing and lifted it up. "Bring the drawing with you and ask him what he thinks. It will give you something to talk about."

  "Mother."

  "It's a small thing. If he gives you an answer it will prove to you that he cares. It will prove he has put things behind him, whatever they are."

  Whatever, I thought to myself. She didn't have a clue. She didn't know how wide the chasm between me and my father had become. She didn’t know about the Eighth Book. She didn't know how hard it was for me to see him. I felt sorry for her.

  "Okay," I said feeling I had no other choice. She smiled. "I'll come tonight, if it's okay with you. I am leaving tomorrow for Naan."

  "We can do it when you come back," she said.

  "No, I prefer to do it tonight, of it's okay with you," I said. I didn't want this meeting to keep me thinking all week.

  "That's great," she said and her smile widened. "In that case we'll defer our lunch for another time. I want to prepare a special dinner for you both."

  "Thank you Mom," I said and started to think about this meeting. After not speaking to him for so long I realized he would immediately understand why I had come once I showed him the symbol.

  I went to my parents’ house that night. My father was standing at the dining table when I walked in. He turned and looked at me.

  "Hello father," I said.

  "Hello son," he said.

  Son, he never called me son.

  "How are you?" I asked.

  He shrugged his shoulders silently and waved at the table that was already set for a fancy dinner. I walked towards the table as my mother came down the stairs dressed as if she was going to a party.

  "Where are you going," asked my father surprised.

  "I am not going anywhere," she said and walked to the table. "I simply feel it's right."

  We sat down. She took the plates from in front of us and filled them with the variety of food she’d worked for hours to prepare. I looked at her. She was so happy it made me sad. She hoped this dinner would change something. She caught my eye and smiled. "So, tell us how things are. I understand the modifications are nearly done."

  "Yes, that's true," I said and she kept looking at me as if saying go on.

  "Everything is practically ready. The shuttle is complete. All of the new systems are installed. We are preparing the cargo for the first shipment."

  "So when is the launch?" she asked.

  "The first flight will be a test flight without any shipment. We just need to test that everything is working. Once we're okay we'll go fully operational."

  "And the pressure will drop," she said.

  I looked at her.

  "The pressure on you. You are working like crazy on this thing."

  "Yes, I guess."

  She nodded at me slightly. I pulled the drawing out of my pocket. "This is the symbol we plan to print on the shuttle," I said and gave her the drawing.

  "Very nice," she said and showed it to my father.

  He straightened in his chair and held the drawing in his hand.

  "Very nice," he said and mumbled something in Seragonian I couldn't understand.

  That was the end of talking about my work. Mother talked about things around the house and father nodded from time to time. He said something about a very bright student he was teaching and it became quiet.

  We ate quietly. I felt there was no further progress to be made, so I told them I was leaving for Naan the next day and needed to get a good night’s sleep. They
both nodded and I felt relieved to finally be leaving the house.

  I felt I’d fulfilled my obligations to my mother. It also seemed that my relations with my father had been changed forever. But a few days later my father sent me a sketch he’d made of a symbol he’d designed. The attached note said I could use it if I liked it. The sign was simple, green stripes on a white background. Even though it conveyed the message of the Chosen, I didn’t like it at all. Nevertheless I decided to use it. I knew it would make my mother happy. I also thought that if my father had taken the time and made the effort to think about this symbol, then maybe it was a symbol that he accepted the new reality and this was his way of giving his blessing

  A few days later, while I was at the packaging facility, I received a message from my contact person in Naan that the symbols for the shuttle had arrived. I ask them to wait for me, then without bothering to change out of my working clothes I headed that way.

  All the way to Naan I thought about the shuttle with the signs of the Chosen on it. I felt pride like I’d never felt in my life. Even the fact that in any other place they would've held an impressive ceremony to celebrate the event did little to change my elation. I landed at Naan's airport and walked to the parking lot where my car was. I heard vehicles approaching from behind and stopped to wait for them to pass. I turned and looked as three shiny black cars passed. The vehicle leading the column was tall, with huge wheels. It hummed with transmitted power. The second car was long and fancy, and the last one was similar to the first. I realized there must be some important figure in the middle car. I’d seen such convoys several times during the year I’d spent there. Suddenly the car in the middle stopped. The trailing car barely avoided hitting it. The door opened and a tall, heavily muscled man got out. He walked towards me.

  "Sir, please approach the car," he said in broken Naanite. He had a deep baritone voice.

  "Car?" I asked

  He waved at the long black car and one of its windows slowly descended. I walked towards it hesitantly.

  "Are you lost?"

  I lowered my head a bit and gazed at the smiling face in the window.

  "Naan!" I called out, surprised. My soaring heart fell.

  The door opened and Naan got out, smiling at me. He was dressed in a fancy suit. "I guess you're here for the shuttle," he said.

  "Yes," I said gazing at the two people who’d appeared on either side of him. They were too dressed in suits and were tall and wide. It was obvious they were Mampasian.

  "So how is it going? I understand there were some delays but now it's finally ready?"

  "You are well-informed," I said surprised. He didn't say anything more so I continued. "We changed a few things from the original plan so we could increase the cargo volume. It led to a few problems but we have it worked out now," I said. My voice became hesitant as I suddenly felt I was giving him too many unimportant details.

  "Yes, that's very good," he said. "It sounds like you are becoming quite the businessman," he said smiling.

  I smiled, embarrassed.

  "Why don’t you come to lunch? It's been a while since you last visited us."

  "Ahh, no thank you they are waiting for me," I said. "We are about to attach the symbols to the shuttle." I felt ridiculous again for the details. Who cared about my symbols?

  "Yes, that sounds very important," he said and I thought I heard contempt in his tone. "It's only lunch," he urged.

  "I just came in from the fields. It wouldn’t be appropriate." I said looking at my clothes.

  "That's nonsense," he said waving his hand dismissively. "Those are only working clothes, just like my suit."

  My clothes didn't bother me. I wanted to savor the moment of the signs being attached on the shuttle. The last thing I wanted was to sit down with Naan for lunch. Then I remembered his special teachers, the one who’d taught appropriate diplomacy, and I didn’t want to be seen as impolite.

  "Can we do it in two hours?" I asked.

  He smiled. "Two hours will be perfect. I think Daio will be in as well."

  I smiled back and nodded it was odd he’d used his father’s name. I wondered what his diplomacy teachers would have to say about his last sentence. Even as bad as my relations with my father were I didn’t call him Sosi.

  He got back into the car. "You remember where the house is?" he asked through the window. "Do you want me to send someone to bring you over?"

  "Ahh, no it's fine. I know the way," I said and waved.

  The convoy drove away and I stood there thinking about this odd meeting. Something seemed to have happened to Naan. He’d sounded a bit odd, yet I felt as if the venom and nastiness that had infected his words in the past had faded out almost completely.

  Three hours later I walked to the main entrance of the house. The last time I’d visited this place was about fifteen years before. I’d come with my family directly from the Chosen for Daio's party. The memory of what had taken place in Daio's study rose to the front of my mind. It seemed that Naan had changed since then. People can be nasty and mean when they are young, and then through some personal event, their perception changes all at once. Their negative energies are suddenly channeled in positive directions. I really hoped this was what had happened to Naan.

  I hadn’t wanted to show up in my filthy work clothes so, after visiting the shuttle and postponing the "ceremony" with the symbols, I’d stopped at one of the stores in the airport to buy a shirt, pants, and shoes. They wouldn’t compete with Naan's suits, but at least they were clean. When the servant opened the door for me and led me into the living room I realized my new clothes didn't even compete with his attire. Daio sat in one of the comfortable armchairs holding a tall glass. He looked at me and smiled."Raban!" he called, "For a moment I thought you were Sosi." He laughed. "You are becoming more and more like him."

  I smiled, embarrassed. "I'm sorry for being late," I said.

  "Come in," he said and waved to the sofa in front of him. "How are you?"

  "I’m fine, thank you," I said and sat down.

  A noise came from behind. Someone was coming down the stairs but the steps sounded odd. Ogrit, my aunt, suddenly appeared at the entrance to the living room. I stood up.

  "Raban," she said and walked to me.

  "Aunt Ogrit," I said. I hadn't spoken to her since I was a kid.

  "So good to see you, my dear," she said. She pulled me down and kissed me on my cheek.

  I felt embarrassed. "Good to see you too Aunt Ogrit," I said.

  She held my hand, smiled and looked at Daio. "He is so polite," she said and looked at me again. "How are your parents doing?" she asked.

  "They are well," I said. "Thank you for asking."

  She shook her head and let my hand go. Her smile disappeared as she walked towards Daio. I looked at him and he smiled at me.

  "She is sad because she misses you," he said.

  My heart started to race. I knew he wasn’t serious.

  "I miss Su-Thor, I miss Sosi," she said as she sat on the couch next to Daio. "I miss the times when we were one family," she continued and looked at me. Her short legs rose as she sat, and reminded me of the Doctor.

  "Maybe we are on a verge of a change," said Daio and patted her palm. He looked at me. "Maybe the new generation will bridge the old gap."

  "I heard that the shuttle is ready," she said looking at me with hope.

  "Yes, finally," I said as I sat in front of them. I shook my head. "I didn't realize it would take so long."

  "A shuttle from the City of the Chosen," said Daio with satisfaction. "Finally the universe is at your doorstep, but don't tell your father I said that. He wouldn't like it," he said and giggled.

  I smiled at him. I didn't like it either.

  "Naan said you made some changes to the shuttle," he continued.

  "Yes, that's correct. We utilized the space in a more efficient way and added a few quality control systems."

  "Ahh yes, quality control," he said solemnly and nodded.
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  Sounds came from the stairs again and shortly after Heneg and Naan entered the living room.

  "Hello Raban," said Heneg. "I hope you remember me," he said and walked over to me.

  "Yes, of course,” I said and stood up to shake his hand.

  "The shuttle is ready," said Daio. "Its quality control systems are better than before," he said with an air of importance.

  "It will take some time before we are ready to begin operations, but the most difficult part is behind us now," I promptly added.

  Heneg smiled. "We are all involved in quality assurance," he suddenly said and everyone looked at him in surprise.

  "I mean our jobs too are like that. I'm involved in security and Naan…" He gazed at Naan and hesitated for a second. "Well, Naan is Ambassador to Mampas. His work relates to quality assurance as well, the quality assurance of our relations with Mampas."

  Daio cleared his throat and smiled at me. I guess he too was wondering what was on Heneg's mind. Naan sat down next to me.

  "At least Mampas is very close by. I guess that makes your work fairly easy," I said.

  Naan nodded. "Yes, it's close by but still Naan is here and Mampas is there and sometimes things happens, here or there, that requires coordination. Take for example your shuttle. It wasn’t easy to convince them your project would pay off eventually. Especially since I myself am not fully convinced."

  "It has already paid off," said Daio. "Besides, as you correctly explained to Thesh, it's a long-term investment. Eventually we will all enjoy the development going on in the City of the Chosen."

  A servant in a white suit walked into the living room and invited us to the table. Daio put his glass on a side table and stood up. He took Ogrit’s hand and helped her rise. She linked her arm with mine and walked with me to the dining room. I felt strange. At least my clothes were clean. We crossed the foyer and entered a big hall with a high ceiling. A long table was there but only one side of it was set for lunch. She motioned to a chair near the head of the table and smiled. I sat down. She then gazed at the servant and nodded and he rushed to replace the chair to my left with a taller one. She climbed up onto it and sat down. I felt very impolite. I should have waited until she was seated, but the whole thing was out of my control.