The Humanarium 3

by C. W Tickner

  Barchook inclined his head as if to accept Kane’s apology or to calm his own broody manner. ‘I have informants everywhere,’ Barchook said. ‘It pays to have such knowledge.’ He gave a sour chuckle, ‘it also costs dearly.’

  ‘We cannot pay,’ Harl said. ‘Unless you’re asking for the reactor yourself?’

  Barchook frowned then shrugged. ‘We would of course benefit from it but we could just wait for Grakka build his and avoid any conflict with Harvest Ten.’

  ‘It’s not finished then?’ Kane asked.

  Barchook shook his head. ‘Not yet. Perhaps he needs something from yours to complete Harvest Ten’s machine.’

  ‘Is that why he sent the men to attack us?’ Damen asked.

  ‘I cannot say, even my informants are not that well placed. I am interested to know how he got the plans to build it at a similar rate as yourselves?’

  Damen flushed red above his beard but Harl saved him the embarrassment.

  ‘He has an informant among the humans,’ Harl said. ‘We do not know who though.’

  ‘Drake knows,’ Damen said, voicing the suspicion he’d told Harl about.

  ‘Does he?’ Barchook asked.

  Harl frowned at Damen. ‘We do not know anything and Damen has no proof of his opinions. But, why tell us all this. What do you want?’

  Tess cut in before Barchook could speak. ‘The election!’

  Barchook raised his eyebrows and nodded. ‘Very clever. little one. If Grakka and The Company complete the reactor they will unequivocally gain even more power and undoubtedly win the upcoming election and likely any following elections in years to come.’

  Harl wondered if Barchook thought the Bankers would win if Grakka failed to produce a working prototype.

  ‘If we have the reactor,’ Harl said. ‘We will run for government..’

  Barchook chuckled ‘Humans?’

  A flash of anger gnawed at Harl from the disbelieving tone but he suppressed it. ‘We will stand with the Compassionates,’ he said, ‘as equals. Change is needed before we are considered equals among yourselves.’

  Barchook nodded.

  Harl gathered his courage.

  ‘If we attempt to stop them building the reactor then I will need some promises from you, Barchook the charger.’

  Barchook cocked his head in interest and leant I even closer.

  Harl outlined his demands and waited as the Aylen decided on an answer.

  ‘I agree’ Barchook said after a long while. ‘I warn you that we have reports of Harvest Ten making military preparations. Be careful with your plan.’

  Chapter 20

  Three days I spent lost in the storage decks. Thankfully I brought enough supplies this time. The things I found in the storage decks are testament to the pre-launch effort. There’s enough to start a society over again. There is little I want for now except a working cryobed and human companionship.

  Strange green lights shimmered across the night sky as Kane took the ship closer to the northern pole of the planet. They pulsed and weaved in hypnotic waves as Harl watched the display through a window in the rear of the shuttle.

  ‘Aurora,’ Kane called back into the passenger section when Troy had asked what they were. ‘Radiation from the nearby star causes it.’

  ‘Witchcraft if you ask me,’ Troy said.

  ‘Is it dangerous?’ Dana asked, clutching her belt of knives as she peered out.

  ‘Everything’s dangerous on this forsaken planet,’ Troy said. ‘Even on Orbital when we were above the surface, things were dangerous.’

  A huge building rose from an ice sheet in the distance. It seemed to cap the world like a giant dome and they all rushed to the cockpit to get a better view.

  It was the largest building Harl had ever seen and it dominated the northern pole of the planet, like a white hat placed on the head of the world. Around the edge were indents like rounded slices from a cake and parked in the gaps were a variety of Aylen vehicles.

  ‘We could see it from Orbit,’ Tess said,.‘For years all we could do was wonder what it was for.’

  ‘What did you figure out from above, without actually going down?’ Troy asked.

  ‘We had some data from some initial scans of the planet, but much of it was scrambled.’

  ‘Probably due to the fact the dish was blown off.’ Kane put in.

  ‘We had thought it was possibly a religious building of the Aylen or something built by their forebears.’

  Tess frowned. ‘When you came up on the dropship our information tripled. Not just from your people but your dropship had old computer systems that linked with ours and began filling in the blanks.’

  ‘Ahead,’ Kane said. They all looked out at the white dome that had engulfed the viewing window. Small sections were carved from the dome like bites of a cake and Harl could make out Aylen vehicles parked inside.

  A bleeping sound came through the cockpit speakers and a holographic display popped up above the centre console, showing directions to one of the alcoves. Kane manoeuvred the ship down to the empty landing pad.

  They disembarked and stepped out onto a smooth plain of silvery steel. Snow had formed giant drifts against the black walls that rose five hundred metres away from the sides of the ship. The walls climbed either side of them in huge rectangular panels, leading up to the white domed roof that partially overhung the landing area. A large doorway stood in the recess ahead of them and the frost coated walls narrowed towards the entrance like a funnel.

  The wind was bitterly cold and Harl hunched his shoulders up to fight the frosty bite. He blinked the flurries of snow from his eyes and cursed himself for not bringing more suitable clothing. Something like the goggles Sky wore would come in handy here.

  He and Damen headed for the open doorway while Tess, Troy, Sky and Kane followed in tow. Dana had slipped away on her flyer to scout the perimeter of snowdrifts that swept up against the lower part of the walls.

  Closer to the door, a red haze became visible, stretching across the opening.

  ‘A weather shield,’ Kane said, stopping to stare up at the huge Aylen entranceway.

  Harl hesitated for a second in front of the beam. The huge corridor was visible on the far side but the sheet of red shimmered in a half transparent ripple.

  Damen didn’t slow and marched past him until a beam of red light crossed his shoulders and he stood on the far side.

  Harl stepped through, tensing as he always did when passing an Aylen shield and looked left and right at a vast curving corridor. The outer wall that had seemed black from the outside were in fact transparent from this side and he could see the snow beating against the tinted window. He couldn’t see the ship due to the drifts of snow that blocked the view, but an Aylen would be able to easily see out.

  He turned as Dana cursed beyond the door. She had slammed into the shield on her flyer and had to get off to be able to enter.

  They walked around the Aylen corridor until they found Vax and Veel waiting for them with the hover platform. Kane seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as he sunk into the central chair in front of the largest computer console. Harl took his seat beside him and they rose up to head height with the two Aylen.

  Kane positioned them directly between their heads as the Aylen strolled around the curving corridor.

  Doors lined the inner wall at regular intervals, all marked with Aylen labels.

  Tess read off the names as if they were in written in perfect human and the rest of them were simply children staring at symbols. ‘Micro Elements, Environmentalists.’

  Aylen strode past them in the opposite direction or opening doors and disappearing inside.

  ‘Each faction has a doorway to its own booth in the meeting hall,’ Vax said.

  ‘Who moderates the meeting? Kane asked.

  ‘The Overseer,’ Vax said as a pair of passing Aylen nodded a greeting. Vax performed a series of complex hand gestures and the passing couple smiled and entered one of the doors. ‘The Oversee
r must abdicate from their own faction to become neutral and allow each to speak in turn. It is their duty to call for votes and see fair play between every faction.’

  ‘Any chance of taking Grakka out if we pass him here?’ Troy asked as a lone Aylen passed them. Damen looked around, interested.

  ‘If you do,’ Vax said, ‘the building will go in to lock down and all residing members of the hostile faction will be killed.’

  ‘What if they were provoked?’ Damen said.

  ‘We are constantly monitored Damen son of Terman,’ Veel said.

  Damen stood and pivoted his seat around on the hover platform and stared around suspiciously as if expecting a conspirator to be lurking behind them.

  ‘Microphones?’ Kane asked.

  ‘On our badges,’ Vax said, tapping a finger to the silver badge on his chest that they had been given.

  ‘I assume they track us using them as well?’ Tess said.

  ‘You are correct,’ Veel said, stopping between two of the doors. They waited for a moment and then Veel turned from them to face down the corridor.

  ‘A good thing too,’ Harl said, feeling a sense of trepidation as two Aylen rounded the corner ahead. One of them Harl had not seen before, but the other was undoubtedly Grakka.

  He was adorned in his shimmering charge suit that clung around his expansive waistline and sagged over the characteristic thick legs of all Aylen. He was laughing in a raspy choke at something his partner had said. They slowed as Grakka saw them coming towards them and the translators in Harl’s ear picked up on their voices.

  ‘So you decided to bring your pets,’ Grakka said to Vax as the pair stopped in front of them. His partner burst into a tittering chuckle at the words but quieted as Grakka shot him an angry glance at the toadying.

  Popping an earpiece in, the fat director leant forward so his bulbous face swelled, blocking the view of everyone on the platform.

  Harl felt a cold anger cascade into him as Grakka stared at them, squinting as if they were too insignificant to see.

  Thought any more on my proposal, little ones?’ he asked. The foetid smell of rot blew over them.

  ‘No,’ Harl said. ‘We haven’t time for your lies Grakka.’

  Grakka leant closer as if ready to bite them off the platform. He opened his mouth but Veel stepped forward and placed a hand in front of his face to make him back up from the humans.

  ‘There is no time for any proposals, Grakka,’ she said. ‘Except those in the all world meeting. We are almost late and by the time you make it to your entranceway on the far side, you most certainly will be.’

  Grakka growled but Veel stood calm and waited patiently as he stormed off.

  Veel opened the nearest door and held it as Vax and the rest of them went through.

  ‘They were only late because you waited for them,’ Harl said, sensing she had done it deliberately.

  ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about, Harl,’ she said. With a grin, she shut the door behind them.

  Harl gasped at what was on the other side and awe descended on him.

  ‘Now that’s a sight,’ Troy said.

  Chapter 21

  Together with my study of cryogenics I have added genetics and animal husbandry to the list. I can’t eat the packaged food forever. I refuse to eat artificial or cryofood for the next few years. Time to grow something fresh.

  As Kane took the platform forward, all of them stared around in wonder.

  It was like stepping into another world. A vast dome spread out before them and like spectators in a stadium, they were positioned in a viewing balcony looking out into the centre of the circle. The size of the dome dwarfed even the Aylen inside. Sunlight dappled through the domed ceiling made entirely of crystal clear glass. The beams struck the pale marble floor, illuminating a single unoccupied seat in the centre. At regular intervals around the side of the room were dozens of alcoves that opened up to face the seat and formed a ring of colossal archways.

  The seat appeared to made of large, irregular shaped silver tubes. In a flash of insight Harl realised the tubes were Aylen bones, polished to a metallic shine and fixed into the shape of a chair.

  In each alcove two Aylen sat side by side and looked out across the vast space from behind a single bar to stop anyone climbing over into the centre. Underneath the bar was a dashboard of blank screens and two seats which Vax and Veel sat down in.

  Kane brought the platform to a smooth halt between them. They were high enough to see the screens below them and the other alcoves over the top of the bar.

  Rumbling voices filled the air as more factions entered the vast circle.

  Aylen faces popped up on the screens in front of them and one by one they greeted Vax and Veel, raising their hands with bowed heads and folding in the outer most fingers of the hand.

  Vax responded to all in kind and made contact with other factions in the same way.

  ‘Fascinating,’ Kane said.

  ‘Thought you’d say that,’ Damen said.

  ‘Well it is,’ Kane said, easing himself up from his seat and walking to the edge of the hover platform. He gripped the rail around the edge and stared out at the faces filling each booth.

  ‘Dangerous more like,’ Damen said.

  Veel turned to face them. ‘I will give you a warning, Damen son of Terman,’ she said. ‘As Compassionates, we do not believe in hostility towards others.’

  ‘What about Grakka and his kind,’ Damen asked, ‘I won’t be a fool to believe they are the only enemy of humanity.’

  The striking colour of Veel’s skin darkened. She appeared like a shadow as she spoke. ‘Of course they are not,’ she said and turned to face an arched doorway in one side of the dome. ‘But you have chosen to make us your ally and as such, you will comply with our beliefs.’

  Damen looked like a child caught with a hand in the biscuit barrel.

  The ornate door Veel had been focusing on swung open and a nearly naked, ancient-looking Aylen entered. He stooped as he ambled towards the chair. The pale grey skin on his thin frame sagged as if it was about to fall off. A sheet of cloth, similar to Grakka’s suit was wrapped tight about its waist, covering the top of his oversized legs. What it didn’t cover was the hundreds of tattoo like lines that criss-crossed his gnarled body.

  When he reached the central chair he walked around to inspect it, as if one of Kane’s bombs had been placed underneath.

  Harl expected him to sit and begin proceedings but instead he turned to the only remaining empty alcove. He stood waiting patiently until the door behind the two seats swung open and Grakka rushed in, looking blustered.

  The director bowed and sunk down in the seat.

  The old Aylen scowled then turned again to face the door he had come in through.

  Harl thought he would finally take the seat but instead the translator in the platform crackled to life and he spoke in a croaking voice barely clinging to the last of its strength.

  ‘Presenting the Overseer.’

  A female Aylen entered through the large ornate door.

  Her colourful skin shone like oil in sunlight. The colour stood out against a bright white robe that was wrapped around her.

  Striding to the centre with her head held high, she waited in silence as the Aylen around the room stood. Vax and Veel rose from their seats then both raised a hand and folded the two outer most fingers down before bowing their heads.

  Grakka made a half hearted effort from across the room, bowing his head for a shorter duration than the others.

  Harl stood and the others followed his example as Damen kept his voice low.

  ‘I didn’t expect her to be-’

  ‘Female?’ Sky put in.

  ‘Colourful,’ Damen said, although it was obvious he had wanted to say female. Hadn’t someone told Harl it was the oldest Aylen that was declared overseer? By rights, surely the title should have been given to the ancient Aylen who had announced her?

  After his first meeting wit
h Veel he knew female Aylen were held with great respect and he believed it must be something to do with the power she had shown him. He wished it wasn’t so alien to him. It wasn’t something he could ask Kane. The scientist hadn’t experienced the images that she had implanted into his head and the visions of a potential future.

  Several other females were in the audience but none as colourful as Veel or the Overseer. Was it related to age?

  The overseer faced each alcove in turn and raised her hand to return the gesture.

  Grakka barely seemed to hold her gaze as she squared up to him. Perhaps punctuality was considered an essential quality in an Aylen.

  When she turned to their alcove they all stood. Her gaze was the same as Veel’s, penetrating and full of quiet judgement.

  Veel inclined her head deeper than Vax and they both tilted forwards, giving Harl the sense he was rushing backwards as his peripheral vision became a blur on either side.

  The Overseer took her seat in the bone chair after acknowledging each faction.

  Screens flickered to life at the front of their alcove and the Overseer’s face stared imperiously at them.

  Kane’s hands became a blur on the control panel in front of him. A moment later the screens on the hover platform sprung into life with the same image.

  ‘Got it,’ Kane said.

  The Overseer’s voice came through the translator a heartbeat after she started.

  ‘Our first, and main topic is governance. We have fulfilled the traditional waiting period since the last government and in ten days a new faction will be elected.’

  The wizened old Aylen produced a computer tablet from behind the chair and handed it to the Overseer who scanned through it.

  ‘The candidate factions,’ she said, ‘are as follows; The Bankers, Harvest Ten-’

  Harl looked up from the screen to see Grakka starring across at them, He tossed something into his mouth and Harl knew it would be a cooked human. A feeling of sickness spread through his stomach as the Overseer continued to reel off the list.