RABAN (The Rabanian Book 2)

by Dan Haronian

  Daio started to go down the stairs. "All this is all irrelevant now. You can relax. You are no longer a suspect."

  Naan stared at him puzzled. "I’m not a suspect?"

  "Thesh has spoken to this rebel, Sonny, and things were straightened out. Really you should get back there as soon as possible. We need you there to represent our interests. For some reason Mampas has disconnected itself from us and I'm extremely worried."

  "Wait, wait, wait," said Naan raising his hands as if to ward off something. He didn't know where to start. "When did all this happen?" he finally asked.

  "Soon after you left, after you ran away," said Daio.

  "I didn't run away," Naan hurried to say.

  "Well, you weren't there when things happen."

  "What things? What are you talking about?"

  "I don't know what happened, nor when. All I know is that they have met, Thesh and this rebel, and somehow sorted out their issues."

  "Thesh told you that? Those were his words?"

  His father didn't answer him. He simply walked towards the living room.

  "Maybe that’s just what he wants you to think," said Naan. "Maybe he wants me to go back there so he can arrest me."

  "Thesh doesn't need tricks for that. If he really wanted you he could send over a few of his war hovercrafts and take over our whole planet."

  Naan followed Daio into the living room. His face was pensive. "I need some time to think. This story doesn't make sense. They have tried to kill this stutterer several times and now everything is suddenly fine?! What about Seragon? What is going on with their army?"

  "I don't know. We didn't get into that. After he told me that they were cutting off all communication with us, I didn’t care about all of that."

  "I'm not risking going back there before I understand what's going on," said Naan decisively.

  "Our relationship with Mampas is the best thing that has ever happened to us," said Daio and sighed. "It has been the driving force in everything that has happen here in the last thirty years. Our ties to Thesh have been a big part of that. Now he has decided to sever all ties with us. Do you understand the significance of that? After everything we have done together, they have cut us off. Mampas is our livelihood and our security. You must go back. We have no choice. You have to fix this. Besides, in this time of crisis we need to be there to help them.

  Naan nodded. He understood that Naan's future was ten times more important than his own future. "Have they cut off relations with other planets as well?” he asked.

  "I don't know, and it doesn't matter. What I do know is that someone representing our government needs to be aboard the next shuttle for Mampas."

  Naan sat down. "Everything is happening too fast. Something here doesn't add up. This rebel…he’s a damn scrambler!"

  "Scrambler or not, he is Mampas’ problem. If Thesh decides to make peace with him that is none of our business."

  Naan shook his head. "Peace? He told you he is making peace with him?"

  "That’s what it looks like to me."

  "If everything is fine then why have they broken off their relations with us?" asked Naan.

  "If I knew the answers to your questions we wouldn't need an ambassador there."

  Naan shook his head and Daio continued, "If you refuse to return I will be forced to send someone else in your place."

  "Are you threatening to fire me?"

  "You're my son and you're very talented, but I cannot risk Naan's future."

  Naan's future, thought Naan, what about mine?

  Raban leaned back on the couch his eyes closed. May-Thor sat next to him and put pressure on the wound in his arm. Blood dripped between her fingers and she worried that she was not pressing hard enough. She longed for him to open his eyes so she could ask him some of the countless questions that were running through her head. Two soldiers stood nearby, their weapons trained on him, their manner tense. Essy brought them shirts from Thesh's private bathroom. May-Thor had never worn such a high quality shirt in her life.

  The head of the government campus security suddenly burst into the chamber with his soldiers. Thesh scowled at them. "Nice of you to show up." Thesh scolded. "Where were you when I needed you?"

  As he began to calm down however, he realized it was better this way. If they had come sooner they might have killed the rebel before he’d had the chance to interrogate him.

  Thesh sat at Essy’s terminal and read the updates from Para-Dos, his Chief of General Staff, about the progress of Seragon’s army. He’d ordered his own army not to engage with them and notified Seragon he would like to speak to them. Gu-Dos stood next to him and watched the activity in silence.

  "He needs help," May-Thor pleaded for the second time.

  Thesh looked at her. "Why bother? He doesn't have much more time to live."

  I opened my eyes and raised my head. "I can m-m-make them go away," I said.

  Thesh smiled bitterly. He laid down the neck sensor and walked towards me. "You can help by confessing to Seragon." It was obvious he was struggling to restrain himself.

  "Do you think Se-Se-Se-ragon will accept a simple co-co-confession? You think they'll believe that I created this ch-ch-chaos all by myself? That I p-p-placed the sword you are now holding, on every Desertian neck?"

  Thesh gritted his teeth. "You're a scrambler, and a very good one. They understand what a good scrambler can do."

  "I'm a p-p-poor rebel from the d-d-desert. Desertians don't know how to really scramble. I think Se-Se-Seragon knows that as well."

  He walked one more step towards me.

  "Give me a te-te-terminal. I can make them go away." I said again.

  "A terminal? You want a terminal?" He looked at me in shock and then looked back at Gu-Dos as if trying to confirm what he’d heard.

  "The in-in-information is still in the network. It wo-wo-would make your life a lot easier if it di-di-disappeared."

  "I need to put you in front of a firing squad."

  "If you believe I'm be-be-behind all this then you should be-be-believe I can stop this as well."

  Thesh glanced again at Gu-Dos. It looked like he hoped the rebel leader would help him, but Gu-Dos only shook his head.

  "How do I know you're not planning to continue this madness?" he asked. "Besides, if this information is already in the network you cannot erase it."

  May-Thor looked at me with hope on her face, forgetting about the blood oozing from between her fingers.

  "I'm not going to e-e-erase it. I’m going to s-s-scramble it."

  "Scramble it?" said Gu-Dos from behind Thesh. "How would that help?"

  "I'll create th-th-th-ousands of versions. In a few days even I wo-wo-wouldn't know which one is the real one."

  "Thousands of versions?" wondered Gu-Dos. "That still won’t help if someone has already downloaded it from the network."

  "Itgass said he has a copy in the safe," said Thesh.

  "What he has is useless," I said.

  "It's set up to be s-s-scrambled immediately when you d-d-download it from the ne-ne-network.

  Thesh and Gu-Dos looked at each other. I leaned my head back on the couch again.

  "I don't believe you. I think you're trying to make a fool of me," said Thesh.

  "Lo-Lo-Look at me. Do I look like I have a sense of h-h-humor?"

  "We're wasting time," said May-Thor suddenly. Thesh turned and walked to the center of his chamber. He stood there and rubbed the stubble on his face. I suddenly remembered that my uncle had once been his advisor. Surely he was not the only one. Where were his advisers now? If the rest of were like Naan they had probably vanished when all of the troubles started.

  Thesh seemed to come to a decision and walked back to stand over the couch. "You can use the terminal," he said nodding toward Essy's desk. "Don't do anything suspicious and give me a reason to kill you because I assure you that I won't hesitate."

  "We need to take care of this wound first," said May-Thor still putting pressure
on my arm.

  Thesh nodded to a soldier with a red ribbon on his arm. The man shrugged a small bag from his back and walked over to me. "Let examine the wound," he said.

  May-Thor wrinkled her forehead in concern.

  "It’s okay. You can let go," said the soldier. "You've done a good job."

  She slowly removed her hand as if she thought the blood would start pouring out, but nothing happened. The soldier cleaned away the blood and examined the wound. "It’s not bad, but we should still get you to the hospital."

  "Make sure the bleeding is stopped. That will do for now," Thesh said.

  He cleaned the wound, covered it with some gel, and placed a wide medical plaster over it. He helped me stand and I walked quickly over to the terminal.

  I noticed May-Thor’s eyes moving between the screen and Thesh, who stood nearby. The screen flickered. I assumed she worried if this qualified as doing something suspicious. Thesh didn't react, even though the screen flickered constantly.

  I felt dizzy when I was done. I pulled off the sensor and leaned back.

  "That’s it?" asked Thesh.

  "It's ru-running," I said. He looked stunned.

  "You sure the information is scrambled," he said.

  "There are few do-do-dozen versions now. The re-re-reliability of the information will a-a-approach zero within a few hours."

  He nodded looking lost. He had no choice but to take my word for it. I didn't know how much he really knew about the first attack in the desert. It was possible that he knew that Naan set me up. On the other hand maybe it wasn’t so important anymore.

  "What about Seragon?" he asked.

  "They wo-wo-won't come," I said. I thought of my father. It had only been a few days since he’d left those messages, but it seemed like it had been ages ago.

  "What do you mean? They are already here."

  "I know. I to-to-took care of it."

  May-Thor looked at me with surprise. Thesh simply nodded and walked away. I hadn’t done anything. I didn't know how to stop Seragon but my father did. That was what he’d meant when he told me about the defense system he’d built back when I started to work on my shuttle. I’d laughed at him back then. I thought he was obsessed with nonsense. I felt like laughing at the irony but I restrained myself.

  "No rebel could have scrambling capabilities like yours," said Gu-Dos suddenly. "There is no way you learned this in the desert. Who taught you?"

  "My skills are not nearly as o-o-odd as you knowing that Thesh was about to a-a-attack the desert and y-y-you did nothing. You're an a-a-accomplice to the murder of hu-hu-hundreds of your people and you have no right to q-q-question me."

  "Rebels within the Rebels," Thesh said suddenly. "You brought this on all of us."

  I shook my head. "You s-s-started all this."

  Thesh looked at me. "None of this would have happened if you had followed your leader. Silor did the best he could to prevent harm to innocent people but you kept forcing our hand."

  "Gu-Dos. His name is Gu-Dos," shouted May-Thor. "How could a murderer like you become our leader?"

  I walked towards Thesh. "Se-Se-Seragon’s war shuttle won't come here. It will stop."

  Thesh looked at me gritting his teeth. "You n-n-need to trust me. They won't come," I said confidently.

  "They are already here. They’ve come from halfway across the galaxy. How can you possibly believe that they will not attack?" he said his voice gradually rising.

  "Do not provoke them and they won't approach Mampas."

  Gu-Dos walked over to me. "Who are you?"

  "I'm the one who maneuvered you into this position and I'm the one who will save you all."

  "I need a name. What is your name? You can't be a rebel because I would have known about you."

  "I am a r-r- rebel, just like you."

  Thesh walked over to the terminal. The face of the Chief of General Staff appeared on the screen.

  "Where is this shuttle?"

  "Close to Nome, sir" said Para-Dos.

  "Is there anything odd about its behavior?"

  "Odd, sir?"

  "Not that I can see, sir."

  "Was its flight continuous? Did it stop on the way?"

  "It has stopped in several places during its approach, but that is not unusual."

  "When was the last time?"

  "Just before reaching Nome, sir. But it's moving again."

  Thesh looked at me and nodded. "Keep the line open and avoid contact with them."

  "We are setting our attack line at Finekia perimeter, sir."

  "They wo-wo-won't come," I said. I knew they’d eventually stop but I didn't know where.

  "You say that, but I cannot bet the future of Mampas on a rebel’s words."

  "He's not a rebel," mumbled Gu-Dos.

  Para-Dos appeared on the screen again a while later. "They are approaching the line sir, and we are seeing some activity around the shuttle."

  Thesh smoothed his hair back.

  "Don't p-p-provoke them." I said, "Back away. Gi-Gi-Give them some room. They may fight you but they ca-ca-cannot come here."

  "Why? What did you do that will make them stop?

  "I cannot tell you, but they won't."

  Thesh walked away from the terminal and pushed his hair back again. He walked back and forth like an animal in a cage and then leaned down level with the screen. "Get ready. Don't let them pass."

  "Yes sir."

  "Se-Se-Seragon will lose something very precious to them if they come too close."

  "What are you talking about?"

  "Why are they he-he-here?"

  Thesh gritted his teeth. "Because you stole something from them."

  "Do you really thi-thi-think they are here because so-so-someone stole some molecule?"

  Thesh looked at me, his lips tight together.

  "They couldn't care less about this mo-mo-molecule and even less about the De-De-Desertians."

  "I don't know enough to say," said Thesh.

  "You know enough. It's not what was s-s-stolen and not what it ca-ca-can do. It's where it was s-s-stolen from. They are here be-be-because someone exposed one of their t-t-treasures. A treasure that they have pro-pro-protected for hundreds of years."

  He nodded at me. "So they are here to seal the hole in the dam."

  I looked at him.

  "They want you!"

  The Doctor walked to the shuttle as if it was a regular day. But it wasn't a regular day. The news from Mampas had infused him with a new spirit. The mysterious rebel had piqued his interest. The reports had very low reliability, but they claimed the man was an extremely talented scrambler. It was hard to say what exactly had happened in Mampas, but if even half of them were true they would still be miraculous.

  He met Sosi walking across the empty landing pad. Since he’d been forbidden to study and to teach the Onimin books the man had too much free time. The Doctor had been given a mission by Su-Thor to stay close to him and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid.

  "How are you today," the Doctor asked walking quickly towards Sosi.

  "Perfectly fine," said Sosi. "And you? The hinges are still working well?"

  "Yes, everything is fine," said the Doctor. "I assume you have heard about the events in Mampas."

  "I heard."

  "So, what do you think?"

  "About what?"

  The Doctor stopped but Sosi continued walking.

  "The rebels have some scrambling prodigy," said the Doctor to his departing back. "He sounds like an interesting person. The reliability of the reports is very low but they say that he's very talented."

  "Scramblers," said Sosi dismissively.

  "His name is Sonny. Do you know anything about him?"

  Sosi stopped then turned and gave him a stern look. "Are you asking my if I know a rebel in Mampas named Sonny?"

  "Yes," said the Doctor simply.

  "No, I don't know anyone called Sonny," said Sosi then turned again and continued to walk towards t
he shuttle.

  "He is an amazing scrambler," said the Doctor walking up behind him.

  "You said you heard in some low-reliability reports that he was a talented scrambler, now he is."

  "It's all over the news," continued a doctor.

  "He's a rebel. Ask Su-Thor to tell you what they know about scrambling."

  "The reliability factor is growing rapidly. It worries me that you are ignoring the things that are happening there."

  "I'm sorry to disappoint you but I'm not the man I used to be."

  "It would help if you shared your thoughts a bit more," said the Doctor.

  Sosi was already in the shuttle. He looked at the empty hall and sighed. "I wasted all my thoughts," he said walking towards the stairs. "I've nothing left to offer."

  "Maybe I was wrong," said the Doctor from the bottom of the stairs.

  Sosi turned to look at him. "You think this rebel is the chosen."

  "So you were thinking that too?"

  Sosi continued up the stairs.

  "Admit it, Mampas is a much better place for such a person to evolve. The message would be much more significant coming from there. Besides," he said and stopped for a moment. "It would match with the eighth Book."

  "The place is not important, only the message," said Sosi.

  "Yes, but the message can be magnified by the location. Don't you think?"

  "Maybe," said Sosi impatiently.

  "I'm thinking of flying over to meet him."

  "You want to go meet him?" said Sosi. "Don’t you think this man’s hands are full enough? I doubt he will have time for your fantasies."

  "You'd be surprised," said the Doctor. "I can draw attention when I need to."

  "Yes, you know how to produce a war when you need to," said Sosi and entered the room.

  The Doctor followed him. "Doesn't it bother you that it might be him?"

  "Look at the wall. Do you see his name there?"

  The Doctor looked at the wall. "No. I see yours and without you the Books would not be what they are today. Maybe this was your role in the prophecy. To build the infrastructure for him."

  "I think you see the things the way you want them to be."

  "That is not true. There has never been a rebel in Mampas with such unique capabilities. Not since I set foot on Naan anyway. The Books are written in a very broad way. Maybe it's there but we just haven’t seen it."