Zherosha Chronicles- Unknown Origin

by Nancie Neal

  Amnika leaned up against Rhada. She was beginning to feel tired. The sun still shone on the city, but the shadows were long on the mountain.

  "I'll take you to bed," he said.

  "You will sit-sleep tonight. Amnika will sleep in your bed," Nahaeda said.

  Rhada carried her to bed. As he set her down, she could hear another Natisien offer a spare bed in their cave to her father. He accepted, and Amnika took note that he sounded surprised.

  Rhada covered her with his fur blankets and then took his place at the cave entrance. Nahaeda and his wife slept in the back of their cave. The end of cycle moons lit the main entrance, and Amnika could see Rhada's hulk of a shadow guarding the cave.

  She closed her eyes. She dreamed that she stood in a long hallway with multiple colored items of all different shapes. They had odd symbols on each of them, but she couldn't make out what they said. As she walked down the row, presumably to find something, she noticed that some of these shapes contain strange drawings.

  The next thing she knew, she felt a hand on her side. She opened her eyes to find Rhada hovering over her.

  "You were dreaming."

  "Yes, it was a strange dream." Amnika looked around and noticed that it was light enough to see.

  "It's time to wake up anyway, isn't it?" Amnika asked.

  Rhada grunted.

  "Well, let's get this over with," Amnika said.

  When they reached the top of the mountain, Amnika noticed that two medics were waiting for them. Her father was talking to them. He looked concerned.

  Nahaeda greeted them.

  "You will only have to do it once," he said.

  At first, Amnika was relieved, but then she realized that the medics were high-level Inersiens.

  "Nahaeda," she asked, "Why are the medics here?"

  "You use your entire energy to give a burst," he responded.

  "Rhada?"

  Rhada took his place next to his father, a short distance from Amnika.

  "You can't drain all your energy," one of the medics explained. It's like holding your breath. Eventually, you pass out, and your body will start healing again."

  "That's why we are here," the other medic said. "We both will heal you until you are awake enough to take medicine."

  "You can sleep in my bed until you are well enough to go home," Rhada said.

  "But a full burst..." Amnika said.

  "Amnika," he interrupted, "I've trained for this. I can take it. I have to take it."

  Amnika stared at him for a moment. He wasn't nearly as big as his father, but he might be large enough to handle it.

  "Amnika!" Rhada was firm. "You are not supposed to hesitate."

  She pulled as much energy as she could to her center. She stopped drawing when she began to feel lightheaded. She closed her eyes took whatever was left to push the burst out.

  When she opened her eyes one of the Medics were hovering over her.

  "Okay, she's awake," the medic said.

  The other handed over an open vial. Amnika took it and drank it. Even in her weakened state, she made a face.

  She could hear Rhada laugh.

  "You should try it sometime," Amnika said weakly.

  "We eat enough foul tasting things as it is," Rhada chuckled.

  "We waited until Rhada recovered to wake you," One of the medics said. "We know that you are sensitive to the pain of others."

  Amnika sat up. She finally saw Rhada, standing tall with the look of pride on his face.

  "It will take more than medicine for you to recover," She heard her father say. "You'll have to sleep."

  The medics stepped out of the way, and Rhada picked Amnika up in a cradle-carry.

  "You will stay here with us until you are better," he said. He carried Amnika down the mountain and set her down in his bed.

  Amnika settled down into the furs. Relieved that she would not have to do it again, she fell asleep.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  A few days later, Amnika and her father made their way to the city with Rhada.

  "You are safe in the city," Rhada said. "So it's likely I'll train as a wall guard and spend the nights with you. That said, I have to follow you around for a cycle first. Father wants me to keep an eye on you. I guess after what happened…" He stopped.

  Amnika nodded. "Rhada, don't be afraid to tell me everything."

  "I will have to talk to you about it later." He glanced at her father.

  Amnika smiled and touched his hand. "I do need to talk to father first, and we really should be in the insulated rooms."

  Father sighed. The trio began to walk towards the insulated rooms. Amnika wasn't angry, and she didn't plan on getting upset enough to use the rooms, but they did allow for a private conversation.

  "I know that the planet was the distant planet," Amnika said. "And I know that you were pulled into the anomaly and landed on that planet. You know the language well and so doesn't mother."

  "Well, yes," Father said. "That's true."

  "You never told me how you met Mother." Amnika walked into one of the rooms.

  Father didn't respond.

  Amnika stopped and turned to face him.

  Rhada walked in behind him. He reached to close the door.

  "I don't think that will be necessary," Amnika said.

  Father looked relieved.

  "I just want to know how you met Mother. I should know," Amnika said. "I could ask her."

  "Amnika, I don't know if…" Father started, but Amnika stopped him.

  "You let me go onto a dangerous mission," she said. "Maybe you changed your mind and want to treat me as a child still, and I guess that's fair enough." She paused for a moment. "But I think I can handle whatever you are hiding now."

  During the conversation, Zakkon walked in. He listened for a bit, then put his hand on Father's shoulder.

  "You might as well tell her. She'll find out one way or another," he said. "It's time for her to know now anyway."

  Father nodded.

  "We were on our way to the new staging base for Nahbor. We were to replace the standing crew. My wife, Petrez, and a few others were on the last ship. The anomaly appeared right as we were passing and we were caught in the gravitational pull. We couldn't bring the generator back online in time."

  Father had to stop for a moment. At that moment, she could understand one of the reasons why he didn't talk about it.

  "Annia lost her husband that day. I lost my wife. My protectorate, he saved my life as well as Petrez's. He died saving us."

  Amnika glanced at Rhada, feeling uneasy.

  "When we were able to get out of the crash, we found that the creatures on the planet looked exactly like us. At first, we were afraid. They poked us and scanned us. We didn't know what was going on. Eventually, we learned their language, and we were able to communicate with them. It's about time we found out that they called their planet 'Earth' and they called themselves 'humans.'"

  "You mother worked as a form of assistant in medical. I saw her every day. She was the one who helped me speak with them. Some humans are sensitive to us when we cast a thought. She was one of them."

  "We finally came up with a plan to trade. The humans helped us fix our ship, but…" Father trailed off.

  "We were there for 6 of their cycles by the time the ship was fixed," he said. "We had you for two of their cycles. Some of us had more children."

  "Your mother decided that she wanted to go with me. It was the happiest day of my life. But we left some behind."

  Father let out a long sigh, and his shoulders drooped.

  "It's still hard to talk about," he lamented.

  Amnika hugged him. She shared that she wished he told her before, but she's not angry.

  "Lori," he said.

  Amnika pulled back and looked at him.

  "Your mother's Earth name is Lori Conway. They called me Seth. Imagine. Having a name that sounds like an Earth name."

  Zakkon scoffed. "Some names are exactly
the same, but with different meanings. Who knew?"

  "I still will have to talk to mother about this," Amnika said.

  "I understand," Father said. "Just know, it isn't her fault. She did it so she can see you grow up."

  "What do you mean?"

  "We left the children who were born there with their earth mothers, but your mother…" Father took another deep breath. "Your mother was ill. According to the medical there, she only had a few moon-cycles. We thought we could extend her life, but we didn't have the means to do so there."

  "Wait, she was sick when she came? She still has that illness?" Amnika looked at her father.

  Father sighed. "She was still somewhat young for someone from Earth, but the disease affects mostly the females. It starts in the breast, and it spreads. Two years ago, if finally spread to her bloodstream. We are still able to extend her life, but it won't be long…" He stopped and took a breath.

  Amnika hugged him. "I can research this later. I know it's hard to talk about."

  "I'll release the information to you," Zakkon said. His quiet voice caused Amnika to look over to him. He slumped against the door frame.

  "Father and I will go see her now." Amnika pulled away from Father. "I would like to have all of the information released so I can see it."

  Zakkon nodded.

  Amnika, Rhada, and Father went up the lift to the Advisor's floor. They found mother resting on the long plush seat, studying the contents on her tablet.

  Amnika walked over to her and hugged her.

  "Oh, good," her mother said, "You're okay. By the way, your father was acting, I was expecting the worse."

  Amnika looked at Father. She realized that he didn't tell her mother the real danger of what happened.

  She took a deep breath.

  "Mother, there is something I have to tell you," she said. Her mother, who was reclining on the plus seat, straightened up.

  "I've been to Earth," Amnika sputtered as if to get the statement out as fast she could.

  There was a long silence. Amnika saw tears in her mother's eyes. "The anomaly grew larger than the data showed and we were pulled in. We were able to prevent a crash, so we were able to come back."

  Mother nodded and stroke Amnika's hair.

  "We have more data of the anomaly," Amnika said.

  "Maybe it will be enough to build a gate." Father sounded hopeful. Amnika wondered if he was trying to ease the tension.

  "Oh?" Mother's voice was tense "And when will they build this gate?"

  Father didn't have an answer.

  Amnika looked at both of them, then at Rhada. She never saw her mother stern with her father before. There was a long silence until Mother sighed. "I don't think I'll be around long enough to see it finished," She sounded tired. "I don't think I will be around long enough to see home again." She leaned back in her seat. "I didn't expect to, anyway."

  That last statement caught Amnika off guard. She leaned over and hugged her mother again and cried.

  "We have new recordings. I can show you those," Amnika said. "And maybe you can teach me some of their languages."

  She looked at her father who nodded. His eyes were red and puffy, and he seemed so much shorter the way he stooped over.

  "Perhaps another time when I have the energy I can teach you," Mother said. "I still have good days."

  "I will go down to see if all of the data was transferred. Maybe I can get a display ball?" Amnika directed the last statement towards her father. The display ball was a new device that opened to project a holographic recording. One of the students brought it on as their project.

  Her father nodded.

  "Oh, I would like to see that." Mother sounded a little more upbeat. "I heard of those, it would be nice to see how it works."

  Amnika hugged her mother again and then stood up.

  "I do need to see what data we recorded," Amnika said. She walked over to her father and grabbed his hand. She shared that she wasn't angry, but she needed some time to think.

  He shared his relief and that he wanted her to tell Zakkon that he won't be meeting that day. He was going to stay home with his wife.

  Amnika let him go and looked at Rhada. He nodded and followed her down the lift.

  Zakkon greeted her at the bottom. Rodgistan stood next to him.

  "There's been another attack," Zakkon said. "I was on my way to inform Zeth."

  "He's spending time with mother right now," Amnika said. She realized that she was still upset and put her hood up. "Is there something he needs to deal with immediately?"

  Zakkon looked at her for a moment.

  "No," he said, "There were no deaths, and we won't be able to assess the situation until they come back. We can always contact him later."

  "I am curious," Amnika said, "Who went on that mission?"

  "Come now," Rodgistan said. "We should get to your studies."

  Amnika nodded. They weren't going to tell her. She followed Rodgistan to the research building. "I would like to research on the distant planet."

  Rodgistan didn't answer at first. He stopped in front of the entrance to the building. "Are you sure about that?"

  Amnika grabbed his hand and shared her moments with her mother.

  Rodgistan thought for a moment, then nodded. He opened the door, and she followed him to one of the available research rooms.

  "How much do you know about me?" Amnika asked.

  "I know about your mother," Rodgistan said. "No one would say what exactly happened, but I will know more details after I talk with your father." Rodgistan sounded stern. His hood was up so Amnika couldn't sense how angry he was.

  Amnika sighed. "Don't be too hard on him right now. Mother isn't doing well." Her voice cracked as she said it. She pulled her hood over her face until she could calm down.

  She felt Rodgistan's hand on her back. Amnika lifted her hood but kept it on her head. He looked concerned.

  "Maybe you should be with your mother," he suggested.

  "No, I need to do this research. Father is too sad to tell me more. I know he would tell me otherwise."

  Rodgistan guided her to the room. She took a deep breath and stepped into the room. Rhada followed her in.

  "The crew was mostly high-level Inersiens," Rodgistan said.

  Amnika looked at him a little confused. Then she realized that he was referring to the attack.

  "They were on their way to Hemeria," he said. "The Hemerians actually asked us to help them. Who knew some pesky raiders would humble such a proud race." He put his hand on his chest to mock the Hemerians.

  She looked at Rhada then back at Rodgistan.

  "I'm glad that they are okay," Amnika smiled. It was weak. She was still sad about her mother.

  Rodgistan nodded and left the room.

  "It was a diplomatic mission," Rhada said.

  Amnika thought for a moment.

  "I heard father said that they were more sophisticated than the usual raiders. If it were a diplomatic mission to Hemeria, they didn't have the weapons to defend themselves."

  Rhada grunted in affirmation.

  "Maybe they're testing our defenses?" Amnika wondered.

  Rhada shrugged.

  Amnika sighed. "I'm going to suggest that they use Roniathan to analyze the data."

  "Are you sure they will listen to you, a child?" Rhada asked. He had a smug look on his face.

  "They won't ignore an idea if it's a good one, regardless of who it comes from. And, don't forget we are the same age."

  "Natisiens mature sooner," He said.

  "So I've been told," Amnika teased.

  Rhada chuckled. "I'm purring you to sleep tonight. You will miss your morning duties."

  "You know I care for you, Rhada." Amnika felt better. It was always good to have a friend around.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Amnika took her tablet out and set it in a stand on one of the tables. She could have done the research at home, but the building allowed her to get out into
another environment.

  Rhada grabbed a seat and set it next to her.

  "I hope you don't mind if I look over your shoulder," he said.

  "Not at all," Amnika smiled at him, and he sat next to her.

  She poked at her tablet. It took a few moments before she came across the information she was looking for.

  "Some of these terms are not even translated," Amnika said. "Those aren't even our symbols."

  She looked up the symbols and sighed. Each symbol had its own category and information section.

  "I need several tablets for this," she lamented.

  Rhada chuckled. "Focus on one thing at a time. Put only relevant notes on your tablet. Then you can look them up later."

  Amnika studied her tablet for a few moments.

  "Okay, there's a dominant language that is used for commerce. It's the same language mother speaks," She said. "The language uses 26 symbols to combine into sounds that make up words."

  "Much like Zherosha standard," Rhada said. "Except we use twenty symbols."

  "I've heard mother and father speak it," Amnika nodded, "but it sounds a lot more complex than that."

  She continued reading. "They number their years based on some religious legend's birth."

  "Now that sounds interesting. What is this legend? Can you look into that?"

  "Not now, Rhada," Amnika said. "I'm still trying to figure out their cycles. It only says here that he was the creator's son or something."

  Rhada looked thoughtful.

  "Father talked about something similar," he said. "Adeli is supposed to bring the message of the creator's son. The message is supposed to bring us back together."

  "I'll make a note on it," Amnika sighed, "With so much information, someone could easily get sidetracked or confused."

  She tapped on her tablet again and then continued reading.

  The data showed an estimate that 1.25 Earth cycles pass for every one Zherosha cycle. Amnika did the math. According to the data, she was born in the year they numbered as 1977. She was in her twelfth cycle when she fell into the anomaly. It must have been the year numbered as 1992.

  "Is there something I can help you with?" Father said. Amnika was so focused on the research, she didn't sense him there.