RABAN (The Rabanian Book 2)

by Dan Haronian

  "What would the o-o-other have to gain f-f-from this?"

  Naan shook his head.

  "You sh-sh-sh-ould never un-un-underestimate your enemies."

  "So you think it was him?"

  "I’m sure he is very ha-ha-happy with what's ha-ha-happening to you now."

  "You think he is trying to cast the blame on me?"

  "He hates you, he hates Ma-Ma-Mampas, and his son died trying to fight b-b-both of you. If it wasn’t you I can’t thi-thi-think of anyone more suitable."

  "That's madness," said Naan, but he was thinking of something else entirely. Sosi was too old for such things, he thought, but maybe he somehow discovered the truth about Raban death and this was his revenge.

  "Ma-Ma-Madness?

  "I don't know sir. It seems like a crazy speculation."

  "Crazy but possible," said Raban. "All of the t-t-troubles started in Na-Na-Naan. I think you ne-ne-need to take care of this i-i-immediately. Your p-p-priorities need to change. You h-h-have invested a lot of time and e-e-energy in building your foreign re-re-relations and have made very little e-e-effort in your internal re-re-relations. If your p-p-priorities were the o-o-opposite perhaps we would not be sitting here today."

  "I guess you're right," said Naan embarrassed. "You know we have already started to work on this."

  "Too late in my o-o-opinion. This story with Ra-Ra-Raban and now maybe with his f-f-father as well… it bo-bo-bothers me a lot."

  "They were always troublemakers, but I assure you we'll never again have to deal with a similar threat from their city. I'll make sure their little village disappears."

  "Their vi-vi-village has no-non-nothing to do with it. You don't need a vi-vi-village to s-s-scramble information and m-m-making it disappear won't solve the p-p-problem. You only need one rogue ma-ma-madman to bring Se-Se-Seragon over."

  "You are right sir. The truth is that I tried to eradicate this disease from Naan a long time ago, but the state of our internal politics was not right. Now though things have changed and I would be happy to collaborate with you on this."

  "We agree only in th-th-that I'm not wi-wi-willing to wait years to see ch-ch-changes. That Se-Se-Seragonian shuttle is still in the area and I u-u-understand that a-a-another one is on its way over. In addition the relations between the De-De-Desertians and Mampas are fragile. I c-c-cannot take the risk that so-so-someone will use this magic of s-s-scrambling a-a-a-against us."

  "Sir, I promise you I will make every effort possible," said Naan with excitement.

  "I'm afraid that wo-wo-won't be enough. We ne-ne-need to get to the bo-bo-bottom of this now."

  "I'll do anything you want," said Naan hoping this rebel was not planning on sending his army to Naan to solve the problems in his own way. His father would never forgive him for something like that.

  "Great. Let's start with So-So-Sosi. I want to me-me-meet him."

  "Meet him?"

  "Yes."

  "I can connect you directly to him."

  "In person."

  "It won't be easy to bring the old man over. He cares for nothing but his Books, and if he is the one responsible for all of this he would have very good reason not to come."

  "Bo-Bo-Books?"

  "Yes, his damn Books. The Onimin Books. That is what they call them. That is where all the trouble started. The first thing I did was to ban their study. It was warping their thinking."

  "Sometimes p-p-people get so caught up in no-no-nonsense like that it is almost i-i-impossible to shake them out of it."

  Naan felt his heartbeat slow. Except for the ridiculous chair he was perched on he was beginning to feel comfortable with this rebel.

  "Send him o-o-over," said Raban. "I want to s-s-speak to him. I want to know who he is and how d-d-dangerous these Books are."

  "He'll resist, but I can force him."

  "Excellent, but I don’t want him h-h-harmed. We have our own ways of f-f-finding out the truth, if you know what I mean."

  "Of course," said Naan although he had no idea.

  Raban's bandaged face suddenly froze. Naan felt that something strange had happened to him. It was as if someone turned him off.

  "Sir?"

  Raban didn't respond.

  "Sir?" called Naan louder.

  "Yes, yes, what?"

  Raban's head moved left and right as if he was looking for something.

  "Sir!"

  Raban looked straight ahead. "Yes, I-I-I'm here. I'm here."

  "I have one small request if it's possible."

  "Yes, w-w-what is it?"

  "Can you help us with restoring trade with us? People on my planet are hard pressed. There are many people here as well who earn a living from trading with Naan."

  "Trade?"

  "Yes. All trading with Naan is done exclusively through Mampas. Everything there now is stopped and the damages are enormous."

  "Yes, I can i-i-imagine. I’ll co-co-consider it after I speak to So-So-Sosi. I am able to get a sense for people very f-f-fast. If he is not be-be-behind this mess, and if I feel as co-co-comfortable with him as I feel with you, I'm sure we can find a q-q-quick solution."

  Raban's face froze again and Naan felt it was a good time to leave. "I'll get started immediately," he said and started to climb down from the tall chair. He felt pain in his back but he fought the urge to stretch in front of the man. "I hope you feel better," he said, but he was not sure the man even heard. He turned and moved towards the door.

  "O-o-o,"

  He immediately turned. "Sir?"

  "O-o-one more thing."

  "Yes sir."

  "B-B-Bring the Books."

  "The Books?"

  "I want to see them."

  "Sir, they are a jumbled mass of illogical sentences."

  "You are p-p-probably right, but they may have c-c-caused us a lot of trouble. I want to see wh-wh-what it's all about."

  "Yes sir," said Naan and silently hoped this sanctimonious rebel would do some of the dirty work for him. It would certainly make destroying the City of the Chosen easier if he destroyed or scrambled them.

  "I'll see to it," said Naan, bowing his head a bit and starting to walk out.

  "A-a-a."

  He turned again and looked at the frozen and white features of Raban peeking through the bandages.

  "A-A-All of them."

  "All of them?" said Naan surprised.

  "All of the B-B-Books."

  "Yes, of course. All of them." He remained standing there, unsure if the man had finally frozen permanently. After a few seconds of silence he stepped back quietly. When he left the room he turned and walked quickly out of the office.

  Countless thoughts ran through his mind. Most of them related not to the conversation but the man himself. With his bandages, his stuttering, his odd frozen moments near the end of the meeting he seemed more like a damaged electrical device than a human being. He sighed. The inevitable conclusion was that this man was not an electrical device but a very dangerous man. These shorts were signs of an insanity threatening to take over his mind. Naan wasn’t sure how significant the episodes were but they scared him. They made him wonder how stable the man was and if he was prone to suddenly changing his mind. This only made him walk faster. He needed to bring Sosi and the cursed books to Mampas before this rebel completely lost his mind.

  Despite his disappointment in his son, Daio knew that Naan could be very efficient during hard times. He hoped his lapse of loyalty towards Thesh was a one-time slip. He knew it could sometimes happen even to a young man as talented as his son. Everyone knew how quick thinking he was. Even at a young age he wanted to win every game his strategy teachers introduced him to. Even experts had a hard time facing him and no one had any doubt that he would grow up to be an important asset to Naan, especially in negotiations with foreign powers.

  All of this was on Daio’s mind when he considered the words Naan had used to describe Sonny. This rebel is a riddle, he’d said and described the meeting as if it
were a legendary story. The corridor and the room were dark, as if I were entering a cave. Despite his stuttering the man is filled with confidence, but sometimes he just stops as if he has run out of electricity.

  Naan also knew how skilled a negotiator he was, but he knew his skills were only relevant in discussions with rational people that he could lure into his traps. Negotiating with Sonny on the other hand felt as if he was sitting on a powder keg while negotiating with an imbalanced man holding a torch.

  This image was in Naan’s mind when he arrived at his father’s house early in the morning a few days later.

  "I understand your meeting with this rebel wasn't so simple," said Daio.

  "The man is dangerous. He won't wait long before taking action."

  "What do you mean?" asked Daio. He was standing in the kitchen making a cup of the rich caffeine drink Su-Thor had introduced him to when in the chosen.

  "I don't know. His mind is… I don't know. I’m not sure we can trust him."

  "So what do we do?"

  "Give him whatever he wants and keep away from him."

  Daio sipped from his cup.

  "But I do know how we can please him," said Naan and looked at him.

  "Why, what does he want?

  "Sosi and his Books."

  Daio set his cup down and shook his head. "Sosi? What does Sosi have to do with this?"

  "He is afraid of him."

  "And the Books?"

  "Them too," said Naan shaking his head. "I don't even remember how the Books came up. He said he believes that everything that happened was because of Naan, because of our scramblers. I guess maybe that is why he wants to meet Sosi. He wants to make sure he is not involved."

  "And what is he going to do with the Books?"

  Naan shrugged his shoulders.

  Daio picked up his cup and walked over to the kitchen table then sat down. "Sosi will never leave Naan. He will die first. And his Books? As far as I know they have never left his Shuttle."

  "So we have to find a way to convince him," said Naan. "It was his son who started the whole thing. The least he can do is help us get through this. Besides it's not as if he has nothing to lose."

  "How exactly are we going to do it? After all we've put them through? I went to visit them already. I wanted Su-Thor to speak with the rebels."

  "When was this?"

  "Just after you left for Mampas. Nothing came of the meeting though, nothing except my feeling I wasn't wanted there."

  "So we'll need to be a bit more convincing."

  Daio stared at him. "What exactly do you mean?"

  "Exactly that."

  "You are not planning to threaten him, I hope."

  "Of course not. I don't even know how to do it. All I'm saying is that we need to make it worthwhile for him somehow."

  "Maybe we can promise him that we'll leave the chosen alone."

  "You cannot promise him something like that. We don't know what the outcome of the meeting will be. Imagine if it fails? We have to be very careful with our words. How would you explain our withdrawal from the City of the Chosen to this lunatic."

  "If their meeting fails maybe it won't matter. We'll be condemned alongside the City of the Chosen."

  "Why don't you go and talk to him again. We can decide based on his response."

  Daio found himself aboard a hovercraft soon after. He’d spoken to the Doctor, but the Doctor had told him that his relations with Sosi were strained and that it would be better if he had another meeting with Sosi. Different scenarios of the meeting ran through his head. He could not imagine any scenario where Sosi would accept his request. His brother would care little that this visit to Mampas was just as critical as his journey there thirty years before. Back then he’d wanted to prove himself, and had nothing to lose. Now he didn’t want to prove anything, and he still had a lot to lose despite the losses he’d already sustained.

  Daio knew Sosi had no choice, and that eventually he would need to go to Mampas. He had forbidden Naan to use force but he wasn't sure anything less would be effective. That alone could set off another firestorm in Naan. This rebel was another wildcard. He might come over with his new army and wipe out everyone on the planet. Such a reaction was common for people in a state of panic or on the verge of madness.

  "I am starting to think you come here for the food," said Sosi when he met him at the landing pad.

  "The food here is amazing. I wish I could say the same about our situation."

  "So I guess you have heard from Naan."

  Daio nodded. "He came back yesterday."

  “And?” Sosi looked at him expectantly.

  "This rebel is crazy," said Daio.

  "I gather it didn't go well."

  "He has all sorts of requests that I hope we'll be able to fulfill."

  "We all do," said Sosi and walked forward. "Come, I have a surprise for you," he said walking towards a small car is parked some distance from the landing pad.

  "Thank you for the consideration," said Daio when they stopped beside the car.

  Sosi opened the front door and Daio sat down. He immediately felt that he was not alone. He turned around to see a smiling face.

  "Doctor!" he called. "What a surprise."

  "Hello Daio, how are you?" said the Doctor in a calm voice.

  "I am fine, considering the circumstances." He remembered the short discussion they’d recently had. Sosi didn't know about it of course. "I forgot to ask about you the last time I was here," he said in apologetic tone. "I remembered when I was already on the way home."

  "You were concerned about other things but now you can ask for yourself," said the Doctor.

  "So how's life at the chosen? Can you compare it to your years in Naan?" asked Daio as Sosi slid into the driver seat.

  "In other circumstances I would've told you life here is great, almost like life in Naan."

  "Excellent answer," said Daio. Then the little smile on his face died. "We miss you a lot."

  "I'm sure the young and talented people replacing me are doing a great job. I'm already tired."

  "We are all tired, and these young kids sometimes have too much energy," said Daio, and the Doctor smiled.

  The car stopped next to the house and the three went up the stairs and sat down on the front porch.

  "Hello Su-Thor," he said standing up as Su-Thor came out of the house.

  "Daio," she said with a faint smile. "Nice to see you again."

  "Thank you. I am very happy to be here," he said then sat down.

  "So this rebel is crazy," said Sosi.

  "Yes, that is what Naan says. I hope he's exaggerating," said Daio. "Maybe it is an act. Or maybe he is just in a panic. Perhaps everything is happening too fast and he doesn't know how to handle things."

  "Like an animal that has taken down something too large for it to eat all at once," said Sosi. "It doesn't know how to guard its kill from other predators."

  "Yes, this is a very good description," said Daio. "It looks like he's very afraid of us. Naan says he suspects that we are responsible for all the scrambling that went on during the conflict."

  "He suspects the chosen or Naan?" Asked the Doctor.

  "I don't think he's making that distinction."

  "So he thinks we're after his prey," said Sosi.

  "Only the prey is really his," said Su-Thor. "The Desertians are the real Mampasians."

  "He is afraid of information scrambling," said Daio. "He knows about the City of the Chosen and about the information scrambling thirty years ago. Somehow he has associated this with Naan. He's a rebel though, so it doesn't surprise me that he knows. His knowledge of this information together with the facts that Seragon is still around and that the peace Mampas signed with the Desertian is still fragile creates a very sensitive situation for him."

  "And you think he is crazy?" said the Doctor.

  "Crazy or not he thinks we started all of the chaos and that someone here is going to try to take advantage of this situat
ion."

  "Is he out of his mind?" called Su-Thor. "He thinks someone here is trying to take over Mampas?! This rebel is crazy. Invite him over to speak to the people. I'm sure he'll think differently after he meets a few of these scramblers in the fields and in the plantations."

  "In a way that is what he wants to do," said Daio.

  "He wants to come over here?" asked Sosi.

  "Not exactly. He wants you to come and meet him."

  "Me? Why me?"

  "He's afraid of you."

  "What does he know about me that makes him afraid of me?"

  "He knows about Raban and he knows about the Books."

  "The Books?"

  Daio nodded.

  "Why does he care about the Books? What does he even know about them?"

  "I don't know. Apparently it came up in the meeting with Naan."

  Sosi looked at him.

  "I don't think Naan planned this. I know that is what you are thinking," said Daio.

  "I'm not leaving the city," said Sosi. He stood up and walked over to the porch railing.

  "You must," said Daio.

  "Why? What am I fighting for? What is there left to fight for?"

  "Stop being dramatic. You're fighting for your city, for your people, and for their livelihood" said Daio.

  "I already told you, we can provide for ourselves without Mampas. We managed pretty well twenty years ago and we will manage now."

  "I don't think that what was enough for us twenty years ago is enough for the young people today," said Su-Thor.

  "I disagree. In any case I'm not leaving the city."

  "I think we should give it a chance," said the Doctor suddenly. Sosi looked at him, surprised. "You don't know where all this might lead," continued the Doctor.

  "You think he is a new chosen. You think he'll get excited by your ideas."

  "What are you talking about?" asked Daio surprised.

  Sosi walked along the railing to the far end of the porch and looked out over the valley.

  Daio smiled and looked back and forth between the Doctor and Su-Thor. "What are you all talking about? What chosen?"

  "The Books talk about someone. A chosen. Someone who will fight information scrambling," said the Doctor.

  "The Doctor thinks it's him, this crazy rebel," said Sosi from the other side of the porch.